Social Isolation and Adult Mortality: The Role of Chronic Inflammation and Sex Differences
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The health and survival benefits of social embeddedness have been widely documented across social species, but the underlying biophysiological mechanisms have not been elucidated in the general population. We assessed the process by which social isolation increases the risk for all-cause and chronic disease mortality through proinflammatory mechanisms. Using the 18-year mortality follow-up data ( n = 6,729) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988–2006) on Social Network Index and multiple markers of chronic inflammation, we conducted survival analyses and found evidence that supports the mediation role of chronic inflammation in the link between social isolation and mortality. A high-risk fibrinogen level and cumulative inflammation burden may be particularly important in this link. There are notable sex differences in the mortality effects of social isolation in that they are greater for men and can be attributed in part to their heightened inflammatory responses.
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Previous nonexperimental human studies have documented associations of social integration and support with inflammation biomarkers, metabolic syndrome, and allostatic load.
“Previous nonexperimental studies using observational data from human subjects tentatively support this proposition by documenting associations between social relationship measures such as social integration and support with biomarkers of inflammation (5,8,18), metabolic syndrome (18,19), and cumulative dysregulation indicated by allostatic load (20).”
From Social relationships and physiological determinants of longevity across the human life span (2016) · cites this paper as [8]
In humans, social relationship deficits such as isolation or low support can lead to chronic activation of immune, neuroendocrine, and metabolic systems, contributing to cardiovascular, neoplastic, and other aging-related diseases.
“In humans, deficits in social relationships such as social isolation or low social support can similarly lead to chronic activation of immune, neuroendocrine, and metabolic systems that lie in the pathways, leading to cardiovascular, neoplastic, and other common aging-related diseases (5,8,17,18).”
From Social relationships and physiological determinants of longevity across the human life span (2016) · cites this paper as [8]
The findings also agree with earlier work using varied samples and designs.
“but also consistent with those obtained in previous research across diverse samples such as laboratory animals (14-16) and clinical populations (5) and study designs such as experiments (14-16) and mortality follow-ups (6-8).”
From Social relationships and physiological determinants of longevity across the human life span (2016) · cites this paper as [8]
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- Authors
- Yang, Y. C., McClintock, M. K., Kozloski, M., & Li, T.
- Affiliations
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- University of Chicago (US)
- Corresponding author
- Yang, Yang Claire
- Venue
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2013-05-06
- Volume
- 54
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 183-203
- ISSN
- 0022-1465 (ISSN-L)
- 2150-6000
- PMC
- PMC3998519
- OpenAlex
- W2151758923
- Cited by
- 222
- References
- 60
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 3
- FWCI
- 12.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (2r24hd050924-06)
- National Institute on Aging (K01AG036745, R37AG030481, T32AG000243)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R24 HD-050924)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Keywords
- social isolation, adult mortality, chronic inflammation, fibrinogen, social network index, mediation, sex differences, all-cause mortality, chronic disease mortality, social embeddedness
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Chronic Disease, Female, Humans, Inflammation, Male, Middle Aged, Mortality, Nutrition Surveys, Sex Characteristics, Social Isolation
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