# The Determinants of Social Disconnectedness: A Spectrum from the General Community to Severe Mental Illness

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2020 · $526,117

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
Social disconnectedness (SD; long-standing lack of social / family relationships and minimal participation in
social / family activities) is a huge public health problem that is associated with a wide range of negative
effects. SD has negative mental and physical health consequences, with an increased risk of early mortality
comparable to that of smoking. Importantly, SD exists on a continuum. It is common among individuals with
severe mental illness (SMI) such as the schizophrenia spectrum (SzS), and to a lesser extent, in bipolar
disorder (BD). Social functioning impairment in these disorders has barely changed with the introduction of
psychoactive medications, and it translates into the very high rates of disability associated with SzS and BD
throughout the world. SD also exists in individuals in the general community.
Very large gaps remain in our understanding of which factors contribute to SD, particularly the neuroscience
basis for SD. Understanding the determinants of SD across a spectrum is important because it can guide
recovery-based treatment interventions that target such determinants. From our previous work, we know that
the determinants of social functional impairment in SzS include: 1) ability (e.g., social communication) and 2)
motivation (e.g., for social approach). But we have a poor understanding of the determinants of SD across a
severity spectrum that extends to the general community.
In this project, we will evaluate social processing constructs from the NIMH Research Domains Criterion
(RDoC) Project to identify determinants of SD in mental illness and people with SD from the community. The
social processing constructs include: social approach and avoidance motivation, reception of facial
communication, and understanding mental states of others. These constructs can be reliably measured at units
of analysis, including: behavior (performance), physiology (electrophysiology, EEG), and circuits (functional
magnetic resonance imaging, fMRI). To examine the determinants of SD across a severity spectrum, we will
recruit a total 350 participants: 75 SzS, 75 BD, 75 from the community who are socially connected, and 125
from the community who report longstanding SD. A subset of 160 subjects will receive fMRI.
The study aims are: 1) to evaluate the degree to which social motivation (i.e., social approach and social
avoidance motivation) measured by performance, EEG, and fMRI paradigms determine SD across a severity
spectrum, and 2) to evaluate the degree to which ability (i.e., social communication, perception / understanding
of others) measured by performance, EEG, and fMRI paradigms determine SD across a severity spectrum.
We also have two exploratory aims: 1) to determine whether there are significant interactions between the two
ability constructs and social motivation in determining degree of SD, and 2) to evaluate the degree to which the
RDoC social constructs are associated with subjective loneliness, controll...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9960602
- **Project number:** 5R01MH110470-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael F. Green
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $526,117
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9960602

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9960602, The Determinants of Social Disconnectedness: A Spectrum from the General Community to Severe Mental Illness (5R01MH110470-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9960602. Licensed CC0.

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