Harvard University Researchers Focus on Anxiety Disorders (Prospective Associations Between Social Connectedness and Mental Health. Evidence From a Longitudinal Survey and Health Insurance Claims Data): Mental Health Diseases and Conditions – Anxiety Disorders

2022 JUN 28 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Research findings on anxiety disorders are discussed in a new report. According to news reporting originating from Boston, Massachusetts, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Evidence on social stimuli associated with mental health is based mostly on self-reported health measures. We aimed to examine prospective associations between social connectedness and clinical diagnosis of depression and of anxiety.”

Financial supporters for this research include Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Aetna Foundation; John Templeton Foundation.

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Harvard University: “Longitudinal observational data merged with health insurance data comprising medical information on diagnosis of depression and anxiety were used. 1,209 randomly sampled employees of a US employer provided data for the analysis. Robust Poisson regression models were used. Multiple imputation was conducted to handle missing data on covariates. Better social connectedness was associated with lower risks of subsequently diagnosed depression and anxiety, over a one-year follow-up period. Reports of feeling lonely were associated with increased risks of depression and anxiety. Association between community-related social connectedness and subsequent diagnosis of depression, but not of anxiety, was found. The associations were independent of demographics, socioeconomic status, lifestyle, and work characteristics. They were also robust to unmeasured confounding, missing data patterns, and prior health conditions.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Social connectedness may be an important factor for reducing risks of depression and anxiety. Loneliness should be perceived as a risk factor for depression and anxiety.”

For more information on this research see: Prospective Associations Between Social Connectedness and Mental Health. Evidence From a Longitudinal Survey and Health Insurance Claims Data. International Journal of Public Health, 2022,67. The publisher for International Journal of Public Health is Frontiers Media S.A.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.3389/ijph.2022.1604710.

Our news journalists report that more information may be obtained by contacting Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska, Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, United States. Additional authors for this research include Piotr Bialowolski, Matthew T. Lee, Ying Chen, Tyler J. VanderWeele, Eileen McNeely.

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