McLean Hospital investigators have released the results of a study that outlines how age, socioeconomic status, and other factors might contribute to social isolation and poorer mental health. In a paper published in the online version of Clinical Psychological Science, the researchers examine how individuals of all ages and walks of life seek and enjoy social interactions. Because studies have linked low social motivation or loss of social motivation with a number of psychiatric illnesses, including depression and schizophrenia spectrum disorders, the study’s co-author, McLean Hospital’s Laura Germine, PhD, believes that data presented in the study could increase our understanding of contributing factors that negatively impact a person’s mental health. Germine and her co-author, David Dodell-Feder, PhD, of the University of Rochester decided to investigate how the experience of social pleasure and social drive is different over the lifespan and different demographic groups. In “Epidemiological Dimensions of Social Anhedonia,” Germine and Dodell-Feder present results from a study conducted over a three-year period through the online research platform TestMyBrain.org. In all, some 20,000 individuals from around the world took part in the study, which was designed to examine the factors that might underlie “social anhedonia,” a clinical term that describes a lack in social motivation, a reduced drive to engage in social interactions, or difficulty deriving pleasure from social interactions. Participants ranged widely in age, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity.