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Real-Life Emotional Support, Social-Media-Based Emotional Support, and Loneliness Among US Adults: A Nationally
Geethika Koneru1, Hyosin Kim2, Memuna Aslam2
1College of Health, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA. konerug@oregonstate.edu.
Journal of General Internal Medicine
|August 4, 2026
Summary
Real-life emotional support significantly reduces loneliness, while social media support shows a weaker association. This study highlights the greater impact of in-person connections on combating loneliness in adults.
Area of Science:
- Social Science
- Psychology
- Public Health
Background:
- Loneliness is a significant risk factor for all-cause mortality in US adults.
- Social media is increasingly utilized as a tool to mitigate loneliness.
- The comparative effectiveness of real-life versus social media emotional support for loneliness is not well-established.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the associations between real-life emotional support and social media-based emotional support with loneliness.
- To analyze these associations in a nationally representative sample of US adults.
Main Methods:
- A nationally representative sample of 1512 US adults aged 30-70 years was surveyed.
- Loneliness was measured using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) perceived social isolation subscale.
- Emotional support was assessed using adapted PROMIS scales for both real-life and social media contexts.
Main Results:
- Low real-life emotional support was strongly associated with significantly higher odds of loneliness (AOR=8.14).
- Low social media-based emotional support showed a weaker, though significant, association with increased loneliness odds (AOR=1.45).
- In a fully adjusted model, only real-life emotional support remained significantly associated with loneliness.
Conclusions:
- Real-life emotional support demonstrates a substantially stronger association with reduced loneliness compared to social media support.
- Findings suggest that in-person social connections may be more critical for alleviating loneliness.
- Further longitudinal and qualitative research is recommended to explore the underlying mechanisms.
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