Associations between loneliness and personality are mostly driven by a genetic association with Neuroticism

Associations of temperament, family functioning with loneliness trajectories in patients with breast cancer: a longitudinal observational study

PURPOSE

Loneliness is a prevalent affective issue among patients with breast cancer, with its developmental trajectory being a contentious subject. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore trends in loneliness in patients with breast cancer and identify predictors of different trajectory categories.

METHODS

Using convenience sampling, 176 patients planning to undergo breast cancer surgery in a university hospital in Shaanxi Province, China, were followed up six times over 12 months following surgery, and data from 144 patients were analyzed. The data were analyzed using a mixed growth model (GMM) and logistic regression.

RESULTS

Two latent classes of loneliness trajectory were identified among patients with breast cancer, namely "persistent high loneliness" and "persistent low loneliness." Patients who with education level of junior secondary and less (OR = 13.59, P = 0.002), had a melancholic temperament (OR = 12.07, P = 0.002) were more likely to be categorized in the "persistent high loneliness group", whereas the better family functioning (OR = 0.60, P < 0.001) and choleric temperament (OR = 0.16, P = 0.025) of the patients were more likely to be categorized in the "persistent low loneliness group".

CONCLUSION

Patients with breast cancer exhibit diverse trajectories of loneliness, with educational level, temperament type, and family functioning being predictive of these trajectories. Therefore, it is crucial to promptly identify populations at risk in a clinical setting and devise intervention strategies, grounded in identified trajectory characteristics and influencing factors, to enhance patient outcomes.

The mediating role of core self-evaluation in the association between perceived peer relationship quality and loneliness in university students

This study investigated the mediating role of core self-evaluation (CSE) in the relationship between the perception of peer relationship quality and loneliness among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was conducted with 462 university students (mean age: 20.7 ± 1.56 years; age range: 18 to 25 years) using the Peer Relationships Satisfaction Scale, Core Self-Evaluation Scale, and UCLA Loneliness Scale. The results revealed a significant negative correlation between perceived peer relationship quality and loneliness, as well as between CSE and loneliness. Core self-evaluation accounted for 36.23% of the total effect of peer relationship quality on loneliness. Additionally, female students reported higher levels of loneliness than male students, and students from rural areas experienced greater loneliness than their urban counterparts. The study concluded that fostering high-quality peer relationships and enhancing core self-evaluation could be effective strategies for reducing loneliness among university students.

Neuroticism, loneliness, all-cause and cause-specific mortality: A 17-year study of nearly 500,000 individuals

BACKGROUND

Neuroticism is related to mental and physical health. This study examined whether neuroticism and its underlying components were associated with risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

METHODS

Community-dwelling adults (N = 491,323) in the UK Biobank completed a neuroticism scale between 2006 and 2010. Vital status was tracked up to December 2022 via linkage with the UK National Health Service.

RESULTS

Over 17 years of follow-up, 43,400 (8.8 %) participants died. Accounting for age, sex, and ethnicity, participants who scored 1 SD higher on neuroticism had a 10 % greater risk of dying (HR = 1.10, 95%CI = 1.09-1.11), an association that remained significant but was explained partly by socioeconomic status, health behaviors, and chronic conditions. Item-level analyses found that loneliness was the neuroticism item most predictive of mortality (HR = 1.46, 95%CI = 1.43-1.49), especially in males. Neuroticism and loneliness were more predictive of mortality among relatively younger adults and those with lower education. Among the causes of death, neuroticism and loneliness had the strongest association with deaths due to intentional self-harm, respiratory and digestive system diseases.

LIMITATIONS

Loneliness was assessed with a single item. The associations could be due to increases in neuroticism and loneliness approaching death. However, contrary to expectations from reverse causality, the associations were similar when excluding deaths within the first five or ten years of follow-up. Future research should examine whether findings from this high-income country replicate in middle- and lower-income communities.

CONCLUSIONS

Loneliness was the component of neuroticism most strongly associated with premature mortality, including from intentional self-harm, respiratory, and digestive system causes of death.

Developmental trajectories of loneliness in Chinese children: Environmental and personality predictors

BACKGROUND

This study aimed to identify the developmental trajectories of loneliness in Chinese children and examine the predictive roles of domain-specific environmental factors (i.e., family dysfunction and satisfaction of relatedness needs at school), personality factors (i.e., neuroticism and extraversion), and their interactions in these developmental trajectories.

METHODS

A total of 702 Chinese children (Mage = 8.95, SD = 0.76; 54.1 % boys) participated in assessments at six time points over three years at six-month intervals. Growth mixture modeling (GMM) was used to estimate trajectory classes for loneliness, followed by multivariate logistic regression analyses exploring associations between these classes and predictors.

RESULTS

GMM analyses identified three distinct trajectories of loneliness: "low-stable" (81.5 %), "moderate-increasing" (9.4 %), and "high-decreasing" (9.1 %). Multivariate logistic regression analyses revealed that family dysfunction and neuroticism served as risk factors for adverse loneliness trajectories, while satisfaction of relatedness needs at school and extraversion acted as protective factors. Furthermore, the interaction between family dysfunction and extraversion indicated that extraversion did not mitigate the adverse effects of high family dysfunction on children's loneliness, emphasizing the vital need to support positive family functioning among all children.

LIMITATIONS

This study did not incorporate biological variables (e.g., genetics), which are crucial in the evolutionary theory of loneliness.

CONCLUSIONS

The identification of three distinct trajectory groups of children's loneliness, along with key environmental and personality predictors, suggests that interventions should be tailored to each group's unique characteristics.

Factors associated with loneliness in Latin-American family care partners during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background

COVID-19-related restrictions led to an increase in overall loneliness and social isolation. Before the pandemic, care partners reported higher levels of loneliness and higher loneliness prevalence compared to non-care partners. Because of the spread and severity of the infections, and the access to support spread, we expect a different impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on LATAM care partners.

Objectives

To describe the loneliness levels of LATAM caregivers and to identify socioeconomic and health factors associated.

Design

An international online cross-sectional survey for care partners, embedded within the 'Coping with Loneliness and Isolation during COVID-19' (CLIC) Study conducted between June 2020- and November 2020.

Setting

We analysed data from 246 family care partners living in Latin American countries (46% Mexico, 26% Chile,18% Brazil, and 10% from Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, Panama, Guatemala y Costa Rica).

Measurements

We assessed loneliness using the 6-items of De Jong Gierveld loneliness Scale. We described the levels of overall, emotional, and social loneliness pre and during Covid, and reported the distribution of care partners who improved, worsened or maintained their levels of loneliness. Moreover, we used longitudinal multiple linear regression models with bootstraps errors of 1,000 iterations to identify factors associated with the levels of overall, emotional, and social loneliness during the pandemic.

Results

Participants were mostly women, 50 years and older, in a partnership, highly educated and with finances meeting their needs, with good to excellent physical and mental health. Among the total of care partners, 55% perceived higher overall loneliness, 56% higher emotional loneliness, and 21% higher social loneliness during the pandemic in comparison with pre-COVID-19 levels. Perceived mental health was associated with the overall, emotional, and social loneliness.

Conclusions

Regardless of their living and health situation, during the pandemic, loneliness increased in all groups of care partners. These should be taken in consideration when planning public health approaches for crises such as pandemics or other large-scale disruptive events.

Celebrity Worship Among Adolescents is Driven by Neuroticism, Avoidant Identity Style, and Need to Belong

Media celebrities can exert significant influence on societal change, and adolescents are the most vulnerable population to such influence given that this is a period when personal identity-seeking starts to become increasingly important. However, there is a lack of research examining the factors that contribute to adolescents' vulnerability to celebrity worship. The present study investigated the relationship between neuroticism, avoidant identity style, and celebrity worship among adolescents with a particular focus on mediating the role of the need to belong among a convenience sample of Iranian adolescents (N = 396; girls = 68%; age = 15.76 ± 1.99). Structural equation modeling showed that the association between avoidant identity style and celebrity worship was partially mediated by the need to belong, while the latter fully mediated the relationship between neuroticism and celebrity worship. The findings draw attention to the need to belong as an important factor underlying celebrity worship. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

The effect of loneliness on interpersonal sensitivity among nursing undergraduates: a chain mediation role of problematic internet use and bedtime procrastination

BACKGROUND

Loneliness was associated with interpersonal sensitivity, but the factors contributing to this relationship in nursing students remain unclear. This study investigated the relationship between loneliness and interpersonal sensitivity among nursing undergraduates, with a specific focus on the mediating roles played by problematic internet use and bedtime procrastination.

METHOD

This study was conducted as a cross-sectional survey at a university in China between November and December 2022. Data were collected using a self-administered online questionnaire that included demographic characteristics, the Three-Item Loneliness Scale (T-ILS), the Chinese Version of Short Form of Interpersonal Sensitivity Measure (IPSM-CS), the 6-item short form of the Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire (PIUQ-SF-6), and the Bedtime Procrastination Scale (BPS). Pearson correlation analysis was employed to explore the relationships among loneliness, interpersonal sensitivity, problematic internet use, and bedtime procrastination. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was conducted using AMOS software to examine the mediating role of problematic internet use and bedtime procrastination between loneliness and interpersonal sensitivity.

RESULTS

Loneliness was positively related to interpersonal sensitivity among nursing undergraduates (β = 0.44, P < 0.001). There was a significant chain mediation role of problematic internet use and bedtime procrastination in the relationship between loneliness and interpersonal sensitivity.

CONCLUSIONS

The study contributed to deepening the understanding of the relationship between loneliness and interpersonal sensitivity and provided valuable insights into the improvement of interpersonal sensitivity in nursing undergraduates.

Multiple physical symptoms and coping strategies over the last decade - Knowledge from two Danish population-based cross-sectional studies in 2012 and 2022

OBJECTIVE

To compare the prevalence of multiple physical symptoms, coping scores, and associations between multiple physical symptoms and coping in two population-based surveys within a 10-year interval.

METHODS

A nationwide study on symptoms and healthcare-seeking, the Danish Symptom Cohort, was carried out in 2012 and repeated in 2022. For each survey, 100,000 randomly selected individuals were invited, and individuals aged 20-64 years were eligible for inclusion. Multiple physical symptoms were identified using the 25-item Bodily Distress Syndrome checklist, and coping was assessed with the Brief Approach/Avoidance Coping Questionnaire. Statistical analyses included multinomial and logistic regressions.

RESULTS

A total of 35,877 were included in 2012 and 18,330 in 2022. Overall, 35.1% reported multiple physical symptoms in 2022 compared with 23.8% in 2012. The mean sum score for approach was lower in 2022 than in 2012 with a statistically significant mean difference of -1.27 (Cohen's d = -0.34), while diversion and resignation scores were significantly higher in 2022 with mean differences of 0.34 (Cohen's d = 0.11) and 0.52 (Cohen's d = 0.17), respectively. Regression analyses showed that lower approach scores and higher diversion and resignation scores were associated with an increased probability of having multiple physical symptoms in 2022, thereby confirming the results from 2012.

CONCLUSION

Over the decade, symptom reporting may have increased while coping strategies may have changed towards a slightly higher use of avoidance and lower use of approach. It seems relevant to identify modifiable contributing factors in society to prevent an acceleration of symptom reporting and avoidant behavior.

Short-term dynamics of loneliness and depressive symptoms: Gender differences in older adults

BACKGROUND

Previous research examining the relationship between loneliness and depressive symptoms often treated these constructs as static traits rather than dynamic states. The current study focused on the short-term, prospective link between loneliness and depressive symptoms, while also analyzing potential gender differences.

METHODS

We modeled panel data from seven bi-weekly assessments gathered in the FRequent health Assessment In Later life (FRAIL70+) study. At baseline, the sample size amounted to N = 426 community-dwelling older adults aged 70 years or older in Austria. The relationship between loneliness and depressive symptoms was analyzed using a latent change score modeling framework.

RESULTS

As regards depressive symptoms, women showed higher initial levels and more change across the three months than men. Loneliness did not considerably change across time for both sexes. Moreover, greater levels of loneliness at a given point in time were associated with an accelerated increase in depressive symptoms two weeks later in women but not in men.

CONCLUSION

Loneliness appeared to be a potential determinant of future increases in depressive symptoms. The varying effects observed between men and women suggest potential gender differences in short-term fluctuations of depressive symptoms and their underlying mechanisms.

Chronic loneliness and the risk of incident stroke in middle and late adulthood: a longitudinal cohort study of U.S. older adults

Background

Loneliness has been implicated as a stroke risk factor, yet studies have examined loneliness at only one time point. The association of loneliness changes and risk of incident stroke remains understudied. Our aim was to examine the association of loneliness with incident stroke, particularly the role of loneliness chronicity.

Methods

This prospective cohort study examined data from the Health and Retirement Study during 2006-2018. For analyses examining baseline loneliness only, we included U.S. adults aged 50 years or older and stroke-free at baseline and excluded individuals missing data on loneliness and those who experienced death at baseline. For analyses examining loneliness changes over two time points, we included those aged 50 years or older at baseline and stroke-free through the exposure measurement period. Individuals missing a loneliness scale measure or those who experienced death during the exposure measurement period were excluded. Loneliness was measured with the 3-item Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale. We constructed loneliness scores (range 3-9), dichotomized loneliness measures (high vs low using a >6 cutoff), and loneliness patterns across two time points (consistently low, remitting, recent onset, consistently high). Cox regression models estimated associations of baseline loneliness (N = 12,161) with incident stroke over a 10-12-year period, and loneliness change patterns (N = 8936) with incident stroke over a subsequent 6-8-year period, adjusting for demographics, health behaviors and health conditions.

Findings

Higher loneliness scores at baseline were associated with incident stroke for continuous (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.05, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01-1.08) and dichotomized (HR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.06-1.47) loneliness measures, and persisted after adjustment for social isolation but not depressive symptoms. Only individuals with a consistently high loneliness pattern over time (vs consistently low) had significantly higher incident stroke risk (HR: 1.56, 95% CI: 1.11-2.18) after adjusting for depressive symptoms and social isolation.

Interpretation

Chronic loneliness was associated with higher stroke risk independent of depressive symptoms or social isolation. Addressing loneliness may have an important role in stroke prevention, and repeated assessments of loneliness over time may help identify those particularly at risk.

Funding

National Institute on Aging (NIA U01AG009740).

Investigating the interplay of loneliness, computer-mediated communication, online social capital, and well-being: insights from a COVID-19 lockdown study

Introduction

Recent studies have found that there is scope for communication technologies to increase online social capital. Although studies have linked online social capital and mental well-being, there is a need to identify the causal pathways within this relationship. This study explores the role of loneliness in the relationship between computer-mediated communication, online social capital and well-being.

Methods

The study used an online questionnaire and had 217 participants. William's 2006 scale was used to measure individuals' online social capital, and structural equational modelling (SEM) was used to explore the relationship between computer-mediated communication, use, levels of loneliness, online social capital and well-being. This study was conducted remotely during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Ireland.

Results

High levels of online communication mitigated the otherwise negative effects of loneliness on well-being when online interaction fostered online social capital.

Conclusion

Overall, the proposed model offers qualified support for the continued analysis of technology-mediated communication as a potential source for building online social capital and improving the well-being of particular individuals with high levels of loneliness.

Contributions of loneliness to cognitive impairment and dementia in older adults are independent of other risk factors and Alzheimer's pathology: a narrative review

Loneliness significantly contributes to cognitive impairment and dementia in older adults. Loneliness is a distressing feeling resulting from a perceived lack of social connection (i.e., a discrepancy between desired and actual social relationships), while social isolation is a related term that can be defined by number and type of social relationships. Importantly, loneliness is distinct from social isolation in that it is associated with a distressing self-perception. The primary focus of this narrative review is the impact of chronic loneliness on cognitive impairment and dementia among older adults. Loneliness has a significant association with many factors that are related to worse cognition, and therefore we include discussion on health, mental health, as well as the physiological effects of loneliness, neuropathology, and potential treatments. Loneliness has been shown to be related to development of dementia with a hazard ratio (HR) risk comparable to having a single APOE4 gene. The relationship of dementia to loneliness appears to be at least partially independent of other known dementia risk factors that are possibly associated with loneliness, such as depression, educational status, social isolation, and physical activity. Episodic memory is not consistently impacted by loneliness, which would be more typically impaired if the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia was due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. In addition, the several longitudinal studies that included neuropathology showed no evidence for a relationship between loneliness and AD neuropathology. Loneliness may decrease resilience, or produce greater cognitive change associated with the same level of AD neuropathology. Intervention strategies to decrease loneliness in older adults have been developed but need to consider key treatment targets beyond social isolation. Loneliness needs to be assessed in all studies of cognitive decline in elders, since it significantly contributes to the variance of cognitive function. It will be useful to better define the underlying mechanism of loneliness effects on cognition to determine if it is similar to other psychological factors related to excessive stress reactivity, such as neuroticism or even depression, which are also associated with cognitive decline. It is important from a health perspective to develop better strategies to decrease loneliness in older adults.

Understanding the Development of Chronic Loneliness in Youth

Loneliness becomes more prevalent as youth transition from childhood into adolescence. A key underlying process may be the puberty-related increase in biological stress reactivity, which can alter social behavior and elicit conflict or social withdrawal ("fight-or-flight" behaviors) in some youth, but increased prosocial ("tend-and-befriend") responses in others. We propose an integrative theoretical model that identifies the social, personality, and biological characteristics underlying individual differences in social-behavioral responses to stress. This model posits a vicious cycle whereby youth who respond to stress with "fight-or-flight" tendencies develop increasing and chronic levels of loneliness across adolescence, whereas youth who display "tend-and-befriend" behaviors may be buffered from these consequences. Based on research supporting this model, we propose multiple intervention avenues for curtailing the prevalence of loneliness in adolescence by targeting key factors involved in its development: social relationships, personality, and stress-induced behavioral and biological changes.

Connecting loneliness with pathological personality traits: Evidence for genetic and environmental mediation from a study of older twins

Loneliness has broad public health importance, especially in older adulthood, and there is some evidence suggesting it is associated with several personality disorders (PDs). The etiology of these PD-loneliness associations, however, has rarely been studied, especially in the context of the maladaptive traits of the DSM-5 alternative model of personality disorder (AMPD). To address these limitations, we estimated phenotypic, genetic, and unique environmental associations between loneliness and maladaptive personality traits in a sample of older adults from the Minnesota Twin Registry (n = 1,356, Mage = 70.4). Loneliness was moderately to strongly associated with each of the AMPD domains of negative affect, detachment, antagonism, disinhibition, and psychoticism (r = .22-.58), with evidence of both genetic (rg = .45-.75) and unique environmental (re = .10-.48) influences explaining the associations to varying degrees. We argue that loneliness may be an underappreciated concomitant of personality pathology, with PD traits perhaps underlying its development. Indeed, these findings suggest that loneliness may be a manifestation of the genetic and environmental forces that also lead to pathological personality variation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Evidence for a shared genetic contribution to loneliness and borderline personality disorder

Loneliness, influenced by genetic and environmental factors such as childhood maltreatment, is one aspect of interpersonal dysfunction in Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Numerous studies link loneliness and BPD and twin studies indicate a genetic contribution to this association. The aim of our study was to investigate whether genetic predisposition for loneliness and BPD risk overlap and whether genetic risk for loneliness contributes to higher loneliness reported by BPD patients, using genome-wide genotype data. We assessed the genetic correlation of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of loneliness and BPD using linkage disequilibrium score regression and tested whether a polygenic score for loneliness (loneliness-PGS) was associated with case-control status in two independent genotyped samples of BPD patients and healthy controls (HC; Witt2017-sample: 998 BPD, 1545 HC; KFO-sample: 187 BPD, 261 HC). In the KFO-sample, we examined associations of loneliness-PGS with reported loneliness, and whether the loneliness-PGS influenced the association between childhood maltreatment and loneliness. We found a genetic correlation between the GWAS of loneliness and BPD in the Witt2017-sample (rg = 0.23, p = 0.015), a positive association of loneliness-PGS with BPD case-control status (Witt2017-sample: NkR² = 2.3%, p = 2.7*10-12; KFO-sample: NkR² = 6.6%, p = 4.4*10-6), and a positive association between loneliness-PGS and loneliness across patient and control groups in the KFO-sample (β = 0.186, p = 0.002). The loneliness-PGS did not moderate the association between childhood maltreatment and loneliness in BPD. Our study is the first to use genome-wide genotype data to show that the genetic factors underlying variation in loneliness in the general population and the risk for BPD overlap. The loneliness-PGS was associated with reported loneliness. Further research is needed to investigate which genetic mechanisms and pathways are involved in this association and whether a genetic predisposition for loneliness contributes to BPD risk.

Loneliness during the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany: Impact of social factors and polygenic risk scores on interpersonal differences in loneliness and mental health

OBJECTIVES

The outbreak of Covid-19 negatively affected mental health and increased loneliness. The subjective feeling of loneliness is influenced by genetic and social factors and has a negative impact on mental health.

METHODS

From March 2020 to June 2021 loneliness was investigated in N = 517 individuals using monthly acquired questionnaire data and Latent Growth Curve Analysis. Associations of social factors and polygenic risk scores (PRSs, n = 361) with class membership were investigated.

RESULTS

Three classes ("average", 40%; "not lonely", 38%; "elevated loneliness", 22%) were identified, that differ significantly regarding loneliness, mental dysfunction, and response to the lockdown phases. Individuals with a high PRS for neuroticism are more likely to belong to the "elevated loneliness" class, living with another person is a protective factor.

CONCLUSION

As the "elevated loneliness" class was at the highest risk of mental dysfunction, our findings underscore the importance of identifying those individuals to implement counteractive measures.

Loneliness and depression: bidirectional mendelian randomization analyses using data from three large genome-wide association studies

Major depression (MD) is a serious psychiatric illness afflicting nearly 5% of the world's population. A large correlational literature suggests that loneliness is a prospective risk factor for MD; correlational assocations of this nature may be confounded for a variety of reasons. This report uses Mendelian Randomization (MR) to examine potentially causal associations between loneliness and MD. We report on analyses using summary statistics from three large genome wide association studies (GWAS). MR analyses were conducted using three independent sources of GWAS summary statistics. In the first set of analyses, we used available summary statistics from an extant GWAS of loneliness to predict MD risk. We used two sources of outcome data: the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) meta-analysis of MD (PGC-MD; N = 142,646) and the Million Veteran Program (MVP-MD; N = 250,215). Finally, we reversed analyses using data from the MVP and PGC samples to identify risk variants for MD and used loneliness outcome data from UK Biobank. We find robust evidence for a bidirectional causal relationship between loneliness and MD, including between loneliness, depression cases status, and a continuous measure of depressive symptoms. The estimates remained significant across several sensitivity analyses, including models that account for horizontal pleiotropy. This paper provides the first genetically-informed evidence that reducing loneliness may play a causal role in decreasing risk for depressive illness, and these findings support efforts to reduce loneliness in order to prevent or ameliorate MD. Discussion focuses on the public health significance of these findings, especially in light of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Longitudinal associations of neuroticism with life satisfaction and social adaptation in a nationally representative adult sample

OBJECTIVE

Correlational studies have frequently linked neuroticism to lower well-being and poorer social adaptation. In this study, we examined the longitudinal associations of neuroticism with life satisfaction and aspects of social adaptation (i.e., loneliness, number of close friends, and interpersonal trust).

METHOD

Cross-lagged panel models (CLPMs) and random intercepts cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs) were used to analyze the prospective associations between variables in a nationally representative adult sample from Germany (N = 5,663 to 11,079 per analysis; 2-4 measurement waves with lags of 4-5 years).

RESULTS

CLPMs indicated that higher neuroticism was related to lower life satisfaction, higher loneliness, fewer friends, and lower interpersonal trust, but not vice versa. At the within-person level, RI-CLPMs revealed similar findings with increased neuroticism predicting decreases in life satisfaction, increases in loneliness, and decreases in interpersonal trust. Indices of social adaptation partially mediated the link between neuroticism and life satisfaction at the between-person but not at the within-person level. Exploratory multigroup analyses support the generalization of the cross-lagged effects of neuroticism on life satisfaction and social adaptation across age, gender, and geographical regions (East versus West Germany).

CONCLUSIONS

These findings highlight the role of neuroticism in shaping psychosocial outcomes over time.

How does loneliness "get under the skin" to become biologically embedded?

Loneliness is linked to declining physical health across cardiovascular, inflammatory, metabolic, and cognitive domains. As a result, loneliness is increasingly being recognized as a public health threat, though the mechanisms that have been studied do not yet explain all loneliness-related health risk. Potential mechanisms include loneliness having 1.) direct, causal impacts on health, possibly maintained by epigenetic modification, 2.) indirect effects mediated through health-limiting behaviors, and 3.) artifactual associations perhaps related to genetic overlap and reverse causation. In this scoping review, we examine the evidence surrounding each of these pathways, with a particular emphasis on emerging research on epigenetic effects, in order to evaluate how loneliness becomes biologically embedded. We conclude that there are significant gaps in our knowledge of how psychosocial stress may lead to physiological changes, so more work is needed to understand if, how, and when loneliness has a direct influence on health. Hypothalamic-pituitary adrenocortical axis disruptions that lead to changes in gene expression through methylation and the activity of transcription factor proteins are one promising area of research but are confounded by a number of unmeasured factors. Therefore, wok is needed using causally informative designs, such as twin and family studies and intensively longitudinal diary studies.

Risk factors for loneliness: A literature review

RATIONALE

Increasingly, loneliness is being recognised as a serious problem with detrimental effects on health, as well as on social cohesion and community trust. To effectively tackle this complex issue, a clear understanding of the phenomenon and its main drivers is needed. Over years of scientific research on loneliness, many potential risk factors have emerged and been tested empirically.

OBJECTIVE

This narrative review of 109 studies provides a concise summary of empirical evidence on the main potential risk factors for loneliness and presents an additional section dedicated to the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHOD

Given the very large number of existing studies, emphasis is placed on recent meta-analyses and systematic literature reviews as well as longitudinal studies. Similarly, given the large number of possible risk factors for loneliness, which may differ based on the geographical and cultural context, this review focuses on studies from Europe and North America.

RESULTS

The results show that demographic factors often correlate with loneliness, but in many cases the link becomes negligible when controlling for other factors. Often, physical and mental health problems are found to be associated with loneliness, and so are some psychological factors, such as neuroticism or extroversion. Loneliness also depends on the environment in which one lives, and possibly the broader socio-economic and socio-cultural contexts. Nevertheless, the review shows that ultimately everything comes down to the quantity and quality of social relationships. In particular, marital status, living arrangements and the characteristics of one's personal social network are quite consistently found to be among the strongest predictors of loneliness. These main findings about the risk factors for loneliness remained valid also during the COVID-19 pandemic.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

The findings of this review have implications for policy, as understanding who the most vulnerable groups are is key for designing targeted policy solutions that tackle loneliness.

Evidence of correlations between human partners based on systematic reviews and meta-analyses of 22 traits and UK Biobank analysis of 133 traits

Positive correlations between mates can increase trait variation and prevalence, as well as bias estimates from genetically informed study designs. While past studies of similarity between human mating partners have largely found evidence of positive correlations, to our knowledge, no formal meta-analysis has examined human partner correlations across multiple categories of traits. Thus, we conducted systematic reviews and random-effects meta-analyses of human male-female partner correlations across 22 traits commonly studied by psychologists, economists, sociologists, anthropologists, epidemiologists and geneticists. Using ScienceDirect, PubMed and Google Scholar, we incorporated 480 partner correlations from 199 peer-reviewed studies of co-parents, engaged pairs, married pairs and/or cohabitating pairs that were published on or before 16 August 2022. We also calculated 133 trait correlations using up to 79,074 male-female couples in the UK Biobank (UKB). Estimates of the 22 mean meta-analysed correlations ranged from rmeta = 0.08 (adjusted 95% CI = 0.03, 0.13) for extraversion to rmeta = 0.58 (adjusted 95% CI = 0.50, 0.64) for political values, with funnel plots showing little evidence of publication bias across traits. The 133 UKB correlations ranged from rUKB = -0.18 (adjusted 95% CI = -0.20, -0.16) for chronotype (being a 'morning' or 'evening' person) to rUKB = 0.87 (adjusted 95% CI = 0.86, 0.87) for birth year. Across analyses, political and religious attitudes, educational attainment and some substance use traits showed the highest correlations, while psychological (that is, psychiatric/personality) and anthropometric traits generally yielded lower but positive correlations. We observed high levels of between-sample heterogeneity for most meta-analysed traits, probably because of both systematic differences between samples and true differences in partner correlations across populations.

The relationship between fall and loneliness among older people in China: the mediating role of personality trait

Aims

We aimed to explore the role of personality traits between fall and loneliness.

Methods

A questionnaire survey was used to investigate falls, the big five personality traits, and loneliness among older people (≥ 60 years old) in China mainland.

Results

A total of 4,289 older people participated in the survey. There are significant differences in age, marital status, education level, residence, solitariness, and fall in relation to loneliness among older people. Falls, especially when they occurred one time increase the loneliness of older people. Agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism were significant mediating effects between falls and loneliness.

Conclusion

This study implied that agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism were meditating factors between falls and loneliness. In the future, we should consider the big five personality traits more to understand loneliness and offer older people interventions for reducing their loneliness. The study design was cross-sectional, so the temporal precedence of mediators and causality could not be tested. Because the data were collected retrospectively, current loneliness is likely to have confounding effects on retrospective recall.

The genetics of neuroticism: Insights from the Maudsley rat model and human studies

We examine some of the genetic features of neuroticism (N) taking as an animal model the Maudsley Reactive (MR) and Maudsley Nonreactive (MNR) rat strains which were selectively bred, respectively, for high and low open-field defecation (OFD) starting in the late 1950s. To draw analogies with human genetic studies, we explore the genetic correlation of N with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). We review progress with the rat model and developments in the field of human complex trait genetics, including genetic association studies that relate to current understanding of the genetics of N. The widespread differences in the tone of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system that have been found between the Maudsley strains, particularly those observed in the colon, may underly the differences in OFD (MNR, higher sympathetic tone and zero defecation). In humans, a large genome-wide association study (GWAS) reported six genes contributing to IBS, four of which were implicated in mood and anxiety disorders or were expressed in the brain, with three of the four also expressed in the nerve fibers and ganglia of the gut. Heritability of N is estimated at around 50% in twin and family studies, and GWASs identified hundreds of loci, enabling estimation of genome-wide correlations (rg) with other traits. Significantly, the estimate for rg between risk of IBS, anxiety, N, and depression was >0.5 and suggested genetic pleiotropy without evidence for causal mechanisms. Findings on the adrenergic pharmacology of the colon, coupled with new understanding of the role of the locus ceruleus in modifying afferent information from this organ, generate hypotheses that challenge traditional cause/effect notions about the relationship of the central nervous system to peripheral events in response to stress, suggest specific targets for gene action in the Maudsley model and emphasize the value of reciprocal evaluation of genetic architecture underlying N in rodents and humans.

Cross-Sectional and Prospective Relationships Between Neuroticism and Depressive Symptoms Among College Students: The Mediating Role of Loneliness

High levels of neuroticism are associated with an increased risk of depression. The mechanisms for this association are still unclear. This study investigated loneliness, a pervasive negative human emotion linked to depressive symptoms, as a potential mediator. Data were collected from 739 college students (71.6% females; mean age = 18.47, SD = .87) at two times points through 3 years. Self-report questionnaires were administered to assess neuroticism, loneliness, and depressive symptoms. Cross-sectional analyses of the baseline data suggested that loneliness mediates the association between neuroticism and depressive symptoms. Prospective analyses with two-wave data further prove that baseline neuroticism can predict the changes in depressive symptoms, and changes in loneliness sequentially mediated this association. These findings suggest a possibility of developing interventions for loneliness to interrupt the association between neuroticism and poorer mental health outcomes among college students.

Age differences in functional brain networks associated with loneliness and empathy

Loneliness is associated with differences in resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) within and between large-scale networks in early- and middle-aged adult cohorts. However, age-related changes in associations between sociality and brain function into late adulthood are not well understood. Here, we examined age differences in the association between two dimensions of sociality-loneliness and empathic responding-and RSFC of the cerebral cortex. Self-report measures of loneliness and empathy were inversely related across the entire sample of younger (mean age = 22.6y, n = 128) and older (mean age = 69.0y, n = 92) adults. Using multivariate analyses of multi-echo fMRI RSFC, we identified distinct functional connectivity patterns for individual and age group differences associated with loneliness and empathic responding. Loneliness in young and empathy in both age groups was related to greater visual network integration with association networks (e.g., default, fronto-parietal control). In contrast, loneliness was positively related to within- and between-network integration of association networks for older adults. These results extend our previous findings in early- and middle-aged cohorts, demonstrating that brain systems associated with loneliness, as well as empathy, differ in older age. Further, the findings suggest that these two aspects of social experience engage different neurocognitive processes across human life-span development.

Comparing associations between personality and loneliness at midlife across three cultural groups

OBJECTIVE

Loneliness represents a public health threat given its central role in predicting adverse mental and physical health outcomes. Prior research has established four of the Big Five personality traits as consistent cross-sectional predictors of loneliness in largely western, White samples. However, it is not clear if the personality predictors of loneliness vary across cultures.

METHOD

The present study estimates associations between the Big Five traits and loneliness across distinct samples of White American, Black American, and Japanese adults (n = 6051 at T1). Confirmatory factor analysis and exploratory structural equation modeling were used to examine measurement invariance properties of the Big Five and loneliness across these groups. The factor structures were then carried forward to estimate associations between personality and loneliness across two assessments waves using structural equation modeling.

RESULTS

While Neuroticism was a strong predictor across groups, low Extraversion was more predictive of loneliness in Japan than in the U.S., and low Conscientiousness was only a significant predictor in the U.S.

CONCLUSIONS

Previous literature offers a framework for interpreting these findings in that loneliness may be shaped comparatively more through interconnectedness in Japanese culture, while, in the U.S., individual goals and personal romantic expectations are more salient.

Measuring loneliness: Psychometric properties of the three-item loneliness scale among community-dwelling adults

Loneliness is a prevalent set of negative feelings associated with unsatisfactory and reduced social interactions, inadequate social support, poor satisfaction with life and health, negative emotions, and economic burden. Thus, its measurement is of foremost importance. Therefore, this study aimed (i) to devise the Portuguese version of the three-Item Loneliness Scale (T-ILS), which is ideal for epidemiological studies, and (ii) to evaluate its psychometric properties. Three hundred forty-five community-dwelling Portuguese adults with a mean age of 54.6 ± 19.5 years, 61.7% women, recruited door-to-door, were assessed with the Portuguese versions of T-ILS, Satisfaction With Life Scale-SWLS, Lubben Social Network Scale 6-items-LSNS-6, a question regarding Happiness/Unhappiness, and a sociodemographic questionnaire. The T-ILS showed good psychometric properties and correlated moderately with SWLS and LSNS-6, and happiness, and weakly with the number of people in the household. The Portuguese version of the T-ILS proved to be a valid and reliable instrument, easy and quick to administer. It proved to be a valuable tool in screening loneliness in Portugal, being potentially useful to the identification of lonelier people in need of intervention.

Depressive symptoms and neuroticism-related traits are the main factors associated with wellbeing independent of the history of lifetime depression in the UK Biobank

BACKGROUND

Wellbeing has a fundamental role in determining life expectancy and major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the main modulating factors of wellbeing. This study evaluated the modulators of wellbeing in individuals with lifetime recurrent MDD (RMDD), single-episode MDD (SMDD) and no MDD in the UK Biobank.

METHODS

Scores of happiness, meaningful life and satisfaction about functioning were condensed in a functioning-wellbeing score (FWS). We evaluated depression and anxiety characteristics, neuroticism-related traits, physical diseases, lifestyle and polygenic risk scores (PRSs) of psychiatric disorders. Other than individual predictors, we estimated the cumulative contribution to FWS of each group of predictors. We tested the indirect role of neuroticism on FWS through the modulation of depression manifestations using a mediation analysis.

RESULTS

We identified 47 966, 21 117 and 207 423 individuals with lifetime RMDD, SMDD and no MDD, respectively. Depression symptoms and personality showed the largest impact on FWS (variance explained ~20%), particularly self-harm, worthlessness feelings during the worst depression, chronic depression, loneliness and neuroticism. Personality played a stronger role in SMDD. Anxiety characteristics showed a higher effect in SMDD and no MDD groups. Neuroticism played indirect effects through specific depressive symptoms that modulated FWS. Physical diseases and lifestyle explained only 4-5% of FWS variance. The PRS of MDD showed the largest effect on FWS compared to other PRSs.

CONCLUSIONS

This was the first study to comprehensively evaluate the predictors of wellbeing in relation to the history of MDD. The identified variables are important to identify individuals at risk and promote wellbeing.

The Buffering Role of Self-compassion in the Association Between Loneliness with Depressive Symptoms: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study Among Older Adults Living in Residential Care Homes During COVID-19

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an ongoing geriatric health emergency with a substantial increase in the prevalence of medical and mental health issues, particularly among older adults living in residential care homes. The knowledge of the risk and protective factors related to the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older adults living in residential care homes is based on limited data. This study aimed to investigate whether loneliness mediates the effects of fear generated by a pandemic on depression. Additionally, we hypothesized that self-compassion moderates the effect of loneliness on depression. A sample comprised 323 older adults (females: n = 141, males: n = 182) with mean age = 74.98 years (standard deviation = 6.59, age 65-90) completed a survey comprising the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, De Jung Gierveld Loneliness Scale, the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire, and the Self-compassion Scale. The results revealed that the total effect of fear on depression was statistically significant, with a medium effect size (Cohen's f 2 = .14) and this association was partially mediated by loneliness (β = .11, SE = .04, P < .001, t = 2.91, 95% CI 0.04-0.19). The self-compassion also moderated the loneliness effect on depression. The findings of this study support COVID-19 evidence, indicating that a greater level of fear generated by the pandemic is linked to depression and loneliness. The findings support the notion that self-compassion mitigates the adverse effects of stressful events in older adults. Customized self-compassion programs may be effective loneliness-mitigating interventions for older adults living in residential care homes.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11469-023-01014-0.

Association between Sense of Loneliness and Quality of Life in Older Adults with Multimorbidity

BACKGROUND

Multimorbidity has been associated with adverse health outcomes, such as reduced physical function, poor quality-of-life (QoL), poor self-rated health.

OBJECTIVE

The association between quality of life, social support, sense of loneliness and sex and age in older adult patients affected by two or more chronic diseases (multimorbidity) was evaluated.

METHODS

Patients n. 162 with multimorbidity and living with family members.

TESTS

MMSE-Mini-Mental-State-Examination; ADL-Activities of Daily Living; Social Schedule: demographic variables; Loneliness Scale -de Jong Gierveld; Quality-of-Life-FACT-G; WHOQOL-BRIEF Social relationships.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Multivariate Regression Analysis.

RESULTS

The patients with three or more diseases have worse dimensions of FACT-G total score (p = 0.029), QoL Physical-well-being (p = 0.003), Social well-being (p = 0.003), Emotional-well-being (p = 0.012), Functional-well-being (p < 0.001), than those with two. Multiple linear regression QoL: FACT_G total score, PWB, SWB, EWB, FWB as dependent variables. In the presence of multimorbidity with an increase in the patient's age FACT-G total score (B = -0.004, p = 0.482), PWB (B = -0.024, p = 0.014), SWB (B = -0.022, p = 0.051), EWB (B = -0.001, p = 0.939), FWB (B = -0.023, p = 0.013) decrease by an average of 0.1, and as the sense of solitude increases FACT-G total score (B = -0.285, p < 0.000), PWB (B = -0.435, p < 0.000), SWB(B = -0.401, p < 0.000), EWB(B = -0.494, p < 0.000), FWB(B = -0.429, p < 0.000) decrease by 0.4.

CONCLUSIONS

A sense of loneliness and advancing age are associated with bad quality-of life in self-sufficient elderly patients with multimorbidity.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE

Demonstrating that loneliness, as well as in the presence of interpersonal relations, is predictive of worse quality of life in patients with multimorbidity helps identify people most at risk for common symptoms and lays the groundwork for research concerning both diagnosis and treatment.

Relationship of DRD5 and MAO-B VNTR polymorphisms with paranoid and antisocial personality disorders in polydrug users

Although multiple studies have shown the role genetics plays in personality disorders and in addictions, few have studied the genetic aspects of their comorbidity. Here, we carried out a cross-sectional study in a sample comprising 303 Caucasian polydrug-consuming patients. The presence of personality disorders was evaluated using the International Personality Disorder Examination, and genes related to dopamine, serotonin and monoamine oxidase (MAO) were genotyped. A significant relationship was observed between the bp 279 DRD5 variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) polymorphism and paranoid personality disorder OR 95 % CI = 2.186 1.074 ; 4.449 ; p = 0.006 . The bp 182 OR 95 % CI = 0.407 0.178 ; 0.931 ; p = 0.033 and bp 184 OR 95 % CI = 0.391 0.188 ; 0.813 ; p = 0.012 alleles of the MAOB VNTR were also associated with antisocial personality disorder. Among patients with addictions, paranoid personality disorder should also be considered in addition to the importance of antisocial and borderline personality disorders. The higher frequency of the bp 279 DRD5 VNTR allele found in patients with paranoid personality disorder, as well as the associations between alleles of the MAOB VNTR and antisocial personality disorder, support the monoaminergic bases of these personality disorders, especially when dealing with patients with addictions.

Association Between Loneliness and Suicidal Behaviour: A Scoping Review

OBJECTIVE

Suicide is a public health issue, and there are several factors leading to suicide, like mental illness and psychosocial stressors. Actual loneliness (living alone) and subjective loneliness (feeling of being alone) and different suicidal behaviors have been reported to have some link. This scoping review aimed to assess the association between loneliness and suicidal behaviour by exploring the existing literature.

METHODS

A scoping review was conducted implementing the appropriate framework and in accord with the PRISMA-ScR extension. A PubMed database search was made using a combination of terms to find publications in English from 2011 to 2021. Studies were included if they reported quantitative outcomes of the association between loneliness and suicidal experiences, including suicidal thoughts, plans, and/or attempts. Screening and data charting of the published literature was conducted by a panel of authors. The accuracy and clarity of extracted data was checked by three reviewers.

RESULTS

Among 421 articles found, 31 full texts were evaluated based on exclusion and inclusion criteria, out of which, 18 papers that reported quantitative outcomes of the association between loneliness and suicidal experiences were included. We found that association between loneliness and suicidal behaviour is determined by individual, social and cultural factors. Co-existing mental illness, substance use disorder and economic hardship play an important role for the completion of suicide.

CONCLUSION

Loneliness is correlated with suicide, and the knowledge about this association could assist in the identification of suicidal individuals or those at elevated risk of suicidal behaviour. Future studies should focus on loneliness and its relation to suicidal ideation in individuals with different mental health disorders and personalities.

The relation between college students' neuroticism and loneliness: The chain mediating roles of self-efficacy, social avoidance and distress

Background

Recently, identifying the psychological mechanism of college students' loneliness has attracted wide attention because the maladjustment caused by college students' loneliness is increasingly common. This study explored the relationship and potential mechanism between college students' neuroticism and loneliness in a large sample.

Methods

A total of 4,600 college students completed the Big Five Personality Scale, Loneliness Scale, Self-efficacy Scale and Social Avoidance and Distress Scale.

Results

By examining the chain mediating roles of self-efficacy, social avoidance and distress (SAD) in the relation between neuroticism and loneliness, the present study found that college students' neuroticism was positively associated with loneliness via self-efficacy and SAD, respectively, and sequentially.

Conclusions

The results suggest a significant positive association between neuroticism and loneliness, which is influenced by the mediating effects of both self-efficacy and social avoidance and distress (SAD), as well as the chained mediating effects of self-efficacy and SAD.

Impact of resilience, social support, and personality traits in patients with neuroinflammatory diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the well-being of persons with neuroinflammatory diseases (pwNID). Identifying factors that influence the response to challenging conditions could guide supportive care.

METHODS

2185 pwNID and 1079 healthy controls (HCs) from five US centers completed an online survey regarding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical and psychological well-being. Survey instruments included resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, CD-RISC), loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale), social support (modified social support survey, MSSS-5), personality traits (NEO-Five Factor Inventory, NEO-FFI), and disability (Patient-Determined Disability Steps (PDDS). Step-wise regression models and mediation analyses assessed whether the level of self-reported resilience, size of the social support, and specific personality traits (study predictors) were associated with self-reported disability and/or loneliness (study outcomes).

RESULTS

The response rate varied significantly between the questionnaires. While, all pwNID completed the demographic questionnaire, 78.8% completed the loneliness questionnaire and 49.7% completed the NEO-FFI. Based on 787 responses, greater neuroticism (standardized β = 0.312, p < 0.001), less social support (standardized β = -0.242, p < 0.001), lower extraversion (standardized β = -0.083, p=0.017), lower agreeableness (standardized β = -0.119, p < 0.001), and lower resilience (standardized β = -0.125, p = 0.002) were associated with the feeling of loneliness. Social support and resilience modestly but significantly mediated the association between personality traits and loneliness. Older age (standardized β = 0.165, p < 0.001) and lower conscientiousness (standardized β = -0.094, p = 0.007) were associated with worse disability (higher PDDS scores). There were no differences in outcomes between pwNID and HCs.

CONCLUSION

Greater social support potentially attenuates the association between neuroticism and the feeling of loneliness in pwNID during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assessment of personality traits may identify pwNID that are in greater need of social support and guide targeted interventions.

Comparing Phenotypic, Genetic, and Environmental Associations between Personality and Loneliness

As a strong risk factor for mortality, individual differences in loneliness are of clear public health significance. Four of the Big Five traits have emerged as cross-sectional correlates, but the etiology of these links is unclear, as are relations with more specific personality facets. Thus, we estimated phenotypic, genetic, and environmental associations between loneliness and both broader and narrower personality dimensions. Traits that indexed Negative Emotionality (e.g., Neuroticism, Stress Reactivity, Alienation) and low Positive Emotionality (e.g., low Extraversion, low Well-Being) had the strongest associations with loneliness, though low Conscientiousness, low Agreeableness, and high Aggression were also implicated. These associations were explained by both genetic (0.30<|rg|<0.80) and unique environmental (0.10<|re|<0.35) influences, consistent with an etiology of loneliness involving several personality domains.

Social context and loneliness in an epidemiological youth sample using the Experience Sampling Method

BACKGROUND

Previous research has shown the relationship between loneliness and affect, as well as the relationship between trait loneliness and state loneliness. However, none has investigated how social context affects the association between loneliness and affect. The current study aims to examine the association between trait loneliness, state loneliness and momentary affects in different social contexts.

METHODS

Participants aged 15-24 were randomly recruited from a Hong Kong epidemiological study to participate in an Experience Sampling Method (ESM) study. The group was divided in two based on the mean trait loneliness score (UCLA Loneliness Scale) at baseline. State loneliness, momentary positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) and social context were assessed using ESM. Multilevel logistic regression was used to analyze the association between momentary affect, state loneliness and trait loneliness in various social contexts.

RESULTS

HL (high lonely) and LL (low lonely) groups consisted of 79 participants (44.6%) and 98 participants (55.4%) respectively. HL group had lower PA and higher NA, as well as a higher state loneliness than LL group. HL group had a lower state loneliness when being with intimate company compared to alone. LL group only had a higher PA when being with intimate company compared to non-intimate company and alone respectively.

CONCLUSION

Adolescents with high level of trait loneliness experienced higher PA, momentary loneliness and lower NA compared to those with low level of trait loneliness. The quality of social company is crucial in allowing one to experience different degrees of PA and momentary loneliness.

Unraveling the Relation Between Personality and Well-Being in a Genetically Informative Design

In the current study, common and unique genetic and environmental influences on personality and a broad range of well-being measures were investigated. Data on the Big Five, life satisfaction, quality of life, self-rated health, loneliness, and depression from 14,253 twins and their siblings (age M: 31.82, SD: 14.41, range 16–97) from the Netherlands Twin Register were used in multivariate extended twin models. The best-fitting theoretical model indicated that genetic variance in personality and well-being traits can be decomposed into effects due to one general, common factor ( Mdn: 60%, range 15%–89%), due to personality-specific ( Mdn: 2%, range 0%–78%) and well-being-specific ( Mdn: 12%, range 4%–35%) factors, and trait-specific effects ( Mdn: 18%, range 0%–65%). Significant amounts of non-additive genetic influences on the traits’ (co)variances were found, while no evidence was found for quantitative or qualitative sex differences. Taken together, our study paints a fine-grained, complex picture of common and unique genetic and environmental effects on personality and well-being. Implications for the interpretation of shared variance, inflated phenotypic correlations between traits and future gene finding studies are discussed.

An exploratory analysis of the relationship of problematic Facebook use with loneliness and self-esteem: the mediating roles of extraversion and self-presentation

Studies indicate that loneliness and self-esteem are predictive factors of problematic social media use. Further, it is proposed that self-presentation and extraversion may explain individual differences in online activity and problematic social media use. The present study confirms the relationship of loneliness and self-esteem with problematic Facebook use and investigates the hypothesis that these psychological factors may be linked to problematic Facebook use through their association with self-presentation and extraversion. The sample of university students consisted of 477 Facebook users, 64% females, aged 18-64. Social media usage intensity was assessed by collecting passive data on the total time spent and the number of sessions on Facebook per day for the last 6 months. The psychological factors, personality, motives and problematic Facebook use were assessed via self-report measures. Results showed that the relationship of loneliness and self-esteem with problematic Facebook use was significantly positive and negative respectively. The relationship between self-esteem and problematic Facebook use was found to be inconsistently mediated by both self-presentation and extraversion, while loneliness was partially mediated by self-presentation only. The total effect of loneliness and self-esteem remained positive and negative respectively, although extraversion and self-presentation had a suppressing effect on the relationship between self-esteem and problematic Facebook use. Further, the prevalence of 'at-risk' Facebook users was found to be 6.0%. It was also determined that the usage intensity of 'at-risk' users was significantly different from other Facebook users. These results highlight the existence of different patterns of associations linking psychological factors, usage intensity and problematic Facebook use.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03505-0.

Men and Women as Differential Social Barometers: Gender Effects of Perceived Friend Support on the Neuroticism-Loneliness-Well-Being Relationship in a Younger Adult Population

Loneliness and social isolation are well known to have detrimental effects on mental and physical health, and the perception of social support is frequently viewed as a protective factor. Yet, the beneficial effect varies when perceived support is considered with respect to gender and personality. We examined the mechanism of loneliness as a mediator of personality on health and moderation of this relationship by perceived social support and gender. Five hundred and thirty young adults (325 women) aged 18–32 years (Mage = 25.42, SD = 4.13) provided self-report assessments of personality, loneliness, perceived social support, general health and psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on well-being. Using a series of regression-based mediation and moderated mediation models, we found higher scores on extraversion to be associated with lower loneliness and better general health and well-being; higher neuroticism with greater loneliness and poorer general health. Being male and perceiving greater friend support moderated the neuroticism–loneliness–well-being relationship. Men higher on neuroticism were less able to benefit from lower loneliness when the perception of support from friends was greater, yet were less sensitive to the negative impact on the well-being of perceiving low levels of friend support. Effects suggest important gender differences with the potential to inform health interventions.

Daily social interactions and momentary loneliness: The role of trait loneliness and neuroticism

OBJECTIVES

Loneliness has been linked to poor mental and physical health outcomes in later life. Little is known about how daily social interactions relate to older adults' everyday experiences of loneliness. This study examined the dynamic associations between social interactions and the momentary feelings of loneliness in older adults' daily lives. We further examined whether individual differences in trait loneliness and neuroticism influenced the extent to which daily social interactions were related to moment-to-moment change in loneliness.

METHOD

Participants were 317 community-dwelling older adults (aged 70-90 years) who reported their social interactions and momentary feelings of loneliness 5 times daily for 14 consecutive days using smartphones.

RESULTS

Having more frequent, more pleasant, and in-person social interactions, as well as interactions with family and friends specifically, significantly predicted lower momentary loneliness a few hours later. Higher levels of momentary loneliness, in turn, predicted less likelihood of engaging in these types of social interactions subsequently. In addition, older adults with higher (vs. lower) trait loneliness and neuroticism experienced greater decreases in momentary feelings of loneliness after having more frequent or pleasant social interactions, or interactions with family members.

DISCUSSION

These results expand our understanding of the dynamic associations between daily social interactions and loneliness in later life and provide insights to inform future research, including the possibility of behavioral interventions that target social interactions to reduce the risk for loneliness.

A Narrative Review of Loneliness and Brain Health in Older Adults: Implications of COVID-19

Purpose of Review

This narrative review highlights important factors contributing to loneliness in older adults prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic and effects on brain health.

Recent Findings

We characterize risk factors for loneliness in older adulthood and the impact of COVID-19. Furthermore, we discuss the implications of loneliness for older adults’ brain health.

Summary

Understanding the multifactorial causes of loneliness in different subpopulations of older adults both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic will provide insights for the development of interventions targeted to reduce loneliness in older adults based on their specific risk factors.

The Impact of COVID-19 Related Social Distancing on Mental Health Outcomes: A Transdiagnostic Account

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the social distancing practices that followed, have been associated with increased prevalence of emotional disorders. However, not all individuals affected by COVID-19-related social distancing experienced elevations in emotional disorder symptoms. Understanding this phenomenon is of crucial public health significance given the burden of emotional disorders on individuals and systems. In this narrative review, we consider the differential impact of COVID-19-related social distancing on mental health outcomes from a transdiagnostic perspective. We argue that individuals high in negative affect and aversive reactivity to emotion, that is, neuroticism, and who respond to such emotional experiences with emotion-motivated avoidant coping, are most likely to experience emotional disorders in the context of COVID-19 social distancing. We acknowledge the pro-social and adaptive function of some types of avoidance during the pandemic, which may have initially buffered against negative mental health outcomes. Implications of this conceptualization for treatment of emotional disorders in the present sociocultural context are discussed.

Loneliness among older adults in Europe: The relative importance of early and later life conditions

The aim of this paper is to study the association between childhood circumstances and loneliness in older adults in Europe. Based on rich information collected by the Survey on Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) on childhood characteristics and individual characteristics at age 50+, the study is able to control for personality traits, socioeconomic and demographic factors, social support and health in later life, and country-specific characteristics. The analyses show strong correlations between life circumstances in childhood and feeling lonely in older age; these correlations remain significant after adjusting for covariates. While ill health is the main factor correlated with loneliness at 50+, as expected, the analysis of the relative importance of the determinants reveals that personality traits account for more than 10% of the explained variance and that life circumstances during childhood account for 7%. Social support at older ages is the second highest category of factors, accounting for 27%-with, interestingly, support at home and social network characteristics contributing about 10% each, engaging in activities and computer skills accounting for 7% of the explained variance. Demographic and socioeconomic factors account for 6% and country-level characteristics contribute 5%. This paper points out the relevance of early life interventions to tackling loneliness in older age, and it shows that early interventions and interventions aiming at increasing social support in later life need to be adapted to all personality types. Thus, the role of childhood circumstances and the mechanisms explaining the association between loneliness in childhood and loneliness in later life deserve more attention in future research.

Lacking Social Support is Associated With Structural Divergences in Hippocampus-Default Network Co-Variation Patterns

Elaborate social interaction is a pivotal asset of the human species. The complexity of people’s social lives may constitute the dominating factor in the vibrancy of many individuals’ environment. The neural substrates linked to social cognition thus appear especially susceptible when people endure periods of social isolation: here, we zoom in on the systematic inter-relationships between two such neural substrates, the allocortical hippocampus (HC) and the neocortical default network (DN). Previous human social neuroscience studies have focused on the DN, while HC subfields have been studied in most detail in rodents and monkeys. To bring into contact these two separate research streams, we directly quantified how DN subregions are coherently co-expressed with specific HC subfields in the context of social isolation. A two-pronged decomposition of structural brain scans from ∼40 000 UK Biobank participants linked lack of social support to mostly lateral subregions in the DN patterns. This lateral DN association co-occurred with HC patterns that implicated especially subiculum, presubiculum, CA2, CA3 and dentate gyrus. Overall, the subregion divergences within spatially overlapping signatures of HC–DN co-variation followed a clear segregation into the left and right brain hemispheres. Separable regimes of structural HC–DN co-variation also showed distinct associations with the genetic predisposition for lacking social support at the population level.

Impact of Personality Traits on Knowledge Hiding: A Comparative Study on Technology-Based Online and Physical Education

Knowledge hiding has been a variable of interest that has led to major intangible losses to organizations, especially in this pandemic era when everything has shifted to online platforms and social media. Knowledge hiding has taken a new turn into the field of knowledge management. Moreover, the major players in knowledge hiding are the personality characteristics of individuals that have now found a way of expression without coming into the spotlight. This study is a necessary one in this time of online working environments where the role of personality traits and psychological ownership has been explored to understand their impact on the knowledge hiding within the organizations of China, and furthermore, to understand what role social status plays in moderating these relationships. The sampling design used is convenient random sampling with a sample size of 298 managers. This study has used the software Smart-PLS 3.3.3 for analyzing the data. The data relied on and was validated using preliminary tests of reliability and discriminant and convergent validities using the measurement model algorithm. Further, the partial least square technique was used to find the equation modeling for the variables, with the help of a structural model algorithm using 500 iterations for bootstrapping. The findings of the current study show that the personality traits of the "BIG FIVE" model positively predict knowledge hiding, except for openness to experience. At the same time, psychological ownership plays a partial mediating role.