F38. SOCIAL ANHEDONIA, SOCIAL REWARD AND LONELINESS

Loneliness and Social Isolation

Loneliness is nowadays considered to be one of the main problems in society. The negative experience of a discrepancy between the desired and the achieved personal network of relationships is common and affects both younger and older adults. This chapter first addresses well-established aspects and new developments in the main concepts of loneliness and social isolation, the measuring instrumen...

The social network of loneliness.

Loneliness and social uses of the Internet

Loneliness has been associated with increased Internet use. Lonely individuals may be drawn online because of the increased potential for companionship, the changed social interaction patterns online, and as a way to modulate negative moods associated with loneliness. Online, social presence and intimacy levels can be controlled; users can remain invisible as they observe others’ interactions, ...

Loneliness, Social Isolation, and Cardiovascular Health

SIGNIFICANCE Social and demographic changes have led to an increased prevalence of loneliness and social isolation in modern society. Recent Advances: Population-based studies have demonstrated that both objective social isolation and the perception of social isolation (loneliness) are correlated with a higher risk of mortality and that both are clearly risk factors for cardiovascular disease (...

Toward a Social Psychology of Loneliness

Loneliness is a common experience probably few people avoid being lonely at some time in their life. It is also a distressing experience as many individual accounts bear out. For example, in interviews with journalist Suzanne Gordon (1976) one retired surgeon commented on the loneliness of old age, that, "You are alone, people have died and you look in the mirror and you look awful . . ."; whil...