Table 1.
Individual and collective strategies for promoting social safety and reducing social threat
| Intervention | Possible mechanism of action | Example reference(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | ||
| Cognitive behavior therapy | Increase social engagement and reduce social threat–related thoughts and beliefs | Clark & Beck 1999, Hofmann & Otto 2017, Shields et al. 2020 |
| Acceptance and commitment therapy | Develop cognitive flexibility to notice, accept, and embrace past social threats | Hayes et al. 2009 |
| Mindfulness meditation | Bring awareness to the present, which is typically absent of social threat | Creswell et al.2014 |
| Loving-kindness and compassion meditation | Enhance positive emotional states of kindness and compassion toward others | Hofmann et al. 2011 |
| Forgiveness therapy | Reduce negative thoughts and emotions induced by offenders/aggressors | Akhtar & Barlow 2018, Worthington 2013 |
| Self-distancing | Reduce the negativity of past aversive events by increasing distance/perspective | Kross & Ayduk 2017 |
| Stress mindset interventions | View social threat as an enhancing rather than debilitating experience | Crum et al. 2017 |
| Acetaminophen administration | Reduce neurobiological signaling that subserves social pain and rejection | DeWall et al. 2010, Slavich et al. 2019 |
| Safety learning | Remodel neural networks underlying anxiety, fear, and threat | Meyer et al. 2019 |
| Family | ||
| Nurturant parenting training | Strengthen familial relationships | Miller et al. 2014 |
| Family cohesion training | Promote social caring, interpersonal connection, and family cohesion | King et al. 2019 |
| School | ||
| Identity safety interventions | Foster sense that one’s identity and values are accepted and welcome | Goyer et al.2019 |
| Social belonging interventions (a type of identity safety intervention) | Increase social connection, cohesion, belonging, affiliation, and inclusion; reappraise social cues and adversity | Allen et al. 2016, Borman et al. 2019, Patton et al. 2006, Walton & Cohen 2011 |
| Mere belonging interventions | Enhance social connection and belonging with minimal cues and socially shared goals | Gehlbach et al. 2016, Walton et al. 2012 |
| Community/society | ||
| Reduce bias | Decrease instances of prejudice and discrimination | Eberhardt 2019 |
| Prevent bullying | Reduce experiences of social aggression and exclusion | Williams & Nida 2014 |
| Promote social connection | Decrease loneliness and increase social interaction and belonging | Holt-Lunstad et al. 2017 |
| Build empathy | Promote social connection, caring, and empathy toward others | Zaki 2019 |