Objective: The empirical studies of loneliness have experienced unprecedented growth in the past decades. As such, there is now a growing body of research showing that loneliness is negatively related to physical and mental health. More recently, one of the most widely tested models of effort-reward imbalance (ERI) posits that the imbalance between high effort and low reward elicits strong negative emotions and sustained stress responses. Despite these developments, the mechanism between ERI and loneliness of the elderly remains unclear. In the current study, we explored how ERI influences loneliness via social support and control belief in social domain. Method: We selected a convenience sample aged 53-84 years old (N = 231) to complete a series of standard psychological assessments. Results: Multiple mediation analysis showed that (1) the positive effect of ERI on loneliness was partially mediated by social support (95% IC = -.001 to .078) and control belief in social domain (95% IC = .028 to .154), and (2) the chain mediating effect of both mediators was also significant (95% IC = .037 to .112). Discussion: The study suggests that ERI can influence loneliness through decreasing social support and subsequently reducing control belief in social domain.

中文翻译：

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努力回报不平衡对老年人的孤独感的影响：社会支持和控制社会领域信念的多重中介作用。

目的：对孤独感的实证研究在过去几十年中经历了前所未有的增长。因此，现在越来越多的研究表明，孤独感与身心健康负相关。最近，最广泛测试的努力奖赏失衡（ERI）模型之一认为，高努力与低报酬之间的失衡会引起强烈的负面情绪和持续的压力反应。尽管有这些进展，但ERI和老年人孤独之间的机制仍不清楚。在当前的研究中，我们探讨了ERI如何通过社会支持和控制社会领域信念来影响孤独感。方法：我们选择了年龄在53-84岁（N = 231）的便利样本来完成一系列标准的心理评估。结果：多种中介分析表明：（1）ERI对孤独感的积极影响部分由社会支持（95％IC = -.001至.078）和对社交领域的控制信念（95％IC = .028至.154）进行调节。 （2）两种介体的链介导作用也很显着（95％IC = .037至.112）。讨论：研究表明，ERI可以通过减少社会支持并随后减少对社会领域的控制信念来影响孤独感。