The Lonely States of America: Prevalence and Demographic Risk Factors for Affection Deprivation among U.S. Adults

References

• Aylaz, R., Aktürk, Ü., Erci, B., Öztürk, H., & Aslan, H. (2012). Relationship between depression and loneliness in elderly and examination of influential factors. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 55(3), 548–554. doi:10.1016/j.archger.2012.03.006
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Barreto, M., Victor, C., Hammond, C., Eccles, A., Richins, M. T., & Qualter, P. (2020). Loneliness around the world: Age, gender, and cultural differences in loneliness. Personality and Individual Differences Advance online publication. doi: 10.1016/j.paid/2020.110066.
   Google Scholar
• Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117(3), 497–529. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.117.3.497
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Berinsky, A. J., Huber, G. A., & Lenz, G. S. (2012). Evaluating online labor markets for experimental research: Amazon.com’s Mechanical Turk. Political Analysis, 20(3), 351–368. doi:10.1093/pan/mpr057
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cacioppo, J. T., Hughes, M. E., Waite, L. J., Hawkley, L. C., & Thisted, R. A. (2006). Loneliness as a specific risk factor for depressive symptoms: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Psychology and Aging, 21(1), 140–151. doi:10.1037/0882-7974.21.1.140
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cacioppo, J. T., & Patrick, W. (2008). Loneliness: Human nature and the need for social connection. W. W. Norton. New York, NY.
   Google Scholar
• Cacioppo, J. T., & Cacioppo, S. (2014). Social relationships and health: The toxic effects of perceived social isolation. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 8(2), 58–72. doi:10.1111/spc3.12087
   PubMedGoogle Scholar
• Casler, K., Bickel, L., & Hackett, E. (2013). Separate but equal? A comparison of participants and data gathered via Amazon’s MTurk, social media, and face-to-face behavioral testing. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(6), 2156–2160. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2013.05.009
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Christian, B. J., & D’Auria, J. P. (2006). Building life skills for children with cystic fibrosis: Effectiveness of an intervention. Nursing Research, 55(5), 300–307. doi:10.1097/00006199-200609000-00002
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Collins, C. C., & Benedict, J. (2006). Evaluation of a community-based health promotion program for the elderly: Lessons from Seniors CAN. American Journal of Health Promotions, 21(1), 45–48. doi:10.1177/089011710602100108
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Degnar, R. K. (2010). Prevalence of communication apprehension at a community college. International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, 5(6), 183–191. doi:10.18848/1833-1882/CGP/v05106/51742
   Google Scholar
• Dickens, A. P., Richards, S. H., Greaves, C. J., & Campbell, J. L. (2011). Interventions targeting social isolation in older people: A systematic review. BMC Public Health, 11(1), Article 647. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-647
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Eisenberger, N. I., Lieberman, M. D., & Williams, K. D. (2003, October 10). Does rejection hurt? An fMRI study of social exclusion. Science, 302(5643), 290–292. doi:10.1126/science.1089134
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Eisenberger, N. I., & Lieberman, M. D. (2004). Why rejection hurts: A common neural alarm system for physical and social pain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8(7), 294–300. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2004.05.010
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Feinstein, B. A., & Dyer, C. (2017). Bisexuality, minority stress, and health. Current Sexual Health Reports, 9(1), 42–49. doi:10.1007/s11930-017-0096-3
   PubMedGoogle Scholar
• Floyd, K. (2001). Human affection exchange: I. Reproductive probability as a predictor of men’s affection with their sons. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 10(1), 39–50. doi:10.3149/jms.1001.39
   Google Scholar
• Floyd, K. (2006). Communicating affection: Interpersonal behavior and social context. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511606649
   Google Scholar
• Floyd, K. (2014). Relational and health correlates of affection deprivation. Western Journal of Communication, 78(4), 383–403. doi:10.1080/10570314.2014.927071
   Google Scholar
• Floyd, K. (2016a). Affection deprivation is associated with physical pain and poor sleep quality. Communication Studies, 67(4), 379–398. doi:10.1080/10510974.2016.1205641
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Floyd, K. (2016b). Affection exchange theory. In C. R. Berger & M. E. Roloff (Eds.), International encyclopedia of interpersonal communication. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781118540190
   Google Scholar
• Floyd, K. (2019). Affectionate communication in close relationships. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/97811008653510
   Google Scholar
• Floyd, K., & Burgoon, J. K. (1999). Reacting to nonverbal expressions of liking: A test of interaction adaptation theory. Communication Monographs, 66(3), 219–239. doi:10.1080/03637759909376475
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Floyd, K., & Hesse, C. (2017). Affection deprivation is conceptually and empirically distinct from loneliness. Western Journal of Communication, 81(4), 446–465. doi:10.1080/10570314.2016.1263757
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Floyd, K., Hesse, C., & Generous, M. A. (2018). Affection exchange theory: A bio-evolutionary look at affectionate communication. In D. O. Braithwaite & P. Schrodt (Eds.), Engaging theories in interpersonal communication (2nd ed., pp. 17–29). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. doi:10.4324/9781315204321
   Google Scholar
• Floyd, K., & Morman, M. T. (1998). The measurement of affectionate communication. Communication Quarterly, 46(2), 144–162. doi:10.1080/01463379809370092
   Google Scholar
• Floyd, K., & Morman, M. T. (2001). Human affection exchange: III. Discriminative parental solicitude in men’s affectionate communication with their biological and nonbiological sons. Communication Quarterly, 49(3), 310–327. doi:10.1080/01463370109385631
   Google Scholar
• Floyd, K., Sargent, J. E., & Di Corcia, M. (2004). Human affection exchange: VI. Further tests of reproductive probability as a predictor of men’s affection with their fathers and their sons. The Journal of Social Psychology, 144(2), 191–206. doi:10.3200/SOCP.144.2.191-206
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Frye-Cox, N. E., & Hesse, C. (2013). Alexithymia and marital quality: The mediating roles of loneliness and intimate communication. Journal of Family Psychology, 27(2), 203–211. doi:10.1037/a0031961
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Goldsmith, S. K., Pellmar, T. C., Kleinman, A. M., & Bunney, W. E., (Eds.) (2002). Reducing suicide: A national imperative. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. doi:10.17226/10398
   Google Scholar
• Gow, A. J., Pattie, A., Whiteman, M. C., Whalley, L. J., & Deary, I. J. (2007). Social support and successful aging: Investigating the relationships between lifetime cognitive change and life satisfaction. Journal of Individual Differences, 28(3), 103–115. doi:10.1027/1614-0001.28.3.103
   Google Scholar
• Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2010). Loneliness matters: A theoretical and empirical review of consequences and mechanisms. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 40(2), 218–227. doi:10.1007/s12160-010-9210-8
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hawkley, L. C., Preacher, K. J., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2010). Loneliness impairs daytime functioning but not sleep duration. Health Psychology, 29(2), 124–129. doi:10.1037/a0018646
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hays, R. D., Sherbourne, C. D., & Mazel, R. (1995). User’s manual for the medical outcomes study (MOS) core measures of health-related quality of life. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation.
   Google Scholar
• Herman, B. H., & Panksepp, J. (1978). Effects of morphine and naloxone on separation distress and approach attachment: Evidence for opiate mediation of social affect. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior, 9(2), 213–220. doi:10.1016/0091-3057(78)90167-3
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hesse, C. (2015). Porn and health: The mediating role of affection deprivation [ Unpublished manuscript]. Department of Speech Communication, Oregon State University. https://liberalarts.oregonstate.edu/sac/speech-communication. Accessed October 3, 2018.
   Google Scholar
• Hesse, C., & Floyd, K. (2019). Affection substitution: The effect of pornography consumption on close relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36(11–12), 3887–3907. doi:10.1177/0265407519841719
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hesse, C., & Mikkelson, A. C. (2017). Affection deprivation in romantic relationships. Communication Quarterly, 65(1), 20–38. doi:10.1080/01463373.2016.1176942
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hesse, C., Mikkelson, A. C., & Saracco, S. (2018). Parent-child affection and helicopter parenting: Exploring the concept of excessive affection. Western Journal of Communication, 82(4), 457–474. doi:10.1080/1050314.2017.1362705
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• House, J. (2001). Social isolation kills, but how and why? Psychosomatic Medicine, 63(2), 273–274. doi:10.1097/00006842-200103000-00011
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Jaremka, L. M., Fagundes, C. P., Glaser, R., Bennett, J. M., Malarkey, W. B., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2013). Loneliness predicts pain, depression, and fatigue: Understanding the role of immune dysregulation. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 38(8), 1310–1317. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.11.016
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Jaremka, L. M., Fagundes, C. P., Peng, J., Bennett, J. M., Glaser, R., Malarkey, W. B., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2013). Loneliness promotes inflammation during acute stress. Psychological Science, 24(7), 1089–1097. doi:10.1177/0956797612464059
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Kross, E., Berman, M. G., Mischel, W., Smith, E. E., & Wager, T. D. (2011). Social rejection shares somatosensory representations with physical pain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(15), 6270–6275. doi:10.1073/pnas.1102693108
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Kurina, L. M., Knutson, K. L., Hawkley, L. C., Cacioppo, J. T., Lauderdale, D. S., & Ober, C. (2011). Loneliness is associated with sleep fragmentation in a communal society. Sleep, 34(11), 1519–1526. doi:10.5665/sleep.1390
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Kuwert, P., Knaevelsrud, C., & Pietrzak, R. H. (2014). Loneliness among older veterans in the United States: Results from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 22(6), 564–569. doi:10.1016/j.jagp.2013.02.013
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lasgaard, M., Goossens, L., & Elklit, A. (2011). Loneliness, depressive symptomatology, and suicide ideation in adolescence: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 39(1), 137–150. doi:10.1007/s10802-010-9442-x
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Levine, M. P. (2012). Loneliness and eating disorders. Journal of Psychology, 146(1–2), 243–257. doi:10.1080/00223980.2011.606435
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• MacDonald, G., & Jensen-Campbell, L. A., Eds. (2011). Social pain: Neuropsychological and health implications of loss and exclusion. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/12351-000
   Google Scholar
• MacDonald, G., & Leary, M. R. (2005). Why does social exclusion hurt? The relationship between social and physical pain. Psychological Bulletin, 131(2), 202–223. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.2.202
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Marshall, W. L., Bryce, P., Hudson, S. M., Ward, T., & Moth, B. (1996). The enhancement of intimacy and the reduction of loneliness among child molesters. Journal of Family Violence, 11(3), 219–235. doi:10.1007/BF02336942
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Masi, C. M., Chen, H.-Y., Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2011). A meta-analysis of interventions to reduce loneliness. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15(3), 219–266. doi:10.1177/1088868310377394
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Maslow, A. H. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50(4), 370–396. doi:10.1037/h0054346
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Masten, C. L., Morelli, S. A., & Eisenberger, N. I. (2011). An fMRI investigation of empathy for ‘social pain’ and subsequent prosocial behavior. NeuroImage, 55(1), 381–388. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.11.060
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Molet, M., Macquet, B., Lefebvre, O., & Williams, K. D. (2013). A focused attention intervention for coping with ostracism. Consciousness and Cognition, 22(4), 1262–1270. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2013.08.010
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Momtaz, Y. A., Hamid, T. A., Yusoff, S., Ibrahim, R., Chai, S. T., Yahaya, N., & Abdullah, S. S. (2012). Loneliness is a risk factor for hypertension in later life. Journal of Aging and Health, 24(4), 696–710. doi:10.2277/08982643114311305
   PubMedGoogle Scholar
• Murthy, V. (2017, September 27). Work and the loneliness epidemic. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/cover-story/2017/09/work-and-the-loneliness-epidemic
   Google Scholar
• Nugent, C. N., & Daugherty, J. (2018). A demographic, attitudinal, and behavioral profile of cohabiting adults in the United States, 2011-2015. National Health Statistics Reports, 111, 1–11.
   Google Scholar
• Panksepp, J. (2003, October). Feeling the pain of social loss. Science, 302(5643), 237–239. doi:10.1126/science.1091062
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Panksepp, J., Herman, B. H., Conner, R., Bishop, P., & Scott, J. P. (1978). The biology of social attachments: Opiates alleviate separation distress. Biological Psychiatry, 13(5), 607–618. doi:10.1016/0361-9230(78)90014-X
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Panksepp, J., Vilberg, T., Bean, N. J., Coy, D. H., & Kastin, A. J. (1978). Reduction of distress vocalization in chicks by opiate-like peptides. Brain Research Bulletin, 3(6), 663–667. doi:10.1016/0361-9230(78)90014-X
   PubMedGoogle Scholar
• Paolacci, G., Chandler, J., & Ipeirotis, P. G. (2010). Running experiments on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Judgment and Decision Making, 5(5), 411–419.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Pinborough-Zimmerman, J., Satterfield, R., Miller, J., Bilder, D., Hossain, S., & McMahon, W. (2007). Communication disorders: Prevalence and comorbid intellectual disability, autism, and emotional/behavioral disorders. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 16(4), 359–367. doi:10.1044/1058-0360(2007/039)
   PubMedGoogle Scholar
• Prescott, J. W. (1976). Somatosensory deprivation and its relationship to the blind. In Z. S. Jastrzembska (Ed.), The effects of blindness and other impairments on early development (pp. 65–121). New York, NY: American Foundation for the Blind.
   Google Scholar
• Prescott, J. W. (1979). Deprivation of physical affection as a primary process in the development of physical violence: A comparative and cross-cultural perspective. In D. G. Gil (Ed.), Child abuse and violence (pp. 66–137). Washington, DC: American Orthopsychiatric Association.
   Google Scholar
• Prescott, J. W. (1980). Somatosensory affectional deprivation (SAD) theory of drug and alcohol use. In D. J. Lettieri, M. Sayers, & H. W. Pearson (Eds.), Theories on drug abuse: Selected contemporary perspectives (pp. 286–302). Washington, DC: National Institute of Drug Abuse.
   Google Scholar
• Qualter, P., Quinton, S. J., Wagner, H., & Brown, S. (2009). Loneliness, interpersonal distrust, and alexithymia in university students. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39(6), 1461–1479. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2009.00491.x
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Russell, D. W. (1996). UCLA loneliness scale (version 3): Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66(1), 20–40. doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa6601_2
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Schutz, W. C. (1958). FIRO: A three-dimensional theory of interpersonal behavior. New York, NY: Rinehart.
   Google Scholar
• Shapiro, D. N., Chandler, J., & Mueller, P. A. (2013). Using Mechanical Turk to study clinical populations. Clinical Psychological Science, 1(2), 213–220. doi:10.1177/2167702612469015
   Google Scholar
• Smyth, J. M., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2008). Exploring the boundary conditions of expressive writing: In search of the right recipe. British Journal of Health Psychology, 13(1), 1–7. doi:10.1348/135910707X260117
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Stickley, A., & Koyanagi, A. (2016). Loneliness, common mental disorders and suicidal behavior: Findings from a general population survey. Journal of Affective Disorders, 197, 81–87. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.02.054
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Stravynski, A., & Boyer, R. (2001). Loneliness in relation to suicide ideation and parasuicide: A population-wide study. Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, 31(1), 32–40. doi:10.1521/suli.31.1.32.21312
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Thurston, R. C., & Kubzansky, L. D. (2009). Women, loneliness and incident coronary heart disease. Psychosomatic Medicine, 71(8), 836–842. doi:10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181b40efc
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• U.S. Census Bureau. (2019). Census regions and divisions of the United States. Retrieved from https://www2.census.gov/geo/pdfs/maps-data/maps/reference/us_regdiv.pdf. Accessed February 19, 2019.
   Google Scholar
• Victor, C. R., & Yang, K. (2012). The prevalence of loneliness among adults: A case study of the United Kingdom. Journal of Psychology, 146(1–2), 85–104. doi:10.1080/00223980.2011.613875
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Williams, K. D. (2007). Ostracism. Annual Review of Psychology, 58(1), 425–452. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085641
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar