A novel conditioning approach to counter loneliness in adults

Loneliness is a significant threat to people's health because it predisposes depression and increases mortality. Conventional belief is that loneliness can be measured by the number of social connections and can be treated by opportunities for social activities. We argue that loneliness is subjective, and existing interventions for loneliness have failed to hit the root of the problem – the altered socio-affective processing. Therefore, we will apply a novel paradigm of intervention grounded in the principles of conditioning in lonely adults, and investigate the change in their socio-affective processing, loneliness, depressive symptoms, and neural correlates. The outcome of this project will benefit the general population in promoting betterment of mental health and quality of life, bringing positive change to well-being. It will also generate in-depth understanding of how loneliness is tied to socio-affective processing and how loneliness can be reduced by applying principles of conditioning.

Funding Source: RGC - General Research Fund (GRF)