A new study is revealing that a surprising number of American adults are struggling with developing friendships. The survey, conducted by Talker Research for CheapCaribbean Vacations, interviewed 2,000 US adults who had ever traveled with a friend in the past. The study found that respondents put a strong value on friendship, with 8 in 10 stating they were still friends with someone after 10 years and 76 percent expressing a wish to spend more quality time with their friends.

While friendship was important to the respondents, the study found that nearly 4 in 10 (39 percent) hadn’t made a new friend in the last year. Fifty-nine percent stated they hadn’t gone to a concert with their current friends in the last year and 44 percent hadn’t gone on vacation with them in the past year. The average respondent also stated they spent 1-on-1 time with a friend about seven times in a year. Half of respondents also stated that when they do get together, they often leave feeling they hadn’t spent enough time together.

The study also found that many people felt like they were “in a rut” socially, with 26 percent stating their social lives felt repetitive. Twenty-five percent stated they were bored of such things as going out for drinks, 20 percent were bored with binge watching certain modes of entertainment like movies or shows, and 21 percent were bored of going shopping. Fifty-three percent stated they felt a getaway with friends would ease their worries. About 38 percent discuss taking trips together with their friends in the group chat at least once a month.

The study highlights the decreasing amount of time Americans are spending with friends. The American Time Use Survey found that Americans are spending less time with their friends than they did a decade ago, resulting a declining number of social spaces where Americans can even spend time with their friends. According to the survey, Americans spend about two hours and 45 minutes a week with friends, whereas a decade ago that number was two times higher, averaging about 6 and a half hours a week. Factors like social media, which friendship expert Marisa Franco says, “gives us these snacks of connection,” is one factor. “And it’s like we’ve been subsisting on snacks of connection from social media rather than having the sort of nutrient dense meal of in-person connection,” she added. Franco stated friendship is important for both physical and mental health. “Yeah, so loneliness actually impacts how long we live. More than our diet, more than our exercise, people that are most socially connected live longer than people that are otherwise isolated and have a great diet or otherwise isolated and exercise,” she said. “So, it’s striking the impact of loneliness and our physical health. It also amplifies the progression of diabetes, of Alzheimer’s. Obviously mental health issues. There’s a study of 106 factors that influence depressive symptoms that finds that having a confidant is the No. 1 factor that prevents against depression.”