Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript. In addition to social determinants of health, such as economic resources, education, access to care and various environmental factors, there is growing evidence that political polarization poses a substantial risk to individual and collective well-being. Here we review the impact of political polarization on public health. We describe the different forms of polarization and how they are connected to health outcomes, highlighting the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study of the health risks of polarization. We then offer strategies for mitigating potential harms associated with polarization, with an emphasis on building social trust. Finally, we propose future research directions on this topic, underscore the need for more work in a global context and encourage greater collaboration between social scientists and medical scientists. We conclude that polarization is a serious—if largely overlooked—determinant of health, whose impacts must be more thoroughly understood and mitigated. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription 27,99 € / 30 days cancel any time Subscribe to this journal Receive 12 print issues and online access 251,40 € per year only 20,95 € per issue Buy this article Purchase on SpringerLink Instant access to the full article PDF. 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CAS PubMed Google Scholar Download references Author information Authors and Affiliations Department of Psychology & Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA Jay J Van Bavel Department of Psychology & Neural Science, New York University, New York, NY, USA Jay J Van Bavel Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen, Norway Jay J Van Bavel Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen, Norway Jay J Van Bavel Department of Political Science, Syracuse University, New York, NY, USA Shana Kushner Gadarian Department of Political Science, Syracuse University, New York, NY, USA Shana Kushner Gadarian Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA Eric Knowles Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA Department of Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA Kai Ruggeri Department of Health Policy and Management, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA Jay J Van Bavel View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Shana Kushner Gadarian View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Eric Knowles View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Kai Ruggeri View author publications Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Search author on: PubMed Google Scholar Corresponding author Correspondence to Jay J Van Bavel . 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Nat Med 30 , 3085–3093 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-03307-w Download citation Received : 06 July 2024 Received : 06 July 2024 Accepted : 18 September 2024 Accepted : 18 September 2024 Published : 25 October 2024 Published : 25 October 2024 Version of record : 25 October 2024 Version of record : 25 October 2024 Issue date : November 2024 Issue date : November 2024 DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-03307-w DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-03307-w Share this article Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative Explore articles by subject Guide to authors Editorial policies Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.