Lo, Chris, Nussey, Andrew E., and Helwig, Charles C. (2022) The importance of social connectedness for self-regulation and emotional wellbeing: Expanding the definition of the construct. In: Zangeneh, Masood, and Nouroozifar, Mona, (eds.) Post-Secondary Education Student Mental Health: A Global Perspective. CDS Press, Woodbridge, Canada, pp. 190-218.

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Abstract

At the time of writing, we remain in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. During this time, the enactment of social distancing policies needed to curb the spread of disease has also heightened attention to the emotional costs of isolation on psychosocial development and mental health. In this chapter, we examine the construct of social connectedness (the ability to relate to others) and discuss its association with emotional intelligence and regulation. We present data from a crosssectional survey of 133 undergraduate students, and a structural equation model in which social connectedness mediates the effect of the maternal relationship in childhood on alexithymia and experiential avoidance in young adulthood. A latent factor of social connectedness was extracted from measures of attachment security and feelings of understanding from others. The maternal relationship was assessed by retrospective ratings of maternal warmth, hostility, and neglect. Social connectedness was predicted by the maternal relationship (B = .31) and in turn, was predictive of alexithymia (B = -.82) and experiential avoidance (B = -.72). The ability to relate to others is highly associated with self regulation of emotions. Interventions to improve emotion management in young adults may also need to repair issues of social connectedness in this group.

Item ID:	71148
Item Type:	Book Chapter (Other)
ISBN:	978-1-7778018-1-6
Copyright Information:	© CDS Press 2022. Copyright: © 2021 Zangeneh, M., Nouroozifar, M. & Chou, P. Licensee CDS Press, Toronto, Canada. This book is an open access manuscript distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.
Date Deposited:	22 Nov 2022 03:57
FoR Codes:	52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5205 Social and personality psychology > 520505 Social psychology @ 50% 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5203 Clinical and health psychology > 520399 Clinical and health psychology not elsewhere classified @ 50%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2001 Clinical health > 200199 Clinical health not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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