ArticlePloS one2022
Social connectedness as a determinant of mental health: A scoping review.
Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 165 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
165 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Animal-assisted therapy on psychological and physical outcomes: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.Journal of global health · 2026Pooled it
- Social connectedness and disconnectedness in individuals with recent onset psychosis and suicidal experiences: a systematic review of the evidence.BMC psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- A systematic review of social media use among rural US adolescents and associated health outcomes.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- The Experiences of Social Connection and Isolation in Adults With Acquired Brain Injury: A Qualitative Systematic Review and Metasynthesis.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Pooled it
- Better Together?: A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of HIV Prevention Interventions that Build or Strengthen Social Ties.AIDS and behavior · 2025Pooled it
- Taking a Strengths-Based Approach to Mental Health in Rural Communities: What Is the Evidence for Harnessing Strengths?The Australian journal of rural health · 2025Pooled it
- Catalyst for change: Psilocybin's antidepressant mechanisms-A systematic review.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2025Pooled it
- Text-Based Depression Prediction on Social Media Using Machine Learning: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Preventing depression in high-income countries-A systematic review of studies evaluating change in social determinants.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Similarities and differences in the prevalence and risk factors of suicidal behavior between caregivers and people with dementia: a systematic review.BMC geriatrics · 2024Pooled it
- The effect of group poetry reading on meaning in life and subjective vitality in older adults: a clinical trial study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Trial
- Youth Empowered Self-Care: a direct-to-participant intervention to promote mental well-being.BMC public health · 2026Trial
- Measuring and increasing the brain health span across adulthood: a public health imperative.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Feasibility, acceptability, and outcomes: A pilot trial of the enhancing social function in older veterans with PTSD (ESVP) group intervention.Psychological services · 2026Trial
- Dashboard Intervention for Tracking Digital Social Media Activity in the Clinical Care of Individuals With Mood and Anxiety Disorders: Randomized Trial.JMIR mental health · 2025Trial
- Efficacy of a group-based 8-week multicomponent cognitive training on cognition, mood and activities of daily living among healthy older adults: A two-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial.The journal of prevention of Alzheimer's disease · 2025Trial
- A physical activity and socioemotional intervention for residents of a large vulnerable community in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic: a randomized controlled study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Trial
- Chronic pain patients low in social connectedness report higher pain and need deeper pressure for pain relief.Emotion (Washington, D.C.) · 2023Trial
- Find your village: co-designing a community asset-based peer support intervention for wellbeing, social connectedness, and early child development among migrant families during the first 1001 days.Global health action · 2026Article
- Rural mental health strengths and social connectedness: Findings from the Australian National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing.The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry · 2026Article
105 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Public health and epidemiologic research have established that social connectedness promotes overall health. Yet there have been no recent reviews of findings from research examining social connectedness as a determinant of mental health. The goal of this review was to evaluate recent longitudinal research probing the effects of social connectedness on depression and anxiety symptoms and diagnoses in the general population. A scoping review was performed of PubMed and PsychInfo databases from January 2015 to December 2021 following PRISMA-ScR guidelines using a defined search strategy. The search yielded 66 unique studies. In research with other than pregnant women, 83% (19 of 23) studies reported that social support benefited symptoms of depression with the remaining 17% (5 of 23) reporting minimal or no evidence that lower levels of social support predict depression at follow-up. In research with pregnant women, 83% (24 of 29 studies) found that low social support increased postpartum depressive symptoms. Among 8 of 9 studies that focused on loneliness, feeling lonely at baseline was related to adverse outcomes at follow-up including higher risks of major depressive disorder, depressive symptom severity, generalized anxiety disorder, and lower levels of physical activity. In 5 of 8 reports, smaller social network size predicted depressive symptoms or disorder at follow-up. In summary, most recent relevant longitudinal studies have demonstrated that social connectedness protects adults in the general population from depressive symptoms and disorders. The results, which were largely consistent across settings, exposure measures, and populations, support efforts to improve clinical detection of high-risk patients, including adults with low social support and elevated loneliness.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.