What Gets in the Way of Social Support? Functional Connectivity and Social Support Interference in Laboratory Settings

Abstract

Social support plays a mechanistic role in connecting high-quality relationships to good health. However, the question of what might interfere with establishing and maintaining supportive relationships remains relatively understudied. Self-focused attention is increasingly considered a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology, and resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) can be used as a marker of this construct. Thus, a timely and important question is the degree to which self-focus-related brain activity can extend beyond the individual to degrade vital social support processes in romantic relationships. To address this question, one hundred seventy participants (85 dyads) in romantic relationships participated in a two-session study. First, dyads completed a supportive discussion task. Discussions were behaviorally coded for instrumental and emotional support. The second session involved a seven-minute resting state functional MRI scan. RSFC in regions associated with self- and other-focus was computed to yield self- and other-focus scores for each participant. Actor-Partner Interdependence Modeling (APIM) was used to examine dyadic effects of self- and other-focus on provided and perceived support. APIM models revealed actor (b=-1.06, SE=0.43, p=.01) and partner (b=-1.11, SE=0.46, p=.02) effects of self-focus on instrumental support provided to a partner, suggesting that, to the extent that RSFC reflects greater self-focus, this construct is negatively associated with the provision of instrumental support. Additionally, APIM models revealed an actor effect (b=-1.21, SE=0.50, p=.01) of RSFC in regions associated with other-focus on perceived support such that greater other-focus corresponded with lower ratings of perceived support. These findings provide evidence for a relationship between RSFC and support provision and perception. The results are discussed in terms of their potential relationship and clinical implications.