What about love? Understanding romantic relationships and loneliness in young adults with a stigmatized mental illness (YASMI)

One of the most sought-after relationships among young adults is a romantic one. Yet, people living with serious mental illness are often the most socially isolated. Despite this, few interventions target the romantic functioning, and little is known about how these dynamics unfolds in the day-to-day life. We propose to verify the Model of loneliness and social connectedness improvements in young adults with a stigmatized mental illness (YASMI). Our main hypothesis is that enhancing social cognition and romantic relationship skills can reduce social isolation and loneliness in people with a stigmatized mental illness, via improvements in social contacts, self-esteem and self-stigma. We will move beyond correlational models to more comprehensively understand loneliness in people with a stigmatized mental illness, differentiate the impacts of in-person versus remote social contacts (as in social media), and delve into the dynamic interplay of these factors over time.