Previous studies have identified loneliness as a key risk factor for depression. Loneliness is defined as feelings of distress arising from a discrepancy between a desired level of social connection and actual social connection. Loneliness and depression often occur together.
Some studies have found that rumination can modulate the link between loneliness and depression. However, until now, most studies have only treated loneliness, rumination, or depression as unitary constructs. Researchers thus sought to investigate the relationship between the three phenomena in the current study.
To do so, they recruited 900 adults in Hong Kong and China between 2021 and 2023, who answered a set of questionnaires assessing loneliness, rumination, and depression. The researchers then used a network analysis approach to construct Loneliness-Depression and Loneliness-Rumination-Depression networks from the data. In doing so, they were able to understand how individual items interelated within and across the larger variable, as well as how any relationships affected network behavior.
While loneliness was not strongly linked to depressive symptoms per se, ruminative thought- specifically ‘think about how alone you are’- and a specific loneliness item- ‘how often do you feel alone’- were key for maintaining the loneliness-rumination-depression network.
“The findings revealed that ruminating on the feeling of loneliness poses a significant risk of developing depression. Consequently, focusing interventions for loneliness could potentially be a pivotal strategy for curbing the escalating incidence of depression." said lead author of the study, Professor Tatia M.C. Lee, Chair Professor of Psychological Science and Clinical Psychology and Professor in Neuropsychology at Hong Kong University said in a press release.
In their paper, the researchers recommended interventions for depression to focus on resolving rumunative thoughts, particularly on feelings of loneliness.
Sources: Science Daily, Nature Mental Health