Recently, Associate Professor Yu Bin from Tianjin University's Institute of Applied Psychology, Medical College, successfully passed the selection process of the World Health Organization (WHO) and has been appointed as a member of the new term of the WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Social Connection (TAG-SC).
Established by the WHO to address the global impact of loneliness and social isolation, the TAG-SC aims to promote research in related fields. The advisory group comprises 20 members, including psychologists, psychiatrists, social epidemiologists, gerontologists, pediatricians, public health experts, and digital mental health specialists from research institutions and regional organizations across 16 WHO member countries. Notably, Dr. Yu Bin is the only member selected from Chinese mainland.
With a PhD in Social Psychology from Nankai University, Dr. Yu Bin serves as an associate professor and distinguished researcher at Tianjin University's Institute of Applied Psychology. He also holds the position of visiting scholar at the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London (UCL) and is a member of the Physiological Psychology Committee of the Chinese Psychological Society. Additionally, he serves on the editorial board of BMC Geriatrics.
Dr. Yu's research focuses on health psychology and physiological psychology, resulting in over 40 SCI/SSCI papers published, with total citations exceeding 1,000 and a Google Scholar H-index of 21. His research team has been dedicated to studying social isolation and loneliness, with funding from the National Social Science Fund. Through their studies, they have explored the impact of social isolation and loneliness on cognitive function, mental health, physical function, sleep quality, and mortality rates among elderly Chinese individuals, addressing a significant research gap in this area.
Their research findings have been published in reputable psychology journals such as Trends in Cognitive Sciences and Psychological Medicine, as well as geriatric medicine journals including Age and Ageing, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.
Loneliness and social isolation pose significant risks to both physical and mental health, including increased risks of strokes, cardiovascular diseases, depression, suicide, and dementia. Research indicates that loneliness and social isolation can increase mortality risk by 14%-32%, similar to other known risk factors such as smoking, alcohol abuse, obesity, and lack of exercise.
In China, the increasing aging population and the trend of empty-nesting also highlight the challenges of social isolation and loneliness. A recent research by Yu’s group found that social isolation increases mortality rates by 22% among Chinese older adults.
Dr. Yu has focused on this area for nearly a decade. For him, being selected as a member of the TAG-SC group is a recognition of his work in this area. He expressed his gratitude for the acceptance, stating, “I am deeply honored to be selected as a member of the TAG-SC and to contribute to the WHO's efforts in addressing loneliness and social isolation on a global scale.” He further emphasized his commitment to promoting research in this field, adding, “My goal within the group is to collaborate with fellow experts to develop evidence-based strategies that will effectively combat loneliness and foster social connections worldwide.”
Dr.Yu’s enthusiasm and dedication underscore the importance of his appointment to the TAG-SC and highlight his potential to make significant contributions to the group’s objectives.
By Wu Hanyan
Editor: Eva Yin
