Abstract
Social rhythm refers to the general regularity of engaging in basic social activities during the week, and was found to be associated with individuals’ positive mental health. The present study investigated the relationship between social rhythm and emotional well-being in a cohort of 2,031 college students over 3 years with a cross-lagged longitudinal panel design. Results revealed that regularity of social rhythm positively predicted emotional well-being in the following year, and vice versa, when the level of both factors in the previous year was controlled. Our study provides evidence of a longitudinal positive reciprocal relationship between social rhythm and positive mental health in younger adult populations.
Highlights
It is well-known that physical health and psychological health are closely linked with each other
Bivariate correlations among the scores of Positive Mental Health Scale (PMHS) and Brief Social Rhythm Scale (BSRS) in 3 years are shown in Table 1, indicating that scores from the PMHS and BSRS were significantly correlated per time point and across time points
A repeated-measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted with the time (T1, T2, and T3) as within group independent variable and the scores on the BSRS and scores on the PMHS as dependent variables
Summary
It is well-known that physical health and psychological health are closely linked with each other. Regular biological daily patterns, such as temperature fluctuations and the circadian rhythm play a key role in maintaining good mental health, whereas disruption or irregularity in time-cues that trigger one’s biological and social behavior, such as changes in the duration of daylight, sleep/wake cycles, social contacts, working schedules, and environment signals, can lead to increasing symptoms of mental illnesses (Ehlers et al, 1988; Costa, 1996; Thase et al, 2002; Grandin et al, 2006; Gorwood, 2012; Lieverse et al, 2013). Individuals with bipolar spectrum disorders experienced greater disruption of their social rhythm than controls following both positive and negative life events (e.g., the birth of an infant or losing a spouse or job) (Boland et al, 2012). As proposed in the Social Zeitgeber Theory (Ehlers et al, 1988), disruption of one’s time cues that prompt human circadian rhythms changes the stability
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
