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Mindfulness training reduces loneliness and increases social contact in a randomized controlled trial
Edited by Stephanie Cacioppo, The University of Chicago, and accepted by Editorial Board Member Michael S. Gazzaniga January 3, 2019 (received for review August 7, 2018)

Significance
Loneliness (i.e., feeling alone) and social isolation (i.e., being alone) are among the most robust known risk factors for poor health and accelerated mortality. Yet mitigating these social risk factors is challenging, as few interventions have been effective for both reducing loneliness and increasing social contact. Mindfulness interventions, which train skills in monitoring present-moment experiences with an orientation of acceptance, have shown promise for improving social-relationship processes. This study demonstrates the efficacy of a 2-wk smartphone-based mindfulness training for reducing loneliness and increasing social contact in daily life. Importantly, this study shows that developing an orientation of acceptance toward present-moment experiences is a critical mechanism for mitigating these social risk factors.
Abstract
Loneliness and social isolation are a growing public health concern, yet there are few evidence-based interventions for mitigating these social risk factors. Accumulating evidence suggests that mindfulness interventions can improve social-relationship processes. However, the active ingredients of mindfulness training underlying these improvements are unclear. Developing mindfulness-specific skills—namely, (i) monitoring present-moment experiences with (ii) an orientation of acceptance—may change the way people perceive and relate toward others. We predicted that developing openness and acceptance toward present experiences is critical for reducing loneliness and increasing social contact and that removing acceptance-skills training from a mindfulness intervention would eliminate these benefits. In this dismantling trial, 153 community adults were randomly assigned to a 14-lesson smartphone-based intervention: (i) training in both monitoring and acceptance (Monitor+Accept), (ii) training in monitoring only (Monitor Only), or (iii) active control training. For 3 d before and after the intervention, ambulatory assessments were used to measure loneliness and social contact in daily life. Consistent with predictions, Monitor+Accept training reduced daily-life loneliness by 22% (d = 0.44, P = 0.0001) and increased social contact by two more interactions each day (d = 0.47, P = 0.001) and one more person each day (d = 0.39, P = 0.004), compared with both Monitor Only and control trainings. These findings describe a behavioral therapeutic target for improving social-relationship functioning; by fostering equanimity with feelings of loneliness and social disconnect, acceptance-skills training may allow loneliness to dissipate and encourage greater engagement with others in daily life.
Footnotes
- ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: ekl24{at}pitt.edu.
Author contributions: E.K.L., S.Y., K.W.B., J.M.S., and J.D.C. designed research; E.K.L. performed research; E.K.L. analyzed data; E.K.L. wrote the paper; S.Y. and E.K.L. developed interventions; K.W.B., J.M.S., and J.D.C provided critical manuscript revisions; and J.D.C. supervised the project.
Conflict of interest statement: S.Y. owns a portion of 01 Expert Systems, which will be releasing a modified and extended version of the Monitor+Accept mindfulness intervention as a commercial app.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission. S.C. is a guest editor invited by the Editorial Board.
Database deposition: A complete dataset has been uploaded as a Supporting Information file.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1813588116/-/DCSupplemental.
Published under the PNAS license.
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