據人口普查顯示，美國有四分之一的人口過著獨居生活，結婚率和生子率也在逐年下降。本月召開的美國心理學協會第125屆年會發布上的相關研究也證實了孤獨與早逝之間確有一定的聯系。

在此次大會上，楊百翰大學的心理學教授朱莉安娜·霍特·倫斯塔德展示了社會關系對健康影響的相關證據。有關證據來自兩項綜合分析。第一項分析涵蓋了148個相關研究，研究對象逾30萬人。分析顯示，有穩固社會關系的人的早逝風險比沒有穩固交際圈子的人低了50%。另一項綜合分析涵蓋了70個相關研究，分析發現，孤獨和獨居等因素都會大大提高一個人的早逝風險。研究人員表示，孤獨的致死風險已經不亞于肥胖癥，是導致當代人英年早逝的一個隱形殺手。

倫斯塔德教授指出：“有堅實的證據表明，社交孤立和孤獨會顯著提高過早死亡的風險，且這一風險已經超過了許多人們耳熟能詳的健康因素。”

在以前的研究中，倫斯塔德教授及其同事們已經論證了主觀的孤獨感和客觀的孤獨狀態都會對人的健康產生負面影響。有研究顯示，主觀上感到孤獨的人，不管他們的朋友圈子有多大，都會在生病時感受到比一般人更嚴重的癥狀。隨著美國變得越來越孤獨，很多缺乏交際的人也必然會感到自身健康狀況的滑坡。

在2016年接受《財富》采訪時，《孤獨：人的天性與社交需求》一書的作者約翰·卡丘坡曾指出，孤獨對一個人的生理和心理健康都會造成影響：“孤獨對心理健康是有害的，你的幸福感下降了，抑郁癥狀增加了，你患上精神和情感障礙的可能性也相應地提高了?！?

目前，越來越多的人已經意識到孤獨是對公共健康的一大威脅。明白如何對抗這個愈發嚴峻問題，已經成了社會的現實需求。專家們也在呼吁對該領域進行更多研究。倫斯塔德在一篇文章中表示：“隨著人口的日益老齡化，孤獨對公共健康的影響只會日益加重。很多國家的事例表明，孤獨已經成了一種‘無聲的傳染病’。如何應對這種傳染病，已經成為擺在我們面前的一大挑戰。”（財富中文網）

譯者：賈政景

In the United States, about a quarter of the population lives alone. Marriage rates and the number of kids per U.S. household are also dropping, according to census data. Now, research presented this month at the 125th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association underlines the connection between loneliness and a premature death.

At the convention, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology at Brigham Young University, presented evidence from two meta-analyses on the effects of social connection on health. The first analysis looked at 148 studies involving more than 300,000 people and found that people with social connections had a 50% lower risk of dying early compared to people who did not have strong social circles. The other analysis of 70 studies found that loneliness, isolation, and living alone all had a significant effect on a person's risk for early death. The researchers suggested that the impact was similar to the effect that obesity has on mortality rates.

“There is robust evidence that social isolation and loneliness significantly increase risk for premature mortality, and the magnitude of the risk exceeds that of many leading health indicators,” Holt-Lunstad said in a statement about the research.

In previous work, Holt-Lunstad and her colleagues have argued that both self-reported feelings of loneliness and the objective state of being socially isolated has a negative effect on people's health. Studies have found that people who report feeling lonely — regardless of the actual size of their network — are more likely to experience worse symptoms when they're sick. While data suggests that more Americans are socially isolated than in the past, people who feel they lack connections are similarly likely to experience poorer health.

In a 2016 interview with Fortune, John Cacioppo, author of Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection, argued that loneliness has a physical and psychological effect on people's health: "[Loneliness] is bad for your mental health: well-being goes down, depressive symptoms go up, your likelihood of developing mental and affective disorders increases," he said.

The bottomline is that loneliness is becoming increasingly recognized as a threat to public health. Understanding how to combat what could be a growing problem in the U.S. is important for communities, and experts are calling for more research in the space. "With an increasing aging population, the effect on public health is only anticipated to increase," Holt-Lunstad said in a statement. "Indeed, many nations around the world now suggest we are facing a ‘loneliness epidemic.’ The challenge we face now is what can be done about it."