Araújo Cássia Regina Vieira, Mota Bruna Eugênia Ferreira, Campagnoli Rafaela Ramos, Rocha-Rego Vanessa, Volchan Eliane, Souza Gabriela Guerra Leal
Laboratory of Psychophysiology, Department of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Brazil.
School of Nutrition, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Brazil.
Psicol Reflex Crit. 2022 Aug 1;35(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s41155-022-00228-w.
Loneliness has emerged as a public health concern. Previous research has reported its deleterious effects on physical and mental health; however, some specific psychophysiological mechanisms in healthy adults remain to be elucidated. The aim of the current study is to investigate whether self-reported social support and social touch (giving and receiving social touch), as well as resting heart rate variability (HRV), are significant negative predictors of loneliness in healthy adults. The study sample consists of 120 healthy students (50% female) with a mean age of 21.85 years old (DP= 2.21). The students were asked to complete a psychiatric screening questionnaire utilizing loneliness, social support, and social touch scales. HRV was derived from an electrocardiographic signal recorded for 15 min, with the participant relaxed in a supine position. Linear regression analyses were conducted to evaluate loneliness as a function of social support, social touch (giving or receiving touch), and resting HRV. The results show that social support (p< 0.001) and social touch, specifically receiving touch (p< 0.002), accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in loneliness. However, neither giving touch nor resting HRV was a significant predictor of loneliness. The current study highlights specific psychosocial factors in healthy adults that should be considered as promising pathways in order to reduce or work toward preventing loneliness, thus promoting better health and well-being.
孤独已成为一个公共卫生问题。先前的研究报告了其对身心健康的有害影响;然而,健康成年人中一些特定的心理生理机制仍有待阐明。本研究的目的是调查自我报告的社会支持和社会接触(给予和接受社会接触)以及静息心率变异性(HRV)是否是健康成年人孤独感的显著负向预测因素。研究样本包括120名健康学生(50%为女性),平均年龄为21.85岁(标准差=2.21)。学生们被要求使用孤独感、社会支持和社会接触量表完成一份精神筛查问卷。HRV来自于记录15分钟的心电图信号,参与者仰卧放松。进行线性回归分析以评估孤独感作为社会支持、社会接触(给予或接受接触)和静息HRV的函数。结果表明,社会支持(p<0.001)和社会接触,特别是接受接触(p<0.002),在孤独感的方差中占很大比例。然而,给予接触和静息HRV都不是孤独感的显著预测因素。本研究强调了健康成年人中的特定心理社会因素,这些因素应被视为减少或努力预防孤独感的有前景的途径,从而促进更好的健康和幸福。