Department of Psychology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Ann Behav Med. 2021 May 6;55(5):460-475. doi: 10.1093/abm/kaaa065.
Loneliness, the subjective experience of social isolation, represents one of the largest risk factors for physical illness and early death in humans. However, the mechanisms by which loneliness leads to adverse health outcomes are not well understood.
In this study, we examined altered parasympathetic nervous system function as a potential pathway by which chronic loneliness and state loneliness may "get under the skin" to impact cardiovascular physiology.
In a controlled laboratory setting, vagally mediated resting heart rate variability (HRV), HRV reactivity to an induction of state loneliness, and HRV reactivity to a cognitive challenge task were assessed in a sample of 316 healthy women (18-28 years).
Greater chronic loneliness in women predicted lower resting HRV, an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality, after controlling for demographic, psychosocial, and health behavior covariates. Furthermore, women higher in chronic loneliness experienced significantly larger increases in HRV to state loneliness and reported significantly higher levels of negative affect immediately following state loneliness, compared with their less chronically lonely counterparts. Chronic loneliness also predicted blunted HRV reactivity-a maladaptive physiological response-to cognitive challenge.
The current findings provide evidence that chronic loneliness is associated with altered parasympathetic function (both resting HRV and HRV reactivity) in women, and that the immediate experience of state loneliness is linked to a proximate increase in HRV among chronically lonely women. Results are discussed in terms of implications for cardiovascular health and the evolutionary functions of loneliness.
孤独感是一种主观的社交隔离体验，它是人类身体疾病和早逝的最大风险因素之一。然而，孤独感导致不良健康后果的机制尚不清楚。
在这项研究中，我们研究了自主神经系统功能的改变，作为慢性孤独和状态孤独可能“深入皮肤”影响心血管生理学的潜在途径。
在一个受控的实验室环境中，对 316 名健康女性（18-28 岁）进行了迷走神经介导的静息心率变异性（HRV）、状态孤独诱导时的 HRV 反应性以及认知挑战任务时的 HRV 反应性评估。
女性慢性孤独感越高，静息 HRV 越低，静息 HRV 是心血管疾病和全因死亡率的独立风险因素，这在控制了人口统计学、心理社会和健康行为协变量后仍然成立。此外，与不那么慢性孤独的女性相比，慢性孤独感较高的女性在状态孤独时 HRV 增加幅度更大，并且在状态孤独后立即报告的负面情绪水平更高。慢性孤独感还预示着对认知挑战的 HRV 反应性降低——一种适应性生理反应降低。
目前的研究结果表明，慢性孤独感与女性自主神经功能（静息 HRV 和 HRV 反应性）改变有关，而状态孤独的即时体验与慢性孤独女性的 HRV 增加有关。结果从心血管健康和孤独感的进化功能的角度进行了讨论。
