RAPID: Collaborative Research: Social interactions. social connectedness, and health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic

良好的身心健康依赖于强烈的社会联系感。COVID-19大流行的限制，以及由此产生的社会隔离和孤独，导致这种联系恶化。尽管进行了数十年的研究，但人们对社会互动的特征所知相对较少，这些特征导致社会联系的改善，并最终改善健康状况。该项目旨在更好地理解社会互动如何支持社会联系。它审查了社会隔离和居家政策造成的社会隔离和心理困扰的影响。这项研究考虑了人们一起进行的活动、作为互动伙伴的人的类型、情感基调和互动方式（面对面、电话、短信或视频）。这项研究对美国全国范围内的成年人进行了纵向调查，以评估社会互动提供的维持社会关系的途径，关系发生的调节，以及社会支持的交换。该项目最终将为在当前和未来大流行病情况下制定与健康有关的干预措施提供信息。该项目旨在推进关于日常社会互动如何影响一般社会联系的理论，包括孤独、感知社会支持和社会联系的强度。除了推进理论之外，该研究还解决了了解社会距离政策后果的更直接需求。确定最有益的社会互动有助于支持及时干预措施，以改善社会联系和相关的公共卫生建议。为了实现这些目标，该研究收集了为期三周的纵向调查数据，在此期间，美国成年人每天完成多项调查，以描述他们社交互动的频率和特征。一天结束后的调查测量了社会联系（孤独、感知到的社会支持和联系强度）和心理健康（积极和消极影响、抑郁、焦虑和感知压力）。纵向数据的统计技术，包括结构方程模型和潜在变化评分分析，检验了交互特征与结束日调查之间的关系。本研究获得的见解将为今后实施与健康有关的行为改变建议提供信息。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Good mental and physical health depend on a strong sense of social connectedness. The restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resultant social isolation and loneliness, have caused that connectedness to deteriorate. Despite decades of research, relatively little is known about the characteristics of social interactions that lead to improvements in social connectedness and, ultimately, to improved health. This project seeks to gain better understanding of how social interactions support social connectedness. It examines the effects of the social isolation and psychological distress that result from social distancing and stay-at-home policies. The research considers activities people perform together, the types of people who serve as interaction partners, the emotional tone and the modality of interaction (in person, phone, text, or video). The study uses longitudinal surveys with a nation-wide panel of U.S. adults to assess the ways in which social interactions provide the route through which social ties are maintained, the regulation of relationships occurs, and social support is exchanged. The project will ultimately inform the development of health-related interventions in this and future pandemic situations. This project seeks to advance theory about how everyday social interactions influence general social connectedness, including loneliness, perceived social support, and strength of social ties. In addition to advancing theory, the research addresses the more immediate need to understand the consequences of social distancing policies. Identifying the most beneficial social interactions can help support just-in-time interventions to improve social connectedness and related public health recommendations. To achieve these goals, the research collects longitudinal survey data over a three-week period in which U.S. adults complete multiple surveys each day to describe the frequency and characteristics of their social interactions. End-of-day surveys measure social connectedness (loneliness, perceived social support, and tie strength) and mental health (positive and negative affect, depression, anxiety, and perceived stress). Statistical techniques for longitudinal data, including structural equation modeling and latent change score analysis, test the relationship between interaction characteristics and the end-of-day surveys. Insight gained by this research will inform future efforts in implementing health-related behavioral change recommendations.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.