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Principal Investigator: MICHAEL SEAN POLLARD
Organization: RAND CORPORATION
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $637,163
Funding agency: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
PROJECT SUMMARY
This project will significantly advance understanding of the longitudinal links between social
connection, alcohol, cannabis, and other drug (AOD) use through the analysis of novel longitudinal data
that includes a multidimensional assessment of social connection over eight consecutive years. There are
well-established links between isolation, loneliness and all-cause mortality and morbidity, but longitudinal
study of the links between social connection and health behaviors, which may represent a primary
pathway linking to mortality, is relatively sparse due to the lack of longitudinal data. This project will explore
multiple aspects of social connection for adults ages 30-80: social isolation, loneliness, and the relatively
new concept of aloneliness. Isolation is assessed using novel egocentric network data and standard
isolation measures. Loneliness and aloneliness are assessed using validated scales. Mental well-being is
implicated as a mediating link between social connection and health behaviors and is assessed though
depression and anxiety. This study will generate the largest longitudinal data on adult social connection
and AOD use. The fields of substance research and prevention may see substantial benefit from this
project’s use of novel methodological techniques to develop longitudinal models elucidating the ways in
which adult social connection is linked to AOD use.
Specifically, We will: 1) examine the cumulative, interactive, and reciprocal effects of multiple
dimensions of social connectedness with substance use (accounting for mental well-being), before,
and during peak and during late COVID-19 pandemic, which likely deeply impacted adult social
connection; 2) examine the role of network churn, network structure, and network AOD use on social
connectedness and individual AOD use, as well as predictors of churn and structure, in peak and late
pandemic periods; and 3) will explore potential disparities by age, by gender, and by race/ethnicity in
the associations of SI/L/A, network characteristics, and AOD use, all of which have been
understudied in the social connection literature.
To do so, we will extend and expand an existing nationally representative sample of 1,771 adults
ages 30-80 (at 2019 baseline), collected by the same team, with four additional annual waves of data,
resulting in 10 waves of data from 2019-2027 for all key measures, and expanded measures 2024-
2027. We will primarily apply innovative multivariate latent growth models with structured residuals
methods, which estimate 2+ latent growth models at the same time while simultaneously estimating
and disentangling between- and within- persons variability over time. Moreover, this model allows for
the estimation of reciprocal relations among outcomes and mediated (indirect) paths, at the within-
persons level; in this case trajectories of AOD use and multiple aspects of social connections.
Terms: <21+ years old><Accounting><Adult><Adult Human><Age><Age disparity><Alcohol Chemical Class><Alcohol Drinking><Alcohol consumption><Alcoholic beverage heavy drinker><Alcohols><Anxiety><Behavior><COVID crisis><COVID epidemic><COVID pandemic><COVID-19 crisis><COVID-19 epidemic><COVID-19 era><COVID-19 global health crisis><COVID-19 global pandemic><COVID-19 health crisis><COVID-19 pandemic><COVID-19 period><COVID-19 public health crisis><COVID-19 years><Cannabis><Characteristics><Communities><Data><Data Set><Dimensions><Distress><Drug usage><Drugs><Emotional well being><EtOH drinking><EtOH use><Ethnic Origin><Ethnicity><Family><Feels well><Friends><Funding><Gender><Generalized Growth><Groups at risk><Growth><Health behavior><Heavy Drinker><Individual><Lifting><Link><Literature><Loneliness><Longitudinal Studies><Measures><Mediating><Medication><Mental Depression><Mental Health><Mental Hygiene><Methodology><Methods><Modeling><Morbidity><Morbidity - disease rate><NIAAA><National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism><Normal mental condition><Normal mental state><Normal psyche><Outcome><Pathway interactions><People at risk><Personal Satisfaction><Persons><Persons at risk><Pharmaceutical Preparations><Phase><Physical distancing><Play><Policies><Population><Populations at Risk><Prevention><Privacy><Probability><Psychological Health><Psychological Well Being><Race><Races><Relaxation><Reporting><Research><Residual><Residual state><Respondent><Role><SARS-CoV-2 epidemic><SARS-CoV-2 global health crisis><SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic><SARS-CoV-2 pandemic><SARS-coronavirus-2 epidemic><SARS-coronavirus-2 pandemic><Sampling><Sense of well-being><Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoV 2 epidemic><Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoV 2 pandemic><Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 epidemic><Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic><Social Controls><Social Distance><Social Environment><Social Network><Social isolation><Social support><Structure><Surgeon><Survey Instrument><Surveys><Techniques><Time><Tissue Growth><Well in self><Work><adult youth><adulthood><age disadvantage><age-associated disparity><age-dependent disparity><age-related disparity><ages><alcohol and other drug><alcohol consequences><alcohol ingestion><alcohol intake><alcohol product use><alcohol use><alcoholic beverage consumption><alcoholic drink intake><binge alcohol consumption><binge drinking><coronavirus disease 2019 crisis><coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic><coronavirus disease 2019 global health crisis><coronavirus disease 2019 global pandemic><coronavirus disease 2019 health crisis><coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic><coronavirus disease 2019 public health crisis><coronavirus disease crisis><coronavirus disease epidemic><coronavirus disease pandemic><coronavirus disease-19 global pandemic><coronavirus disease-19 pandemic><craving><death risk><depression><design><designing><deviancy><deviant><disparity across ages><disparity due to age><disparity in age><drinking><drug use><drug/agent><emotional wellbeing><emotional wellness><episodic drinking><ethanol consumption><ethanol drinking><ethanol ingestion><ethanol intake><ethanol product use><ethanol use><ethnic minority><experience><health related behavior><improved><indexing><innovate><innovation><innovative><lonely><long-term study><longitudinal outcome studies><longterm study><mental well-being><mental wellbeing><mental wellness><mortality><mortality risk><novel><ontogeny><pandemic><pandemic disease><pathway><physical conditioning><physical health><pre-pandemic><psychological wellbeing><psychological wellness><racial><racial background><racial minority><racial origin><satisfaction><self wellness><sense of wellbeing><severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 global health crisis><severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 global pandemic><social><social climate><social context><social norm><social relationships><social role><social support network><socio-demographics><sociodemographics><socioenvironment><socioenvironmental><substance use><substance using><well-being><wellbeing><young adult><young adulthood>