Exploring links between social identity, emotion regulation and loneliness in those with and without a history of mental illness

The aim of this study was to explore the relationships between key constructs drawn from both the emotion regulation and social identity perspectives, with a view to understand loneliness in adults with and without a history of mental illness. Participants (N = 875) with a mental illness history (MH Hx, n = 217; Mage = 45 years, 59% female) and without a mental illness history (No MH Hx, n = 658; Mage = 47 years, 48% female) completed a survey comprising measures of group membership and connectedness, emotion regulation strategies, and loneliness. The MH Hx group reported higher internal affect worsening strategy use and loneliness than those no MH Hx. Hierarchical regressions indicated that the unique contributions of emotion regulation strategies and social identity factors to loneliness were equivalent between the groups. Together, social identity and emotion regulation explained 37% of the variance in loneliness in the No MH Hx subsample, and 35% in the MH Hx subsample. These findings suggest that both emotion regulation and social identity had significant unique contributions to the reported loneliness of people when controlling for demographics and each other in those with and without a history of mental illness.

本研究旨在探究源自情绪调节与社会认同视角的核心构念之间的关联，以期理解有精神疾病病史与无精神疾病病史成人的孤独感状况。本研究共纳入875名参与者，其中有精神疾病病史组（mental illness history, MH Hx，n=217）平均年龄为45岁，女性占比59%；无精神疾病病史组（No MH Hx，n=658）平均年龄为47岁，女性占比48%。所有参与者完成了涵盖群体成员身份与联结感、情绪调节策略以及孤独感测评的问卷。结果显示，有精神疾病病史组的内在情绪恶化型调节策略使用频率与孤独感得分均高于无精神疾病病史组。分层回归分析表明，情绪调节策略与社会认同因素对孤独感的独特解释力在两组间无显著差异。综合来看，社会认同与情绪调节因素可解释无精神疾病病史亚组37%的孤独感变异，以及有精神疾病病史亚组35%的孤独感变异。本研究结果提示，在控制人口统计学变量与二者各自影响的前提下，情绪调节与社会认同均对有、无精神疾病病史人群报告的孤独感具有显著的独特预测作用。