Abstract
Background: Aims of this multi-study investigation were to expand the research on social connectedness (Lee & Robbins, 1995, 1998) to investigate associations with physical health indices. A multi-study approach was utilized to identify independent associations of social connectedness with somatic distress and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and to apply belongingness and loneliness theoretical frameworks to reveal potential pathways from social connectedness to health. Methods: Social connectedness and somatic symptoms severity were measured in a sample of college students (Study 1, N = 486) and replicated with HRQOL outcomes in a sample of individuals with ongoing symptoms of chronic illness (Study 2, N = 225). The third study added loneliness and stress measures and focused on HRQOL as an outcome (Study 3, N = 280).Results: Social connectedness consistently emerged as a significant and independent predictor of HRQOL and somatic symptom severity, with standardized coefficients ranging from − 0.22 for somatic distress to 0.28 for physical functioning, and 0.24–0.26 for general health. In Study 3, mediation findings showed that stress partially explained the connection between social connectedness and HRQOL. Conclusions: Findings suggest that a sense of self as being more connected with the social world is important for physical health, with this relationship partially accounted for by stress. Addressing social connectedness may be an important consideration in health research and practice.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Asghar, A., & Iqbal, N. (2021). Relationship between Social Connectedness, loneliness, interpersonal support and hopelessness among adults. Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 31(2).
Baldwin, M. W. (1992). Relational schemas and the processing of social information. Psychological Bulletin, 112(3), 461. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.112.3.461
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497
Berkman, L. F., & Syme, S. L. (1979). Social networks, host resistance, and mortality: A nine-year follow-up study of Alameda County residents. American Journal of Epidemiology, 109(2), 186–204. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112674
Cacioppo, J. T., & Cacioppo, S. (2014). Social relationships and health: The toxic effects of perceived social isolation. Social & Personality Psychology Compass, 8(2), 58–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12087
Cacioppo, J. T., Ernst, J. M., Burleson, M. H., McClintock, M. K., Malarkey, W. B., Hawkley, L. C., & Berntson, G. G. (2000). Lonely traits and concomitant physiological processes: The MacArthur social neuroscience studies. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 35(2–3), 143–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-8760(99)00049-5
Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L. C., & Berntson, G. G. (2003). The anatomy of loneliness. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12(3), 71–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.01232
Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L. C., Ernst, J. M., Burleson, M., Berntson, G. G., Nouriani, B., & Spiegel, D. (2006). Loneliness within a nomological net: An evolutionary perspective. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(6), 1054–1085. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2005.11.007
Cacioppo, J. T., Cacioppo, S., & Boomsma, D. I. (2014). Evolutionary mechanisms for loneliness. Cognition & Emotion, 28(1), 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2013.837379
Chen, L. J., & Chung, S. K. (2007). Loneliness, social connectedness, and family income among undergraduate females and males in Taiwan. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 35(10), 1353–1364. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2007.35.10.1353
Cohen, S. (2004). Social relationships and health. American Psychologist, 59(8), 676. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.59.8.676
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24(4), 385–396. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136404
Cramer, K. M., & Barry, J. E. (1999). Conceptualizations and measures of loneliness: A comparison of subscales. Personality and Individual Differences, 27(3), 491–502. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(98)00257-8
De Jong-Gierveld, J., & Kamphuls, F. (1985). The development of a rasch-type loneliness scale. Applied Psychological Measurement, 9(3), 289–299. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662168500900307
Dischinger, M. I., Lange, L., & Vehling, S. (2019). Loss of resources and demoralization in the chronically ill. General Hospital Psychiatry, 61, 10–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2019.08.002
DiTommaso, E., & Spinner, B. (1993). The development and initial validation of the Social and emotional loneliness scale for adults (SELSA). Personality and Individual Differences, 14(1), 127–134. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(93)90182-3
Duru, E., & Poyrazli, S. (2011). Perceived discrimination, social connectedness, and other predictors of adjustment difficulties among Turkish international students. International Journal of Psychology, 46(6), 446–454. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207594.2011.585158
Hagerty, B. M., Lynch-Sauer, J., Patusky, K. L., Bouwsema, M., & Collier, P. (1992). Sense of belonging: A vital mental health concept. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 6(3), 172–177. https://doi.org/10.1016/0883-9417(92)90028-H
Haslam, C., Cruwys, T., Haslam, S. A., & Jetten, J. (2015). Social connectedness and health. Encyclopaedia of Geropsychology, 2015, 46–41. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-080-3_46-2
Hawkley, L. C. (2022). Loneliness and health. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 8(1), 22. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-022-00355-9
Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2010). Loneliness matters: A theoretical and empirical review of consequences and mechanisms. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 40(2), 218–227. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-010-9210-8
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Press.
Hays, R. D., Sherbourne, C. D., & Mazel, R. M. (1993). The RAND 36-item health survey 1.0. Health Economics, 2(3), 217–227. https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4730020305
House, J. S., Landis, K. R., & Umberson, D. (1988). Social relationships and health. Science, 241(4865), 540–545. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.3399889
Khizar, U., Nawaz, D., Haroon, M., & Mubarak, H. (2021). Moderating role of social connectedness on forgiveness and subjective happiness among adults. iRASD Journal of Economics, 3(3), 240–250. https://doi.org/10.52131/joe.2021.0303.0040
Kintzle, S., Barr, N., Corletto, G., & Castro, C. (2018). PTSD in U.S. veterans: The role of social connectedness, combat experience and discharge. Healthcare, 6(3), 102. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare6030102
Kohut, H. (1984). How does analysis cure? University of Chicago Press.
Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. (2002). The PHQ-15: Validity of a new measure for evaluating the severity of somatic symptoms. Psychosomatic Medicine, 64(2), 258–266.
Lee, R. M., & Robbins, S. B. (1995). Measuring belongingness: The social connectedness and the social assurance scales. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 42(2), 232. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.42.2.232
Lee, R. M., & Robbins, S. B. (1998). The relationship between social connectedness and anxiety, self-esteem, and social identity [Editorial]. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 45(3), 338–345. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.45.3.338
Lee, R. M., & Robbins, S. B. (2000). Understanding social connectedness in college women and men. Journal of Counseling & Development, 78(4), 484–491. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6676.2000.tb01932.x
Lee, R. M., Draper, M., & Lee, S. (2001). Social connectedness, dysfunctional interpersonal behaviors, and psychological distress: Testing a mediator model. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48(3), 310–318. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.48.3.310
Lee, R. M., Dean, B. L., & Jung, K. R. (2008). Social connectedness, extraversion, and subjective well-being: Testing a mediation model. Personality and Individual Differences, 45(5), 414–419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.05.017
Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054346
Nitschke, J. P., Forbes, P. A., Ali, N., Cutler, J., Apps, M. A., Lockwood, P. L., & Lamm, C. (2021). Resilience during uncertainty? Greater social connectedness during COVID-19 lockdown is associated with reduced distress and fatigue. British Journal of Health Psychology, 26(2), 553–569. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12485
Perlman, D., & Peplau, L. A. (1981). Toward a social psychology of loneliness. Personal Relationships, 3, 31–56.
Rehman, A. U., You, X., Wang, Z., & Kong, F. (2021). The link between mindfulness and psychological well-being among university students: The mediating role of social connectedness and self-esteem. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02428-6
Russell, D. W. (1996). UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3): Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66(1), 20–40. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa6601_2
Satici, S. A., Uysal, R., & Deniz, M. E. (2016). Linking social connectedness to loneliness: The mediating role of subjective happiness. Personality and Individual Differences, 97, 306–310. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.11.035
Smith, A., & Lange, L. J. (2023). Do labels matter? Implications of ongoing symptomatic chronic illnesses labeled as conventional diagnoses vs. functional somatic syndromes. Chronic Illness. https://doi.org/10.1177/17423953231174926
Townsend, K. C., & McWhirter, B. T. (2005). Connectedness: A review of the literature with implications for counseling, assessment, and research. Journal of Counseling & Development, 83(2), 191–201. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2005.tb00596.x
Umberson, D., & Karas Montez, J. (2010). Social relationships and health: A flashpoint for health policy. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 51(1_suppl), S54–S66. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146510383501
Weiss, R. (1975). Loneliness: The experience of emotional and social isolation. MIT Press.
Williams, K. L., & Galliher, R. V. (2006). Predicting depression and self–esteem from social connectedness, support, and competence. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 25(8), 855–874. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2006.25.8.855
Xia, N., & Li, H. (2018). Loneliness, social isolation, and cardiovascular health. Antioxidants & Redox Signaling, 28(9), 837–851. https://doi.org/10.1089/ars.2017.7312
Yıldırım, M., Çiçek, İ., & Şanlı, M. E. (2021). Coronavirus stress and COVID-19 burnout among healthcare staffs: The mediating role of optimism and social connectedness. Current Psychology, 40(11), 5763–5771. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01781-w
Zimet, G. D., Dahlem, N. W., Zimet, S. G., & Farley, G. K. (1988). The multidimensional scale of perceived social support. Journal of Personality Assessment, 52(1), 30–41. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa5201_2
Acknowledgements
The authors thank John Copeland, Mikaela Raley, and Sonya Whittaker for their contributions in data collection in this research series.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
The first author contributed to the study conception and design and material preparation and data collection. Analysis and the first draft of the manuscript were completed by both authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Approval for all studies was granted by the Institutional Review Board of the University of North Florida and performed in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the present study.
Competing Interests
The authors have no known conflict of interest to disclose.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Lange, L.J., Crawford, A.B. A multi-study investigation of social connectedness and health. Curr Psychol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-05791-2
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-05791-2