All the lonely people: Comparing the effects of loneliness as a social stressor to non-lonely stress on blood pressure recovery

Objective: This study examined whether recalling a social stress that evoked lonely feelings produces greater affective and blood pressure responses than recalling non-social stress or a relaxing event. Methods: Young adults (n = 114) underwent one of three inductions: recalling a social stressor in which one felt lonely, recalling a non-social non-lonely stressor, and relaxation. Negative affect was assessed during baseline, induction, and recovery. Blood pressure was assessed continuously using a finger cuff. Results: Both the lonely and non-lonely stress conditions reported increased negative affect following the induction, with neither condition having fully recovered to baseline levels by the end of the study. For blood pressure, during recovery, blood pressure increased linearly for the lonely stress condition, but remained steady for the other conditions. Conclusions: Recalling a social stress evoking lonely feelings may be more harmful for cardiovascular health than recalling non-social stressors. Results extend work demonstrating that in vivo stressors involving social evaluation elicit larger stress responses compared to stressors without this component.