Social Isolation, eHealth Engagement, and Psychological Distress Among U.S. Adults

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Public Health
• Health Communication

Background:

• Perceived social isolation is a significant public health issue linked to negative psychological outcomes.
• The pathways connecting social isolation to distress, especially via digital health behaviors, require further understanding.
• Theoretical frameworks like Social Cognitive Theory inform the investigation of these complex relationships.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the serial mediation model linking social isolation to psychological distress.
• To investigate the roles of eHealth engagement and health self-efficacy as mediators.
• To explore these associations within the U.S. adult population.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS 7) with 5,533 participants.
• Measured social isolation using the PROMIS Social Isolation T-score and psychological distress with the PHQ-4.
• Employed survey-weighted regression models with jackknife replicate variance estimation for serial mediation analysis.

Main Results:

• Social isolation showed a positive association with psychological distress.
• Significant indirect effects were found through health self-efficacy alone and eHealth engagement alone.
• The serial indirect pathway via eHealth engagement followed by health self-efficacy was not statistically significant.

Conclusions:

• Health self-efficacy serves as a significant mediator between social isolation and psychological distress.
• eHealth engagement may represent a reactive behavior rather than a direct pathway for isolated individuals.
• Cross-sectional data preclude causal interpretations, highlighting the need for longitudinal research.