Interdependence, bonding and support are associated with improved mental wellbeing following an outdoor team challenge

Abstract

Social relationships and mental health are functionally integrated throughout the lifespan. Although recent laboratory‐based research has begun to reveal psychological pathways linking social interaction, interdependence, bonding and wellbeing, more evidence is needed to integrate and understand the potential significance of these accounts for real‐world events and interventions. In a questionnaire‐based, repeated measures design, we measured the wellbeing of 13‐ to 19‐year‐old participants (n = 226) in the Ten Tors Challenge (United Kingdom) 7–10 days before (T1) and after (T4) the event. Immediately before (T2) and after (T3) the event, we administered measures of team bonding, perceived and experienced interdependence, perceived and received support, physical pain and fatigue, and performance satisfaction. There was a significant increase in participants' wellbeing (pre‐to‐post event). Post‐event social bonding and performance satisfaction positively predicted the wellbeing increase. Bonding was, in turn, positively predicted by experienced interdependence, received support, pain and fatigue, and the sense of having done better as a team than expected. Results provide novel field‐based evidence on the associations between meaningful bonds of mutual reliance in a challenging team event and adolescent wellbeing. Team challenge events potentially offer effective contexts for forging social interactions, interdependencies, and bonds that can support mental and physical health.

Understanding and overcoming challenges in times of personal or global crisis—Editorial on the Special Issue on Loneliness and Health

“…The studies included in this special issue employed the following methodological designs: Cohort studies with different measurement points were used by Beller (2023) and Herrmann et al (2023). An example of a questionnaire‐based, repeated‐measures design is presented in Cohen et al (2023). The study by Lamont et al (2023) demonstrates a good example of integrating qualitative with quantitative work .…”

“…The evolutionary theory of loneliness (Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2010) was used exemplarily by Beller (2023), Keller et al (2023), Fan et al (2023), andChoi et al (2023). Many theories are based on evolutionary principles, such as Slavich's (2020) social safety theory-a biologically based perspective on the notion that humans primarily seek to keep their body safe, evolutionarily eliciting a fundamental human drive to create and maintain friendly social bonds (for instance, mentioned in Cohen et al, 2023). Baumeister and Leary's (1995) model was drawn on to explain why an influential social motivation accounts for humans' need to belong (see Cohen et al, 2023).…”

“…Many theories are based on evolutionary principles, such as Slavich's (2020) social safety theory-a biologically based perspective on the notion that humans primarily seek to keep their body safe, evolutionarily eliciting a fundamental human drive to create and maintain friendly social bonds (for instance, mentioned in Cohen et al, 2023). Baumeister and Leary's (1995) model was drawn on to explain why an influential social motivation accounts for humans' need to belong (see Cohen et al, 2023). Cohen et al (2023) also refers to social baseline theory (Beckes & Coan, 2011;Coan & Sbarra's, 2015) basing their interdisciplinary perspective on neurological and evolutionary principles.…”

“…Baumeister and Leary's (1995) model was drawn on to explain why an influential social motivation accounts for humans' need to belong (see Cohen et al, 2023). Cohen et al (2023) also refers to social baseline theory (Beckes & Coan, 2011; Coan & Sbarra's, 2015) basing their interdisciplinary perspective on neurological and evolutionary principles.…”

“…Baumeister and Leary's (1995) model was drawn on to explain why an influential social motivation accounts for humans' need to belong (see Cohen et al, 2023). Cohen et al (2023) also refers to social baseline theory (Beckes & Coan, 2011; Coan & Sbarra's, 2015) basing their interdisciplinary perspective on neurological and evolutionary principles. Aktipis et al (2018) proposed the evolutionary fitness interdependence framework, which was used to explain the “opposites of loneliness” (social bonding, belonging, interdependence, and support) by Cohen et al (2023).…”