Counterfactual Models, Counterintuitive Outcomes: Social and Prosocial Factors Mediate Improved Functioning after Acute Adversity

Abstract

Although several studies have suggested acute adversity can stimulate improved functioning, very few have used prospective designs, counterfactual models, and instrumental variables to establish potential causal links. Using a theoretical framework of psychosocial gains from adversity, two natural experiments, and causal inference techniques, we investigated the impact of acute adversity on adaptive functioning and its mediation through social and prosocial factors. Study 1 (n = 250 bereaved spouses; n = 83 married controls) used a prospective investigation of late life bereavement with pre- and post-loss assessments to examine these questions. At 6-months post-loss, bereaved participants, compared to married controls, reported increased ordinary social interaction, improved instrumental support, reduced hassles with friends and relatives, and an increase in formal social meetings. Average causal mediational analyses found that increased ordinary social interactions and perceptions of support mediated a reduction in depression and anxiety symptoms, relative to pre-loss levels. Study 2 used a similar prospective natural experiment but of severe hurricane exposure (n = 1182 flooded participants; n = 3162 non-flooded controls). An instrumental variable analysis revealed that flood had causal effects on increased social support and prosocial volunteering. As with bereavement, average causal mediation analyses supported a favorable effect of flood on increased life satisfaction and health perceptions through social support and prosocial volunteering. Consistent with evolutionary accounts of reciprocal altruism, these effects were stronger when social cohesion was perceived as higher. Findings support a more expansive account of the effects of acute adversity that includes positive effects through adaptive social and prosocial processes