The Association Between Loneliness and Maladaptive Moods and Beliefs: A Pilot Study in U.S. Veterans

Loneliness is a powerful predictor of several medical and psychiatric conditions that are highly prevalent in Veterans, including depression and PTSD. Despite this, few studies have examined loneliness in Veterans or how best to intervene upon Veteran loneliness. Additional empirical research is needed in these areas in order to define clear intervention targets and improve Veteran care.

In this pilot study, we used 62 Veterans' self-reported loneliness and symptoms of post-traumatic stress to examine whether specific symptom clusters of post-traumatic stress were associated with greater loneliness. Post-traumatic stress was measured using the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, and responses were further parsed into four symptom clusters: intrusions, avoidance, negative alterations in mood and cognition (excluding the social withdrawal item), and alterations in arousal and reactivity.

Results revealed that only the negative alterations in mood and cognition symptom cluster was associated with increased Veteran loneliness, even after adjusting for sociodemographic factors, social isolation, and symptoms of depression. These analyses were also repeated using a subset of our sample (n = 29) who completed repeated measures of the PTSD Checklist. Results again revealed that the same symptom cluster predicted Veteran loneliness over 1 year later.

This pilot study demonstrates the value of a publicly available PTSD measure for identifying lonely Veterans and highlights how reducing negative alterations in mood and cognition may serve as a potentially critical target for future Veteran loneliness interventions.