ArticleAddictive behaviors2022
Prospective effects of loneliness on frequency of alcohol and marijuana use.
Article in Addictive behaviors, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- A randomized clinical trial to assess feasibility, acceptability and preliminary effects of telehealth-delivered cognitive-behavioral therapy for perceived social isolation among individuals with opioid use disorders.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Trial
- Article
- Addiction and chronic skin diseases: A Pan-European study on prevalence, associations and patient impact.Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV · 2026Article
- Global substance use disorders burden from 1990 to 2021: post-COVID shifts and widening inequalities.Journal of global health · 2026Article
- Psychological Distress Mediates the Relationship Between Perceived Social Isolation and Medical vs. Recreational Marijuana Use Among Adults in the United States.Psychiatry international · 2026Article
- Associations of stress mindset with problematic alcohol use and human flourishing: an exploratory path analysis.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2026Article
- Understanding the Association Between Substance Use and Loneliness in Midlife and Older Adults.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Hormonal and Behavioral Consequences of Social Isolation and Loneliness: Neuroendocrine Mechanisms and Clinical Implications.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- The Causal Effect of Social Isolation on Cannabis Use Disorder and the Mediating Role of Depression: Evidence From a Mendelian Randomization Study.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Alcohol use among adolescents in eight sub-Saharan African countries: evidence from the Global School-based student health survey (2012-2017) using the socio-ecological model.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- The Longitudinal Relationship of Loneliness With Frequency and Problematic Use of Alcohol and Cannabis Among Young Adults.The Journal of adolescent health : official publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine · 2025Article
- Sex/gender differences in orbitofrontal cortex reactivity underlying the associations between stress, social relationships, and problematic alcohol use.Psychological medicine · 2025Article
- Prospective Associations Among Loneliness and Health for Servicemembers: Perceived Helplessness and Negative Coping Appraisal as Explanatory Mechanisms.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Temporal patterns of loneliness and their associations with mental health outcomes: Observations from a longitudinal study.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2025Article
- Chronic loneliness and longitudinal changes in cognitive functioning.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Predictors of changes in marijuana consumption in Germany during the covid-19 pandemic.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2025Article
- Article
- Loneliness and risky behaviours among mobile fishers in Elmina, Ghana: a convergent parallel mixed-method study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Risk factors and health behaviors associated with loneliness among cancer survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2024Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLoneliness is a widespread problem, with demonstrated negative health effects. However, prospective data on the relationship between loneliness and problematic substance use are lacking, and few studies have examined specific commonplace substances, such as alcohol and cannabis. This study used prospective data from a community sample of US adults with problematic alcohol or cannabis use to examine whether loneliness was a predictor of subsequent increased substance use.
methodsParticipants (N = 210) were recruited between 05/2016-06/2019 from a New York City medical center. At baseline, 3-month, and 6-month follow-ups, participants completed identical computerized questionnaires. We used generalized estimating equations to assess the average effect of past 2-week loneliness on subsequent number of days of alcohol or cannabis use, controlling for baseline days of use, demographic characteristics, and past 2-week DSM-5 depression.
resultsCompared with individuals who were never lonely, participants with moderate or severe loneliness had a significantly higher frequency of alcohol or cannabis use at the subsequent assessment (β = 0.25 95% CI: 0.08-0.42).
conclusionIndividuals experiencing loneliness at least a few times in the past 2 weeks reported more days of subsequent alcohol or cannabis use compared with individuals who were not lonely. This is cause for concern, as national surveys of US adults indicate increasing rates of loneliness, depression and substance use during the COVID-19 pandemic. These results suggest the need for health care providers to screen for feelings of loneliness and potentially harmful coping behaviors such as substance use, and to offer healthier alternative coping strategies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.