GROUPS 4 HEALTH Reduces Loneliness and Social Anxiety in Adults With Psychological Distress: Findings From a Randomized Controlled Trial

被引:119
作者
Haslam, Catherine [1 ]
Cruwys, Tegan [2 ]
Chang, Melissa X-L [1 ]
Bentley, Sarah, V [1 ]
Haslam, S. Alexander [1 ]
Dingle, Genevieve A. [1 ]
Jetten, Jolanda [1 ]
机构
[1] Univ Queensland, Sch Psychol, St Lucia, Qld 4072, Australia
[2] Australian Natl Univ, Res Sch Psychol, Canberra, ACT, Australia
关键词
loneliness; social anxiety; social identity; GROUPS; 4; HEALTH; CLINICAL-TRIAL; PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES; GROUP MEMBERSHIPS; STRESS SCALES; MINI-SPIN; DEPRESSION; IDENTITY; INTERVENTIONS; MECHANISMS; SYMPTOMS;
D O I
10.1037/ccp0000427
中图分类号
B849 [应用心理学];
学科分类号
040203 ;
摘要
Objective: Loneliness is a key public health issue for which various interventions have been trialed. However, few directly target the core feature of loneliness-lack of belonging. This is the focus of GROUPS 4 HEALTH (G4H), a recently developed intervention that targets the development and maintenance of social group memberships to support health. Method: To investigate the efficacy of this intervention, a randomized controlled trial was conducted with participants (N = 120) assigned to G4H or treatment-as-usual (TAU) by computer software. Assessment of primary (loneliness) and secondary (depression, social anxiety, general practitioner visits, multiple group membership) outcomes was conducted at baseline and 2-month follow-up using mixed-model repeated-measures analyses. Results: G4H produced a greater reduction in loneliness (d = -1.04) and social anxiety (d = -0.46) than TAU (d = -0.33 and d = 0.03, respectively). G4H was also associated with fewer general practitioner visits at follow-up (d = -0.33) and a stronger sense of belonging to multiple groups (d = 0.52) relative to TAU (d = 0.30 and d = 0.33, respectively). Depression declined significantly in both G4H (d = -0.63) and TAU (d = -0.34), but follow-up analyses showed this was greater in G4H among those not receiving adjunct psychopharmacological treatment and whose symptoms were milder. Conclusions: Findings suggest that G4H can be a useful way to treat loneliness and highlight the importance of attending to group memberships when tackling this important social challenge.
引用
收藏
页码:787 / 801
页数:15
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