Social Prescribing for Lonely Young People: A study of the mechanisms of action and long-term loneliness outcomes

My PhD aims to assess whether the social, cultural, and community activities offered in a social prescribing intervention facilitate flow, lower stress, and ultimately reduce loneliness. Social prescribing is a mechanism of care designed to address health inequity by linking patients with non-medical forms of existing support within their local communities. To study flow, stress, and loneliness in a social prescribing intervention, I will be working alongside a three-year social prescribing trial for lonely young people across the UK school system. Titled INACT, which stands for INcreasing Adolescent social and Community supporT, the trial will begin November 2024 with a year-long pilot phase , followed by a two-year randomized trial.

For my first study, I will assess the relationship between loneliness, flow proneness, and stress among pilot study participants. I will use our baseline data to conduct a cross-sectional analysis. I will run a series of multilevel linear regression models to test whether loneliness is associated with heightened stress and lower flow proneness. I will also test whether those with lower flow proneness scores report higher stress levels. For my second study, I will assess the associations between engagement in social, cultural, and community activities and experiences of stress and flow. I intend to look at the results of our pilot study data (at T0 and T2) to determine whether engagement in social, cultural, and community activities in the context of a social prescribing intervention for lonely young people lowers stress and increases the experience of flow states. Depending on the results of this study, I will potentially conduct causal mediation analyses, to assess whether stress and flow mediate the relationship between social, cultural, and community activities and loneliness. For my third and final study, I will assess whether the social prescribing intervention for lonely young people impacts biological measures of stress (i.e. cortisol). This data will be collected during the main trial. To date, there have been no biological measures included in social prescribing trials, and so this proposed study will offer a particularly novel contribution to the field. Stress and flow measures have been chosen and added in by myself specifically as part of my doctoral research studies.

INACT is positioned to inspire further investigation into the impact of social prescribing interventions for young people in the UK - a field growing in practice, but which is lacking research. INACT will provide insight into the social, biological, psychological, and behavioural mechanisms underlying social prescribing interventions for lonely young people. In terms of how I personally intend to apply this research and cultivate impact through my studies, I hope to present my findings to a range of stakeholder groups-including healthcare providers, schools, policy makers, and other academics. I intend to publish in high impact journal articles, as well as present my findings at academic conferences over the course of my PhD, with the intention of generating further research into this mechanism of care. I also hope to present this work to policy makers and governmental organisations, in hopes that they might continue to investigate and invest in novel mechanisms of care to promote youth mental health. Lastly, I will present this research to schools and members of the community, particularly focusing on those who have participated in this research.