The Lonely States of America: Prevalence and Demographic Risk Factors for Affection Deprivation among U.S. Adults

As articulated by Floyd (2014), affection deprivation indexes a perceived deficit in the amount of affectionate communication one receives from others. According to affection exchange theory, affection deprivation should be detrimental to both physical and relational health, and empirical evidence supports that assertion. Little is known, however, about the prevalence of affection deprivation in the United States, a topic addressed here in two studies. The first study (N = 2,616) examined demographic and geographic variation in affection deprivation among a non-representative sample of U.S. adults. The latter study (N = 1,121) used a Census-matched representative sample of U.S. adults to replicate assessments of prevalence and also to examine how affection deprivation relates to experiences of loneliness and physical pain

The Lonely States of America: Prevalence and Demographic Risk Factors for Affection Deprivation among U.S. Adults

Affection deprivation indexes a deficit in the amount of affectionate communication one receives from others. According to affection exchange theory, affection deprivation is detrimental to physical and relational health, and empirical evidence supports that assertion. Little is known, however, about the prevalence of affection deprivation in the United States, a topic addressed here in two studies. The first study (N = 2,616) examined demographic and geographic variation in affection deprivation among a non-representative sample of U.S. adults. The latter study (N = 1,121) used a Census-matched representative sample of U.S. adults to replicate assessments of prevalence and examine how affection deprivation relates to loneliness and physical pain.funding associated with the work featured18 month embargo; published online: 23 June 2022This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

How Americans communicate affection: findings from a representative national sample

Humans are highly social beings who need intimate relationships to thrive and survive. Integral to human physical and emotional wellness is the need for affection. A substantial body of evidence has found that expressing and receiving affection with significant others is associated with a multitude of positive health outcomes. The primary goal of the current study was to create a generalizable typology of affectionate behaviors embedded within close relationships and experienced within the daily lives of U.S. American adults from across the country. The study identified 13 discrete forms of daily affectionate communication. Implications for such a typology of daily affection within the United States are discussed. © 2021 Eastern Communication Association.18 month embargo; published online: 21 July 2021This item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

The transcriptional repressor ID2 supports natural killer cell maturation by controlling TCF1 amplitude

Gaining a mechanistic understanding of the expansion and maturation program of natural killer (NK) cells will provide opportunities for harnessing their inflammation-inducing and oncolytic capacity for therapeutic purposes. Here, we demonstrated that ID2, a transcriptional regulatory protein constitutively expressed in NK cells, supports NK cell effector maturation by controlling the amplitude and temporal dynamics of the transcription factor TCF1. TCF1 promotes immature NK cell expansion and restrains differentiation. The increased TCF1 expression in ID2-deficient NK cells arrests their maturation and alters cell surface receptor expression. Moreover, TCF1 limits NK cell functions, such as cytokine-induced IFN-gamma production and the ability to clear metastatic melanoma in ID2-deficient NK cells. Our data demonstrate that ID2 sets a threshold for TCF1 during NK cell development, thus controlling the balance of immature and terminally differentiated cells that support future NK cell responses.Funding Agencies|National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious DiseasesUnited States Department of Health &amp; Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Institute of Allergy &amp; Infectious Diseases (NIAID) [R01 AI106352]; National Cancer InstituteUnited States Department of Health &amp; Human ServicesNational Institutes of Health (NIH) - USANIH National Cancer Institute (NCI) [P30 CA014599]</p