Loneliness Is Associated With Decreased Support and Increased Strain Given in Social Relationships

Prolonged loneliness can be detrimental to both mental and physical health. However, variability in how individuals respond to loneliness can shape health outcomes. Here, we explored whether loneliness is related to perceptions of support and strain given in family and friend relationships. Specifically, we assessed whether resting high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), a measure of parasympathetic nervous system activity that has been linked to emotion regulation and flexible adaptation, moderates self-evaluation of support and strain given. Participants from the Midlife Development in the US (MIDUS) dataset who had measures of loneliness, perceived support given, and perceived strain given in relationships, and resting HF-HRV were included in the current study. Loneliness was associated with decreased support and increased strain given in both family and friend relationships. Resting HF-HRV showed a trend-level moderation of the association between loneliness and perceived strain given to family, with the relationship being stronger for individuals with lower resting HF-HRV. No moderation was observed for strain given to friends. These results indicate that loneliness is linked to more negative self-evaluations of social support and strain, and that resting HF-HRV may partly buffer these effects in family relationships.