Official websites use. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. All authors supervised data collection. CTT conducted the data analysis. All authors contributed to interpretation of the findings. All authors approved the manuscript for publication and agreed with the order of authorship. Corresponding author: Charles T. Social disconnection is a common and pernicious feature of anxiety and depressive disorders, yet is insufficiently addressed by our best available treatments.
To better understand why people with anxiety and depression feel socially disconnected, we tested a positive and negative valence systems framework informed by research on how normative social connections develop and flourish.
Feeling less socially connected was associated with diminished life satisfaction, beyond clinical symptom severity. Regression analyses revealed that both diminished positive valence and heightened negative valence temperament, and their corresponding motivational and affective outputs, were significantly and uniquely with no significant interaction between them associated with lower perceived connectedness. Data was cross-sectional and based on self-reportβlimiting conclusions about causality and social disconnection processes at different units of analysis.
Understanding social disconnection through the lens of a positive and negative valence systems framework may inform transdiagnostic models and treatment approaches. Keywords: Anxiety, depression, positive valence, negative valence, social connectedness, life satisfaction.
The strong association between social connectedness and well-being in non-clinical community samples suggests that perceived social dis connection in people who experience excessive anxiety or depression should account in part for their tendency to be dissatisfied with their lives.
