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4 What Does Animal (Nonhuman) Research Tell Us About Social Deprivation and Social Isolation?
Selin Zeytinogluand Nathan A. Fox
University of Maryland, USA
What Does Animal (Nonhuman) Research Tell Us About Social Deprivation and Social Isolation?
Humans are often described as “social animals” (Batson, 1990). Most animals, however, are social in that they interact with other conspecifics on a regular basis. For example, nonhuman mammals, such as primates and rodents, are both typically reared by their primary caregiver/s in the early stages of their development and continue to interact socially with other conspecifics across their lifetime. Therefore, primate and rodent models offer important opportunities for examining how, why, and when social interactions or their absence matter for healthy development (Brett et al., 2015; Gunnar & Quevedo, 2007). One experimental approach used for answering these questions is depriving animals of specific types of social experiences, such as interactions with mothers or peers, and examining the effects of the social deprivation on development. This work is suitable for answering questions such as: (1) How does maternal, paternal, and/or peer deprivation during specific developmental periods affect development?; (2) Does the developmental timing and duration of social deprivation affect developmental outcomes?; and (3) Can the effects of social deprivation or isolation be reversed by later social interactions or enrichment? Another approach examines whether ordinary variations in animal temperament, particularly fearful responses to unfamiliar social partners, are associated with social isolation and health problems.
In this chapter, we first discuss why it is important to understand the effects of social deprivation and social isolation on humans. Second, we provide a brief review of the theoretical and empirical work on the importance of social relationships in development. Third, we describe the utility of animal models for understanding the potential impact of certain types of social deprivation and isolation experienced by some humans focusing on two main animal models: nonhuman primates and rodents. For each model, we describe the similarities of findings with these species with humans and discuss the unique strengths of research conducted with that population. We then review the nonhuman primate and rodent empirical work on (1) how social deprivation and social isolation as “induced” by experimental manipulations affect development, and (2) how “naturally occurring” variations in temperament, particularly behavioral inhibition, may serve as a risk factor that leads to social isolation and health problems. In conclusion, we discuss the implications of this work for future research directions with humans.
The Importance of Understanding the Effects of Social Deprivation and Social isolation
Understanding the impact of social deprivation and social isolation on healthy human functioning is critical for several reasons. Although most humans are raised by their primary caregivers such as mothers and/or fathers, and continue to form social bonds in later years, there are also wide variations in individuals’ social experiences. For example, around 2.7 million children are estimated to live in institutional care worldwide