on self-rated health, but loneliness appeared to mediate the association between
isolation and mental health. Both have been linked to physical inactivity, smoking and
other health behaviours (Shankar et al.2011). However, Shankar et al.(2011) found
that social isolation was linked to blood pressure and a number of inflammatory
markers. This suggests that both loneliness and social isolation may affect health through
their effects on health behaviour but that social isolation may have direct effects on
biological processes implicated in heart disease development. Steptoe et al.(2013) also
found that loneliness was not independently associated with mortality among older
adults and also did not appear to mediate the link between social isolation and mortality
suggesting social isolation is associated with ill health and mortality regardless of
whether a person experiences loneliness. Steptoe et al.(2013) suggest that while
reducing both social isolation and loneliness would benefit individuals’ well-being,
interventions to reduce isolation would be more important for reducing mortality.
Social isolation and social support in cyberspace
Over the last century the nature of social networks has gradually changed for many
people. Greater social mobility means that many people work away from home and
families are often dispersed around the world. At the same time new technologies have
made it possible for people to maintain contact, at first by phone and more recently
via the Internet (e.g. by email, social networking, instant messaging and use of
webcams). Opportunities to build new networks, often based on specific interests, are
also offered via Internet chat rooms or discussion forums. In recent years there has
been a rapid growth in studies examining the impact of the Internet for social net -
works and social support.
Whether the Internet has a positive or negative impact on social networks and
individuals’ well-being has proved controversial. Kraut et al. (1998) studied 179
people in 73 households over the first year or two of their Internet use. They found
that greater use of the Internet was linked to reductions in communication with others
in their household, a decline in the size of their social circle and increases in feel-
ings of depression and loneliness. This was true even though they used the Internet
pre dominantly for communication purposes. They labelled this phenomenon the
‘Internet paradox’. They followed up the same sample three years later (Kraut et al.
2002) and found that the negative effects had generally been replaced by positive effects
in that more use of the Internet was associated with improved psychological well-being
and more social involvement, although, on the negative side, there was also an increase
in stress. However, there were important individual differences in the long-term effects
of Internet use with better outcomes for extroverts and those who already had good
social support but poorer outcomes for introverts and those lacking social support.
Overall, they suggest that the Internet may have improved in the 3 years of the study,
offering better information and communication services (e.g. instant messaging) that
help maintain social contacts. There were also gender differences in Internet use such
that women were more likely to use email to keep in touch with family and friends
who live far away (Boneva, Kraut and Frohlich, 2001). It is clearly likely that the effects
on social contacts are very dependent on type of use made of the Internet and whether
it is a replacement for social contact or for other individual activities.
110 COPING RESOURCES