University students who used an AI chatbot for 12 weeks ended with anxiety scores about 2 points lower than students in weekly group therapy, in a randomized trial of 977 students in Israel.1 The gap was still there 3 months later. But it came less from the chatbot users improving a lot than from anxiety …
A longitudinal MIDUS analysis involving 840 adults found that loneliness scores higher than a person's objective social-isolation score were linked to later cognitive impairment mainly through chronic disease burden, while the allostatic-load pathway was weaker than the chronic-disease pathway and not statistically confirmed for the main cognitive outcomes.1 Research Highlights Loneliness was separated from isolation: …
The “men have shallower friendships” story is too blunt. In a 2026 Sex Roles analysis of 1,899 young adults, the familiar gender friendship gap was largely driven by one group: white men reported the lowest closeness to best friends, while Black men, Latino men, and women across ethnoracial groups looked much more similar after adjustment.1 …
A 2026 fNIRS hyperscanning study involving 20 dyads found that structured chord progressions paired with live eye contact increased activity in social-brain regions and produced partner-specific neural synchrony more than scrambled-note control music.1 The result supports a plausible mechanism for music-supported connection, but it does not prove that chord progressions treat loneliness or replace clinical …
A 2026 pilot randomized trial involving 36 older U.S. veterans with PTSD symptoms found that a structured social-function group therapy produced stronger signals for romantic and family functioning than a support group, with condition-by-time effects of eta-squared = 0.072 and eta-squared = 0.112. The same trial did not show a specific advantage for friendships and …
Loneliness raises measured risk of Alzheimer’s, suicidal ideation, and completed suicide. The associations are documented; the precise magnitudes are not.
In Japan, a country facing unique demographic challenges, loneliness has emerged as a pressing public health issue, intricately linked with the phenomenon known as hikikomori, or extreme social withdrawal. Through a detailed analysis of a nationwide survey and various factors influencing loneliness, a new study sheds light on the complexity of social isolation in modern …