SynthesisSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2022
Interventions to improve social connections: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Interventions to Reduce Loneliness in Informal Caregivers of People With Dementia: A Systematic Review.Journal of clinical nursing · 2026Pooled it
- Loneliness without an epidemic: gendered pathways, health consequences, and intervention gaps among men in the United States.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Adverse outcomes for autistic people: an umbrella review of mental health, physical health, social and lifestyle domains.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- [Internet-based self-help for loneliness-a systematic review].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2024Pooled it
- Tackling social disconnection: an umbrella review of RCT-based interventions targeting social isolation and loneliness.BMC public health · 2024Pooled it
- Sex and gender differences in social participation among community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Psychological Distress and Interventions for Older Victims of Crime: A Systematic Review.Trauma, violence & abuse · 2023Pooled it
- Health effects of social connectedness in older adults living in congregate long-term care settings: A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative evidence.International journal of older people nursing · 2023Pooled it
- Efficacy of an Internet-based self-help intervention with human guidance or automated messages to alleviate loneliness: a three-armed randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- A social cascades model of addiction: Examining effects of psychological interventions on social and substance use outcomes via meta-analytic review.Psychological bulletin · 2026Article
- Perceived Social Support and Connectedness in Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Engagement.Psychological reports · 2026Article
- The role of perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness in suicide disclosure likelihood: a social network perspective.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Living Alone, Early Tau Pathology, and Loneliness in Cognitively Unimpaired Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2026Article
- Perspective: Improving social connection and inclusion through equitable digital health solutions.NPJ digital medicine · 2025Review
- Loneliness in schizophrenia: Just loneliness.Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 2025Review
- Social Connectedness and Successful Nursing Home Discharge After Heart Failure Hospitalization.Journal of the American Medical Directors Association · 2025Article
- Bridging the empathy perception gap fosters social connection.Nature human behaviour · 2025Article
- Frailty and depressive symptoms in relation to cardiovascular disease risk in middle-aged and older adults.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Results of a multi-perspective examination of loneliness trajectories and its determinants in German adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Bridging the Accountability Gap Between Aging and Disability Research.The Gerontologist · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe importance of both frequent and high-quality social connections is widely recognised. Previous reviews of interventions for promoting social connections found mixed results due to the inclusion of uncontrolled studies and merging of objective and subjective dimensions of social connections. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of interventions designed to promote 'objective social contact' and the 'quality of social connections'; and compare the effectiveness of interventions from different theoretical orientations on these social dimensions through a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials.
methodsA systematic search of electronic databases Medline, Embase, PsycINFO and PubMed was conducted to identify randomised controlled trials of interventions for social isolation, loneliness, social participation and/or social connectedness in adults. Data were analysed using Stata V.16.0.
resultsFifty-eight studies met inclusion criteria (mean age = 62 years). Overall, interventions led to significant improvements in objective social contact (Hedges' g = 0.43) and perceived quality of social connections (Hedges' g = - 0.33). Increasing access to other people was the most effective strategy for promoting objective social contact (Hedges' g = 0.67). Providing adults with skills to manage maladaptive attributional biases, fear-related avoidance of social situations, and barriers to social contact, was the most effective strategy for addressing deficits in perceived quality of social connections (Hedges' g = - 0.53).
conclusionIn summary, different interventions had differential effects on the frequency and quality of social relationships and associated emotional distress. Psychological interventions hold the most promise for increasing meaningful social connections and reducing distress.
Indexed as
Identifiers
34796368What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.