A recent study from The University of Hong Kong (HKU) reveals that ongoing thoughts about one’s loneliness can significantly increase the likelihood of developing depression. This finding offers potential therapeutic avenues for aiding individuals experiencing isolation.
Previous research has highlighted a connection between loneliness, rumination, and depression. Here, rumination refers to the cycle of repetitive and intrusive negative thoughts and feelings, while loneliness is seen as the discrepancy between one’s desired and actual social connections.
Given the strong correlation often reported between loneliness and depression, a research team, spearheaded by Professor Tatia M.C. Lee—who serves as the Director of the State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and holds the chair of Psychological Science and Clinical Psychology at HKU—sought to delve into the mechanisms behind these phenomena.
Their investigation, titled “A network analysis of rumination on loneliness and the relationship with depression,” which was recently published in Nature Mental Health, aimed to explore how rumination might connect loneliness and depression. The researchers hypothesized that greater feelings of loneliness could lead to increased rumination, which, in turn, would correlate with more severe depressive symptoms.
According to Professor Lee, “Our study utilized network analysis to investigate the ties between loneliness, rumination, and depressive symptoms. The results indicated that dwelling on feelings of loneliness significantly raises the risk of depression. Therefore, focusing on strategies to address loneliness could be crucial in combating the rising rates of depression.”
The team conducted their research with 900 adults from Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Fuzhou, China, between 2021 and 2023 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The strict lockdown measures in these locations provided a unique group for analysis. Using network analysis, they constructed models outlining the connections between Loneliness-Depression and Loneliness-Rumination-Depression in their sample, examining how different elements link together to explain broader patterns.
Results showed that ruminating on feelings of loneliness is a central factor influencing the link between loneliness and depression. Specifically, the connection between ruminative thoughts, such as “thinking about how alone you are,” and feelings of loneliness like “how often do you feel alone,” plays a crucial role in sustaining the loneliness-rumination-depression network.
Consequently, the research team suggests that depression treatment should prioritize reducing ruminative thinking, particularly about loneliness. Therapeutic efforts should aim to disrupt the connection between frequent feelings of loneliness and persistent ruminations on that loneliness, thereby deactivating the network linking loneliness, rumination, and depression, and ultimately reducing the negative impact of loneliness on mental health.
