UC San Diego

Background

Social disconnection is a common and pernicious feature of anxiety and depressive disorders, yet is insufficiently addressed by our best available treatments. To better understand why people with anxiety and depression feel socially disconnected, we tested a positive and negative valence systems framework informed by research on how normative social connections develop and flourish.

Method

Individuals seeking treatment for anxiety or depression (N = 150) completed measures of perceived social connectedness, positive and negative valence temperament, social goals, affect, symptoms, and life satisfaction.

Results

Feeling less socially connected was associated with diminished life satisfaction, beyond clinical symptom severity. Regression analyses revealed that both diminished positive valence and heightened negative valence temperament, and their corresponding motivational and affective outputs, were significantly and uniquely (with no significant interaction between them) associated with lower perceived connectedness.

Limitations

Data was cross-sectional and based on self-report-limiting conclusions about causality and social disconnection processes at different units of analysis.

Conclusions

Understanding social disconnection through the lens of a positive and negative valence systems framework may inform transdiagnostic models and treatment approaches.