Loneliness and Health

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aparna Shankar
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Immune Functioning ◽  
Risky Health Behaviors ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Teenagers And Young Adults ◽  
Health Studies ◽  
Perceived Social Isolation ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

Loneliness or perceived social isolation is a subjective experience relating to dissatisfaction with one’s social relationships. Most research has focused on the experience of loneliness in old age, but levels of loneliness are also known to be high among teenagers and young adults. While poor health may be associated with increased feelings of loneliness, there is now considerable evidence on the role of loneliness as a risk factor for poor mental and physical health. Studies show that loneliness is associated with an increased risk of developing dementia and chronic diseases, and also with a higher rate of mortality. Risky health behaviors, a poor cardiovascular profile and compromised immune functioning have all been proposed as potential pathways through which loneliness may affect health. However, much still remains to be understood about these mechanisms.

scholarly journals Loneliness and Health

Psychology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aparna Shankar
Keyword(s):  
Health Effects ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Risky Health Behaviors ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Teenagers And Young Adults ◽  
Health Studies ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Perceived Social Isolation

In January 2018, the UK became the first country in the world to appoint a Minister for Loneliness. This highlights growing concerns about loneliness in societies, and its deleterious effects on individual health and well-being. Loneliness or perceived social isolation is a subjective experience relating to dissatisfaction with one’s social relationships. Most research has focused on the experience of loneliness in old age, but levels of loneliness are also known to be high among teenagers and young adults. While poor health may be associated with increased feelings of loneliness, there is now considerable evidence on the role of loneliness as a risk factor for poor mental and physical health. Studies suggest that loneliness is associated with an increased risk of developing dementia and chronic diseases, and also with a higher rate of Mortality. Risky Health Behaviors, a poor cardiovascular profile, and compromised immune functioning have all been proposed as potential pathways through which loneliness may affect health. However, much still remains to be understood about these Mechanisms. This bibliography starts with a section on chapters and reviews that provide a theoretical basis for understanding the associations between social relationships and health, as well as some reviews of the Health Effects of loneliness. This is followed by sections that focus on specific outcomes, health effects (mortality, general health and physical function, cognitive function and Mental Health), and Healthcare Utilization. The subsequent section examines research into the pathways through which loneliness affects health. The final section examines interventions to reduce loneliness and the associated effects on health outcomes.

scholarly journals Vitamin Nature: How Coronavirus Disease 2019 Has Highlighted Factors Contributing to the Frequency of Nature Visits in Flanders, Belgium

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aline Lenaerts ◽  
Sofie Heyman ◽  
Annelies De Decker ◽  
Laura Lauwers ◽  
Ann Sterckx ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Public Events ◽  
The People ◽  
Mental Well Being ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

Visiting nature is positively associated with physical and mental well-being. The role of nature became more pronounced during the coronavirus outbreak in the spring of 2020. Countries all over the world implemented confinement measures to reduce the transmission of the virus. These included but were not limited to the cancelation of public events, schools, and non-essential businesses and the prohibition of non-essential travels. However, going outside to exercise was recommended by the Belgian government. During this period, we conducted an online survey to determine if people visit nature more frequently than before and to identify the factors that contribute to this. The results are based on data from 11,352 participants in Flanders, Belgium. With the use of a bivariate and multiple regression analysis, results indicate that people visit nature more frequently than before and that nature helped to maintain social relationships during the coronavirus period. Gardens were reported to be the most popular place, followed by parks. More than half of the people experienced nature in a more positive way, and the belief that nature visits are important for general health increased. In addition, we found a positive association between nature visits and home satisfaction, as well as a positive association with subjective mental and physical health. Lastly, we identified several demographic factors contributing to the frequency of nature visits such as age, gender, and socioeconomic status. Our findings indicate the importance of nature visits for general well-being and highlight the need for nearby green infrastructure.

scholarly journals The Role of Comparisons in Judgments of Loneliness

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Arnold ◽  
Heather Barry Kappes ◽  
Eric Klinenberg ◽  
Piotr Winkielman
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Social Comparisons ◽  
Important Public Health Problem ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Content Analyses ◽  
Perceived Social Isolation

Loneliness—perceived social isolation—is defined as a discrepancy between existing social relationships and desired quality of relationships. Whereas most research has focused on existing relationships, we consider the standards against which people compare them. Participants who made downward social or temporal comparisons that depicted their contact with others as better (compared to other people’s contact or compared to the past) reported less loneliness than participants who made upward comparisons that depicted their contact with others as worse (Study 1–3). Extending these causal results, in a survey of British adults, upward social comparisons predicted current loneliness, even when controlling for loneliness at a previous point in time (Study 4). Finally, content analyses of interviews with American adults who lived alone showed that social and temporal comparisons about contact with others were both prevalent and linked to expressed loneliness (Study 5). These findings contribute to understanding the social cognition of loneliness, extend the effects of comparisons about social connection to the important public health problem of loneliness, and provide a novel tool for acutely manipulating loneliness.

Social Motives Predict Loneliness During a Developmental Transition

2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 145-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Nikitin ◽  
Alexandra M. Freund
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Avoidance ◽  
Social Approach ◽  
Social Motives ◽  
Developmental Transitions ◽  
Avoidance Motivation ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Low Levels

Abstract. Establishing new social relationships is important for mastering developmental transitions in young adulthood. In a 2-year longitudinal study with four measurement occasions (T1: n = 245, T2: n = 96, T3: n = 103, T4: n = 85), we investigated the role of social motives in college students’ mastery of the transition of moving out of the parental home, using loneliness as an indicator of poor adjustment to the transition. Students with strong social approach motivation reported stable and low levels of loneliness. In contrast, students with strong social avoidance motivation reported high levels of loneliness. However, this effect dissipated relatively quickly as most of the young adults adapted to the transition over a period of several weeks. The present study also provides evidence for an interaction between social approach and social avoidance motives: Social approach motives buffered the negative effect on social well-being of social avoidance motives. These results illustrate the importance of social approach and social avoidance motives and their interplay during developmental transitions.

The Role of Distress Disclosure Tendencies in the Experience and Expression of Laboratory-Induced Sadness

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey H. Kahn ◽  
Daniel W. Cox ◽  
A. Myfanwy Bakker ◽  
Julia I. O’Loughlin ◽  
Agnieszka M. Kotlarczyk
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Emotional Reactivity ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Negative Emotion ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
Emotion Words ◽  
Distress Disclosure ◽  
Computerized Text Analysis

Abstract. The benefits of talking with others about unpleasant emotions have been thoroughly investigated, but individual differences in distress disclosure tendencies have not been adequately integrated within theoretical models of emotion. The purpose of this laboratory research was to determine whether distress disclosure tendencies stem from differences in emotional reactivity or differences in emotion regulation. After completing measures of distress disclosure tendencies, social desirability, and positive and negative affect, 84 participants (74% women) were video recorded while viewing a sadness-inducing film clip. Participants completed post-film measures of affect and were then interviewed about their reactions to the film; these interviews were audio recorded for later coding and computerized text analysis. Distress disclosure tendencies were not predictive of the subjective experience of emotion, but they were positively related to facial expressions of sadness and happiness. Distress disclosure tendencies also predicted judges’ ratings of the verbal disclosure of emotion during the interview, but self-reported disclosure and use of positive and negative emotion words were not associated with distress disclosure tendencies. The authors present implications of this research for integrating individual differences in distress disclosure with models of emotion.

Vitamin A: dietologist’s position

2020 ◽  
pp. 49-57
Author(s):  
S. V. Orlova ◽  
E. A. Nikitina ◽  
L. I. Karushina ◽  
Yu. A. Pigaryova ◽  
O. E. Pronina
Keyword(s):  
Immune Response ◽  
Urinary Tract ◽  
Gastrointestinal Tract ◽  
Vitamin A ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Therapeutic Practice ◽  
The Past ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Mucous Membranes

Vitamin A (retinol) is one of the key elements for regulating the immune response and controls the division and differentiation of epithelial cells of the mucous membranes of the bronchopulmonary system, gastrointestinal tract, urinary tract, eyes, etc. Its significance in the context of the COVID‑19 pandemic is difficult to overestimate. However, a number of studies conducted in the past have associated the additional intake of vitamin A with an increased risk of developing cancer, as a result of which vitamin A was practically excluded from therapeutic practice in developed countries. Our review highlights the role of vitamin A in maintaining human health and the latest data on its effect on the development mechanisms of somatic pathology.

The Relationship between social skills and percived smartphone usage

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rageshawari Munderia ◽  
Rajbala Singh
Keyword(s):  
Social Skills ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Social Communication ◽  
Regression Method ◽  
Emotional Control ◽  
Smartphone Addiction ◽  
Adult Participants ◽  
Multiple Regression Method ◽  
The Relationship

Social skills play an instrumental role in individuals’ life. It helps individuals to communicate and maintain social relationships. Presently, the smartphone has completely changed the mode of social communication, and social skills may play a crucial role in this regard. Thus, the aim of the present study is to investigate the association between social skills and perceived smartphone usage (both positive and negative usage). The perceived negative usage of the smartphone has been assessed in terms of smartphone addiction. Sample of the present study comprised of (n=509) adult participants. Pearson’s product moment correlation (r) and multiple regression method was employed to assess the relationship between the proposed variables. Findings of the study demonstrated that social skills are significantly related with both perceived positive usage of smartphone and smartphone addiction. Social expressivity and emotional control emerged as significant predictors for both positive usage of smartphone and smartphone addiction. The findings of the study may have important implications for bringing awareness among the individuals regarding the role of social skills for effective usage of smartphone as well as for future researches in this direction. Keywords: social skill, perceived positive smartphone usage, smartphone addiction, emotion expressivity, emotional control

Myocardial Noncompaction

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (8) ◽  
pp. 2209-2212
Author(s):  
Alexandru Radu Mihailovici ◽  
Vlad Padureanu ◽  
Carmen Valeria Albu ◽  
Venera Cristina Dinescu ◽  
Mihai Cristian Pirlog ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ventricular Arrhythmias ◽  
Specific Treatment ◽  
Left Ventricular ◽  
Left Ventricular Noncompaction ◽  
Ventricular Noncompaction ◽  
Genetic Transmission ◽  
Asymptomatic Patients ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Patients With Heart Failure

Left ventricular noncompaction is a primary cardiomyopathy with genetic transmission in the vast majority of autosomal dominant cases. It is characterized by the presence of excessive myocardial trabecularities that generally affect the left ventricle. In diagnosing this condition, echocardiography is the gold standard, although this method involves an increased risk of overdiagnosis and underdiagnosis. There are also uncertain cases where echocardiography is inconclusive, a multimodal approach is needed, correlating echocardiographic results with those obtained by magnetic resonance imaging. The clinical picture may range from asymptomatic patients to patients with heart failure, supraventricular or ventricular arrhythmias, thromboembolic events and even sudden cardiac death. There is no specific treatment of left ventricular noncompaction, but the treatment is aimed at preventing and treating the complications of the disease. We will present the case of a young patient with left ventricular noncompactioncardiomyopathy and highlight the essential role of transthoracic echocardiography in diagnosing this rare heart disease.

Semi-Quantitative Ultrasonographic Evaluation of NAFLD

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (32) ◽  
pp. 3915-3927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Ballestri ◽  
Claudio Tana ◽  
Maria Di Girolamo ◽  
Maria Cristina Fontana ◽  
Mariano Capitelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Liver Disease ◽  
Fatty Liver ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Metabolic Complications ◽  
Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver ◽  
Non Invasive ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Risk Of Progression ◽  
Progressive Liver Disease

: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) embraces histopathological entities ranging from the relatively benign simple steatosis to the progressive form nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which is associated with fibrosis and an increased risk of progression to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. NAFLD is the most common liver disease and is associated with extrahepatic comorbidities including a major cardiovascular disease burden. : The non-invasive diagnosis of NAFLD and the identification of subjects at risk of progressive liver disease and cardio-metabolic complications are key in implementing personalized treatment schedules and follow-up strategies. : In this review, we highlight the potential role of ultrasound semiquantitative scores for detecting and assessing steatosis severity, progression of NAFLD, and cardio-metabolic risk. : Ultrasonographic scores of fatty liver severity act as sensors of cardio-metabolic health and may assist in selecting patients to submit to second-line non-invasive imaging techniques and/or liver biopsy.

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