Social ties matter more for mental health during crisis, study finds
People with strong social support networks reported significantly higher life satisfaction 14 months later, even accounting for their baseline happiness—a finding with implications for workplace wellness programs and public health policy during emergencies. The effect was strongest for lower-income individuals, suggesting targeted interventions could reduce inequality in mental health outcomes.
Originaltitel: Social support predicted subsequent subjective well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: a prospective study
<p>Background</p><p>Subjective well-being (SWB) is associated with social support in cross-sectional studies. However, it remains unclear whether and how social support predicts SWB longitudinally, especially during the COVID-19 contingency.</p><p>Methods</p><p>By adopting a prospective design, the current work addressed this research question in a sample of 594 participants from the U.K. The data were collected via the online platform, Prolific, at two time points (June, 2020 and August, 2021) with a 14-month interval. Descriptive analysis and a moderated mediation model were conducted to test the proposed hypotheses.</p><p>Results</p><p>Baseline social support was a significant predictor of subjective well-being (SWB) 14 months later, even after controlling for baseline SWB and other covariates such as personality traits. Additionally, affect balance (i.e., the affective component of SWB) fully mediated the link between baseline social support and subsequent life satisfaction (i.e., the cognitive component of SWB). Moreover, household income moderated this relationship, indicating a stronger mediation for individuals with lower monthly household income.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>The present work sheds light on the underlying mechanism and boundary condition of the association between social support and different components of SWB during the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>