PERSONALITY PROCESSES AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Loneliness in Everyday Life: Cardiovascular Activity, Psychosocial Context, and Health Behaviors

Prior lab research revealed higher basal total peripheral resistance (TPR) and lower cardiac output (CO) in lonely than in nonlonely young adults. In this study, experience sampling was used to obtain ambulatory blood pressure; impedance cardiography; and reports of activities, appraisals, interactions, and health behaviors. Results confirmed that loneliness predicted higher TPR and lower CO during a normal day. Loneliness did not predict differences in time spent alone, daily activities, or health behaviors but did predict higher stress appraisals and poorer social interactions. Independent of loneli-ness, interaction quality contributed to TPR. Loneliness differences were not mediated by depressed affect or neuroticism. Social support mediated loneliness differences in stress and threat. Concomitants of loneliness were comparable for men and women. House, Landis, and Umberson (1988) published a classic review of five prospective studies showing that social isolation is a risk factor for broad-based morbidity and mortality. Over the past decade, evidence supporting this association has continued to accrue. Living alone, for example, was found to be an independent risk factor for recurrent myocardial infarctions and cardiac deaths in patients enrolled in the placebo condition of a clinical pharma