ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2026
Real-Life Emotional Support, Social-Media-Based Emotional Support, and Loneliness Among US Adults: A Nationally Representative Study.
Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLoneliness is associated with all-cause mortality among US adults. Although social media is increasingly used for alleviating loneliness among adults, the relative potency of real-life emotional support and emotional support from social media to alleviate loneliness is not known.
objectiveTo assess associations between real-life emotional support versus social-media-based emotional support and loneliness among a nationally representative sample of US adults. DESIGN AND
participantsWe assessed 1512 US adults ages 30-70 years recruited in July and August of 2023. MAIN MEASURES: Loneliness was measured using the perceived social isolation subscale of the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS). Real-life emotional support was assessed using items adapted from the PROMIS emotional support subscale, and social-media-based emotional support was measured with the exact wording of the real-life scale replacing "real-life" with "social media." KEY
resultsLogistic regression assessed associations between real-life emotional support versus social-media-based support and loneliness while controlling for seven sociodemographic variables and integrating survey weights to make results nationally representative. In model 1, which examined real-life emotional support and loneliness, compared with those in the highest quartile of real-life emotional support, those in the lowest quartile had eight times the odds of loneliness (AOR = 8.14; 95% CI, 5.35, 12.39). In model 2, which examined social-media-based emotional support and loneliness, compared with those in the highest quartile of social-media-based emotional support, those in the lowest quartile had 45% increased odds of loneliness (AOR = 1.45; 95% CI, 1.05, 2.00). In model 3, a fully adjusted multivariable model that included both independent variables, only low real-life emotional support retained its significant association with loneliness (p < 0.001) while social-media-based emotional support did not (p = 0.37).
conclusionsSocial-media-based emotional support is less strongly associated with loneliness compared with real-life emotional support. Longitudinal and qualitative studies can elucidate the reasons for these associations.
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