ArticlePsychoneuroendocrinology2022
Social connection and gene regulation during the COVID-19 pandemic: Divergent patterns for online and in-person interaction.
Article in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- An extraverted behavior intervention improves immune gene expression.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2026Trial
- Perceived everyday discrimination and leukocyte gene expression in a nationally representative sample of U.S. Adults.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2026Article
- The paradox of action: Trajectories in distress, meaning, and gene regulation following self-directed activist engagement among Black women.SSM. Mental health · 2026Article
- Peer victimization in adolescence alters gene expression and cytokine profiles during transition to adulthood.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Parasympathetic nervous activity and CTRA gene expression among healthy young adults in Japan.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2025Article
- Positive social relations, loneliness, and immune system gene regulation.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Article
- Transcriptomics and psychotherapy: An integrative review.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2024Review
- The beneficial effects of social support and prosocial behavior on immunity and health: A psychoneuroimmunology perspective.Brain, behavior, & immunity - health · 2024Article
- Human social genomics: Concepts, mechanisms, and implications for health.Lifestyle medicine (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2023Article
- How does loneliness "get under the skin" to become biologically embedded?Biodemography and social biologyReview
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSocial connection has been linked to reduced disease risk and enhanced antiviral immunity, but it is unclear whether online social connections have similar effects to those previously documented for in-person/offline social relationships, or whether online connections can substitute for in-person social relations when the latter are restricted. We examined this question in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing specifically on an immune system gene regulation profile known as the conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA), which is characterized by up-regulation of proinflammatory genes and down-regulation of genes linked to innate antiviral responses and antibody production.
methodsWe analyzed CTRA RNA profiles in blood samples from 142 healthy young adults (69% female, 87% white) during the "social distancing" period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mixed effect linear models quantified the relation of CTRA gene expression to measures of in-person social connection (number of friends, social eudaimonia, loneliness) and online psychosocial connection (online loneliness, perceived social value in online leisure and educational contexts, and internet use) while controlling for demographic and health factors.
resultsMultiple indicators of in-person and generalized social connection were associated with lower CTRA gene expression, whereas no measure of online social connection showed any significant association with CTRA gene expression.
conclusionExperiences of in-person social connection are associated with reduced CTRA gene expression during a period of restricted social interaction. In contrast, online social relationships show no such association. Digitally mediated social relations do not appear to substantially offset the absence of in-person/offline social connection in the context of immune cell gene regulation.
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