Emotional and social loneliness and their unique links with social isolation, depression and anxiety

The association between perceived social functioning and heart rate variability is mediated by subclinical depressive symptomatology and moderated by gender

Chronic loneliness and low perceived social support have been recognized as risk factors for both mental and cardiovascular disorders. It has been proposed that their link to psychophysiological problems may involve changes in parasympathetic activity. However, the exact underlying psychopathological mechanisms and the moderating effects of gender are still not thoroughly examined. Thus, the present study investigated associations between perceived social functioning and resting vagal tone in the context of potential cognitive and subclinical mediators and gender differences. Three hundred twenty-five young adults (aged 18-35, 180 women) underwent an electrocardiogram measurement of 6-minute resting heart rate variability (HRV). They also completed questionnaires assessing loneliness, perceived social support, social cognitive biases, depressive and social anxiety symptoms, and general mental health. In men, HRV was significantly and negatively associated with poorer perceived social functioning, depressive symptoms, and self-reported social cognitive biases, while in women, there was a quadratic link between HRV and depressive symptoms and HRV and general mental health. Moderated mediation analysis revealed that depressive symptoms fully mediated the relationship between perceived social functioning and HRV in men. The results suggest that decreased resting vagal tone in lonely individuals is linked to depressive symptomatology rather than to specific social cognitive biases and that this association is significant only in men.

The effect of social anxiety on teenagers' internet addiction: the mediating role of loneliness and coping styles

BACKGROUND & AIM

There is a lack of understanding of how social anxiety may affect Internet addiction among adolescents. Based on several theories, the purpose of this study was to investigate the multiple mediating roles of loneliness and coping styles in the association between social anxiety and Internet addiction in Chinese adolescents.

METHODS

This study used the Social Anxiety Scale, Internet Addiction Test, Loneliness Scale, and Simple Coping Style Questionnaire to investigate 1188 students in two junior high schools and senior high schools in Henan Province, China. We adopted Pearson's correlation analysis and the PROCESS Macro Model 81 in regression analysis to explore the relationships among social anxiety, loneliness, coping styles, and Internet addiction.

RESULTS

We found that social anxiety not only directly affects teenagers' Internet addiction, but also affects teenagers' Internet addiction through loneliness and coping styles.

CONCLUSIONS

These results emphasize the importance of improving social anxiety to reduce Internet addiction among adolescents. At the same time, it also emphasizes the need to reduce adolescents' loneliness and cultivating positive coping styles. In addition, this study has certain theoretical significance for teenagers' mental health and intervention studies on Internet addiction.

Social intelligence mediates the protective role of resting-state brain activity in the social cognition network against social anxiety

Background

Social intelligence refers to an important psychosocial skill set encompassing an array of abilities, including effective self-expression, understanding of social contexts, and acting wisely in social interactions. While there is ample evidence of its importance in various mental health outcomes, particularly social anxiety, little is known on the brain correlates underlying social intelligence and how it can mitigate social anxiety.

Objective

This research aims to investigate the functional neural markers of social intelligence and their relations to social anxiety.

Methods

Data of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and behavioral measures were collected from 231 normal students aged 16 to 20 years (48% male). Whole-brain voxel-wise correlation analysis was conducted to detect the functional brain clusters related to social intelligence. Correlation and mediation analyses explored the potential role of social intelligence in the linkage of resting-state brain activities to social anxiety.

Results

Social intelligence was correlated with neural activities (assessed as the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations, fALFF) among two key brain clusters in the social cognition networks: negatively correlated in left superior frontal gyrus (SFG) and positively correlated in right middle temporal gyrus. Further, the left SFG fALFF was positively correlated with social anxiety; brain-personality-symptom analysis revealed that this relationship was mediated by social intelligence.

Conclusion

These results indicate that resting-state activities in the social cognition networks might influence a person's social anxiety via social intelligence: lower left SFG activity → higher social intelligence → lower social anxiety. These may have implication for developing neurobehavioral interventions to mitigate social anxiety.

On the Edge of Psychopathology: Strong Relations Between Reversed Self-compassion and Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression in Young People

Self-compassion is assumed to have a protective role in the etiology of emotional problems in adolescents. This assumption is primarily based on correlational data revealing negative correlations between the total score on the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) and symptom measures of anxiety and depression. Recently, however, the SCS has been criticized because this scale not only consists of items measuring compassionate self-responding (i.e., self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness), but also includes 'reversed' items measuring uncompassionate self-responding (i.e., self-criticism, isolation, and overidentification), which would undermine the validity of the scale as an index of a protective construct. The present article used two methods to demonstrate that compassionate (positive) and uncompassionate (negative) self-responding have differential effects on emotional problems in youths. In the first part, a meta-analysis based on 16 relevant studies demonstrated a modest protective effect of positive self-compassion on anxiety/depression and a large (and significantly stronger) vulnerability effect of negative self-compassion on such emotional symptoms. In the second part, network analyses were conducted on three previously collected data sets and these analyses again showed that negative self-compassion is more closely connected to young people's symptoms of anxiety and depression than positive self-compassion. It is argued that the observed differential effects should not be discarded as a subversive fallacy, but rather offer an opportunity for studying the role of self-compassion in adolescents' emotional psychopathology in a more sophisticated way, taking into account both protection and vulnerability.

Intergenerational continuity of loneliness and potential mechanisms: Young Finns Multigenerational Study

Evidence on the intergenerational continuity of loneliness and on potential mechanisms that connect loneliness across successive generations is limited. We examined the association between loneliness of (G0) parents (859 mothers and 570 fathers, mean age 74 years) and their children (G1) (433 sons and 558 daughters, mean age 47 years) producing 991 parent-offspring pairs and tested whether these associations were mediated through subjective socioeconomic position, temperament characteristics, cognitive performance, and depressive symptoms. Mean loneliness across parents had an independent effect on their adult children's experienced loneliness (OR = 1.72, 95% CI 1.23-2.42). We also found a robust effect of mothers' (OR = 1.64, 95% CI 1.17-2.29), but not of fathers' loneliness (OR = 1.47, 95% CI 0.96-2.25) on offspring's experienced loneliness in adulthood. The associations were partly mediated by offspring depressive (41-54%) and anxiety (29-31%) symptoms. The current findings emphasize the high interdependence of loneliness within families mediated partly by offspring's mental health problems.

The association between social isolation, loneliness and psychological problems in young adults: A study during the acute phase of COVID-19 in Italy

During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments had to impose social isolation measures to safeguard the citizens' health. However, this could have affected psychological problems. The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychological effects associated with social and emotional isolation during the acute phase of the COVID-19 in Italy. To this purpose, the degree of social isolation and loneliness and the presence of psychological problems (externalising and internalising) were investigated online in a sample of 395 young adults (18-30 years; 57% women). Results confirmed the relevant association between social isolation, loneliness and psychological problems, in both internalising and externalising dimensions. Particularly, loneliness showed the strongest association. Moreover, consistently with surveys conducted during the COVID-19-era, data highlighted that men were more vulnerable to social isolation and loneliness than women. These results underline the need for adequate interpersonal support during moments of isolation to prevent negative effects on psychological problems.

The Relationships between Effortful Control, Mind Wandering, and Mobile Phone Addiction Based on Network Analysis

BACKGROUND

The prevailing mobile phone use brought the problem of addiction, which might cause negative consequences. Effortful control and mind wandering were associated with addictive behavior. The present study aimed to investigate the dimension-level relationships between effortful control, mind wandering, and mobile phone addiction.

METHODS

A total of 1684 participants participated this study. The mobile phone addiction, effortful control, and mind wandering were measured through self-report scales, respectively. Dimension-level network of these psychological variables was estimated and bridge expected influence (BEI) values for each node was calculated.

RESULTS

Dimensions of mobile phone addiction, effortful control, and mind wandering exhibited distinct and complex links to each other. The node "activation control" exhibited the highest negative BEI value (BEI = -0.32), whereas "spontaneous thinking" showed the highest positive BEI value (BEI = 0.20).

CONCLUSIONS

Different dimensions of effortful control and mind wandering had varied yet significant connections with distinct dimensions of mobile phone addiction, facilitating understanding of the specific pathways underlying the three constructs. The identified dominant bridge nodes can provide potential targets for the intervention of mobile phone addiction.

Analysis of initial sandplay characteristics among university students with different levels of loneliness

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Loneliness is detrimental to mental health, with university students at higher risk of feeling lonely than other population groups. The mental health of college students is a hot topic at present. Despite numerous studies exploring interventions for loneliness among university students. However, little research has explored early psychological manifestations of university students with different levels of loneliness. Despite numerous studies exploring interventions for loneliness among university students, little research has explored early psychological manifestations of university students with different levels of loneliness. Initial sandplay is a good tool to reveal psychological activity. Therefore, our study aims to explore the characteristics of initial sandplay application among university students with different levels of loneliness.

METHODS

We recruited 60 volunteers from a university to perform a sandplay experiment from January to April 2021. The UCLA Loneliness Scale measured the levels of loneliness. These 60 participants were divided into the experimental group (n = 30) and control group (n = 30) according to their levels of loneliness. The experimental group included participants with a scale score of more than 44. Other participants with a scale score of less than 44 belong to the control group. We recorded their sandplay artwork and statistically analyzed it by the Sandplay Process Record Form. Group comparisons were performed using the t-test or Wilcoxon rank-sum test for continuous variables, and the chi-square test or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. The logistic regression analysis by forward stepwise method was conducted to analyze the sandplay theme features for loneliness.

RESULTS

Regarding the sandplay tools, the experimental group used fewer transportation tools (t=-3.608, p < 0.01) and more natural elements (t = 2.176, p < 0.05) than the control group. Moreover, the experimental group created more natural scenes (χ2 = 4.310, p < 0.05) and used less of the lower left (χ2 = 4.593, p < 0.05) and lower right (χ2 = 5.934, p < 0.05) spaces. With regards to sand changes, the experimental group was less likely than the control group to make substantial changes (χ2 = 5.711, p < 0.05) and more likely to make almost no changes (χ2 = 4.022, p < 0.05). In terms of the themes, the experimental group was more likely to exhibit sandplay artwork themes of emptiness (χ2 = 8.864, p < 0.05) and neglect (χ2 = 6.667, p < 0.05), and less likely to show themes of energy (χ2 = 5.079, p < 0.05). In the logistic regression analysis of the sandplay themes, emptiness (OR = 5.714, 95%CI: 1.724-18.944, p = 0.003) and neglect (OR = 7.000, 95%CI: 1.381-35.479, p = 0.010) were demonstrated a nominal association with high levels of loneliness among both groups (F = 16.091, p < 0.01, ΔR2 = 0.193), but failed to pass the Bonferroni testing correction (p threshold < 0.0025).

CONCLUSION

University students with higher degree of loneliness do not like to drastic changes and prefer to use natural elements in element selection, while the control group likes to drastic changes and prefers to use transportation tools in element selection. Regression analysis of sandplay theme features revealed emptines and neglect may as significant associated factors for loneliness. We propose sandplay characteristics can help identify university students with different levels of loneliness during psychological evaluations. Therefore, it is important that the school and healthcare systems assist college students in identifying the loneliness through initial sandplay and carrying on the necessary psychological counseling to the lonely student population.

The positive and negative emotion functions related to loneliness: a systematic review of behavioural and neuroimaging studies

Loneliness is associated with high prevalences of major psychiatric illnesses such as major depression. However, the underlying emotional mechanisms of loneliness remained unclear. We hypothesized that loneliness originates from both decreases in positive emotional processing and increases in negative emotion processing. To test this, we conducted a systematic review of 29 previous studies (total participants n = 19 560, mean age = 37.16 years, female proportion = 59.7%), including 18 studies that included questionnaire measures of emotions only, and 11 studies that examined the brain correlates of emotions. The main findings were that loneliness was negatively correlated with general positive emotions and positively correlated with general negative emotions. Furthermore, limited evidence indicates loneliness exhibited negative and positive correlations with the brain positive (e.g. the striatum) and negative (e.g. insula) emotion systems, respectively, but the sign of correlation was not entirely consistent. Additionally, loneliness was associated with the structure and function of the brain emotion regulation systems, particularly the prefrontal cortex, but the direction of this relationship remained ambiguous. We concluded that the existing evidence supported a bivalence model of loneliness, but several critical gaps existed that could be addressed by future studies that include adolescent and middle-aged samples, use both questionnaire and task measures of emotions, distinguish between general emotion and social emotion as well as between positive and negative emotion regulation, and adopt a longitudinal design that allows us to ascertain the causal relationships between loneliness and emotion dysfunction. Our findings provide new insights into the underlying emotion mechanisms of loneliness that can inform interventions for lonely individuals.

Social networks and the mental health among Chinese older adults: the mediating role of loneliness and moderating role of Internet use

Background

Although a large body of research suggests that social networks from family and friends are important factors in protecting the mental health of older adults, we know little about the mediating and moderating mechanisms behind this relationship. Using China as an example, this study aims to investigate a comprehensive model that includes social networks, loneliness, Internet use, and mental health outcomes in the older population.

Methods

We analyzed data from 7,648 Chinese older people over 60 using the 2018 CLASS survey. We studied how various social networks affect their mental health. Using SPSS's PROCESS macro, we first employed descriptive statistics to examine the characteristics of the participants and calculate the correlations of core variables. Then, we assessed whether loneliness mediated this relationship and tested the moderated mediation effect of Internet use. Our findings shed light on these complex dynamics.

Results

The statistics indicate a positive correlation between social networks and mental health. Furthermore, mediation models revealed that loneliness moderates the relationship between social networks and mental health. In addition, moderated mediation models revealed that Internet use played a distinct function in the family networks model compared to the friend networks model. Internet use moderates explicitly the effects of family networks on loneliness and friend networks on mental health.

Conclusion

The findings emphasize the importance of differentiating the types of social networks to understand their impact on older adults well-being, encouraging policymakers, medical professionals, and families to adopt more targeted approaches when devising policy interventions and medical strategies, especially for older individuals with insufficient social support. Additionally, we urge governments to recognize the varying types of social networks among older populations and harness the protective effects of Internet technology on their well-being within a digital society.