Social Isolation and Comorbid Mood and Anxiety Disorders: Findings from the National Survey of American Life

Comorbid psychiatric disorders, particularly mood and anxiety disorders, are a growing public health concern in the United States with profound negative health implications. Theoretical models such as the stress process model, along with extant literature, identify social isolation as a multidimensional psychosocial factor linked to psychiatric comorbidity. However, limited understanding remains as to how different dimensions of social isolation influence a collection of psychiatric disorders in a nationally representative sample of African American adults. Therefore, this study used data from the National Survey of American Life (N = 3,570) to investigate the associations between social isolation (i.e. subjective, structural, and interpersonal isolation) and 12-month and lifetime comorbid mood and anxiety disorders. We also tested whether gender moderated such associations. Findings revealed differing patterns of associations across social isolation dimensions. Only subjective isolation consistently predicted an increased risk for both 12-month and lifetime comorbid disorders and anxiety disorders, whereas structural and interpersonal isolation did not. Gender further moderated these relationships for subjective isolation, with stronger associations for men than women. Overall, this study demonstrates the need to examine each dimension of social isolation and gendered dynamics in relation to comorbid psychiatric disorders among African American adults.