John T. Cacioppo

Previous research has linked perceived social isolation (loneliness) to reduced antiviral immunity, but the immunologic effects of the objective social isolation imposed by pandemic “shelter in place” (SIP) policies is unknown. We assessed the immunologic impact of SIP by relocating 21 adult male rhesus macaques from 2,000-m2 field cage communities of 70 to 132 other macaques to 2 wk of individual housing in indoor shelters. SIP was associated with 30% to 50% reductions in all circulating immune cell populations (lymphocytes, monocytes, and granulocytes), down-regulation of Type I interferon (IFN) antiviral gene expression, and a relative up-regulation of CD16− classical monocytes. These effects emerged within the first 48 h of SIP, persisted for at least 2 wk, and abated within 4 wk of return to social housing. A subsequent round of SIP in the presence of a novel juvenile macaque showed comparable …

Exposure to a major traumatic stressor increases the odds of negative mental health and maladaptive behavioral outcomes not only for victims but also for 1st responders and health care professionals who are exposed to the aftermath. This study investigates the extent to which psychological resilience acts as either a Protective (ie, vaccine-like) or an Ameliorative (ie, antibiotic-like) factor to reduce the deleterious mental health outcomes associated with exposure to a major stressor. To do so, this pilot study focused on the understudied population of military combat medics, who are exposed to both stressors associated with direct combat and with providing intense battlefield trauma care. Military combat medics who were identified as having deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan shortly after baseline measurements of posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and aggressive behavioral tendencies and returned from …

In such cases where a concept is unobservable directly yet researchers are interested in their empirical testing, researchers have to rely on assumptions. In other words, they implicitly or explicitly operationalize these concepts into formal measurement models (constructs). These constructs can then only be measured indirectly via observable indicators/behaviors. Scaling (ie, collection of relevant information on a questionnaire) is the most common technique to collect data for an unobservable construct. What is relevant is based on the assumptions of the researcher and derived from operational definition of the construct. Various types of scaling techniques have been developed for deriving information on unobservable constructs of interest from observable indicators. An important family of scaling methods is formed by latent variables. A latent variable model is a possibly nonlinear, path analysis or graphical model …

Objectives Integration into social networks reduces stress during adverse life events and improves coping with disability in late life. The aim was to investigate whether social network closure (frequent contact among ties) and balance (positive contact among ties) are associated with perceived stress. We expect lowest stress for older adults with highly closed and balanced networks. Method Panel data on self-reported egocentric networks stem from the population-based Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study. Five waves were collected between 2002 and 2006, with 708 observations from 160 participants aged 50–68 years at baseline. Data include information on the participants’ social relationships, that is, interaction frequency and relationship quality, for ego–alter ties and alter–alter ties, and participants’ perceived stress. The analytical strategy used fixed- and …

A textbook that lays down the foundational principles for understanding social neuroscience Humans, like many other animals, are a highly social species. But how do our biological systems implement social behaviors, and how do these processes shape the brain and biology? Spanning multiple disciplines, Introduction to Social Neuroscience seeks to engage students and scholars alike in exploring the effects of the brain’s perceived connections with others. This wide-ranging textbook provides a quintessential foundation for comprehending the psychological, neural, hormonal, cellular, and genomic mechanisms underlying such varied social processes as loneliness, empathy, theory-of-mind, trust, and cooperation. Stephanie and John Cacioppo posit that our brain is our main social organ. They show how the same objective relationship can be perceived as friendly or threatening depending on the mental states of the individuals involved in that relationship. They present exercises and evidence-based findings readers can put into practice to better understand the neural roots of the social brain and the cognitive and health implications of a dysfunctional social brain. This textbook’s distinctive features include the integration of human and animal studies, clinical cases from medicine, multilevel analyses of topics from genes to societies, and a variety of methodologies. Unveiling new facets to the study of the social brain’s anatomy and function, Introduction to Social Neuroscience widens the scientific lens on human interaction in society. The first textbook on social neuroscience intended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students …

Decreased sleep quality While it is easy for most individuals to detect signs of loneliness in friends or neighbors, it is more difficult to become aware of our own subjective feelings of loneliness, as loneliness is a condition with deep subconscious roots (Cacioppo, Balogh, & Cacioppo, 2015). Pathways of loneliness are most likely to occur when consciousness is less dominant—that is, during sleep at night (Cacioppo, Hawkley, Berntson, et al., 2002). The association between loneliness and poor sleep quality has been replicated in middle-aged and older adults in dif fer ent nations as well as in adolescents and young adults (see Cacioppo & Cacioppo, 2018b for a review). In addition, this association has been replicated in longitudinal investigations even after controlling for vari ous covariates such as sleep quality at baseline (Hawkley, Preacher, & Cacioppo, 2010; McHugh & Lawlor, 2013), and loneliness has been …