Perceived Support Protects Against Negative Affective Experiences of Momentary Solitude: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study

Abstract

Objectives Momentary solitude (the objective state of being alone) has a strong association with negative affective experiences in older people, but little is known about how the role of social relationship characteristics on relationship between momentary solitude and affect. We examined the momentary association between momentary solitude and negative affect (NA), and whether such association was moderated by the structural and functional aspects of social relationships. Methods A sample of 153 late-middle-aged and older adults were recruited and provided a total of 6,742 EMA surveys, of which momentary solitudes were reported for 1,885 (28%) surveys. Hierarchical linear model was used to examine how social networks and social support moderated the association of momentary solitude with negative affective experiences. Results The association of momentary solitude with negative affective experiences was significant among middle-aged and older adults (b = .025, SE = .008, p<0.01). Family networks had the main effect on NA. Perceived social support buffered against increased negative affect in momentary solitude: individuals with a higher level of perceived support reported fewer increases in NA during momentary solitude than those perceiving a lower level of support. Discussion Momentary solitude was experienced less negatively for middle-aged and older persons embedded in a context of higher levels of perceived social support. Practitioners need to pay more attention to the promotion of social resources when delivering programs to improve the subjective well-being of late-middle-aged and older adults.

Stand by Me: Social Ties and Health in Real Time

“…These studies have generated new insights about the intersection of global and momentary measures of social life, underscoring the notion that the health implications of global and momentary aspects of social connectedness may be interrelated. For example, recent findings indicate that global social support moderates the effects of momentary solitude on negative affect (Fang et al 2022), as do higher quality social relationships (Pauly et al 2018). However, other work using the CHART data shows that older adults who have larger social networks report higher levels of momentary loneliness when alone compared with individuals with smaller social networks (Goldman and Compernolle 2023).…”

“…Some large-scale social surveys have included time diary components, such as the National Study of Caregiving and the National Study of Daily Experiences, which administer phone interviews to ask about respondents’ daily activities, affect, stress, and well-being (Han, Kim, and Burr 2020; Moon and Dilworth-Anderson 2015). Smartphone-based EMA approaches have been successfully implemented to collect repeated measures of real-time data from older adults, such as in the Daily Experiences and Well-Being Study (e.g., Fingerman et al 2020; Ng et al 2021) and numerous other community-based samples (e.g., Fang et al 2022; Zhaoyang et al 2022). These studies have generated new insights about the intersection of global and momentary measures of social life, underscoring the notion that the health implications of global and momentary aspects of social connectedness may be interrelated.…”