Loneliness, social isolation and social relationships: what are we measuring? A novel framework for classifying and comparing tools

Abstract

ObjectivesWe present a novel way of classifying and comparing measures of social relationships to help readers interpret the growing literature on loneliness and social isolation and to provide researchers with a starting point to guide their choice of measuring tool.MethodsMeasures of social relationships used in epidemiological studies were identified from two systematic reviews—one review on the association between social relationships and health and social care service use, and a second review on the association between social relationships and health. Questions from each measure were retrieved and tabulated to derive a classification of social relationship measures.ResultsWe present a classification of measures according to two dimensions: (1) whether instruments cover structural or functional aspects of social relationships and (2) the degree of subjectivity asked of respondents. We explain how this classification can be used to clarify the remit of the many questionnaires used in the literature and to compare them.ConclusionsDifferent dimensions of social relationships are likely to have different implications for health. Our classification of social relationship measures transcends disciplinary and conceptual boundaries, allowing researchers to compare tools that developed from different theoretical perspectives. Careful choice of measures is essential to further our understanding of the links between social relationships and health, to identify people in need of help and to design appropriate prevention and intervention strategies.

Contribution of risk factors to excess mortality in isolated and lonely individuals: an analysis of data from the UK Biobank cohort study

“…We used a multi-item assessment of social isolation, which is referred to in previous studies as the best predictive validity for such a measurement strategy in relation to mortality 4 . Assessing more than one type of social-relationship measurement (structural and functional) might better capture the many effects of social relationships 5, 26…”

How does difficulty communicating affect the social relationships of older adults? An exploration using data from a national survey

“…There is now a validated measure for assessing this in the form the Communicative Participation Item Bank (Baylor et al, 2013). While much research has focused on social support exclusively, it appears that other aspects of social relationships should be investigated using measures that have been validated in the fields of sociology and gerontology (Valtorta, Kanaan, Gilbody, & Hanratty, 2016). Further, we did not examine whether communication difficulties affected older men and women equally or whether there were specific gender effects.…”

Improving the risk management of Type 2 diabetes mellitus in China from the perspective of social relationships

“…Good information support is conducive to the early detection of diabetes, early treatment, and early prevention of complications and helps diabetics to manage and treat themselves scientifically. Therefore, in this regard, information support includes basic knowledge support, guidance, and feedback. Network size : Network size refers to the number of the following people in the respondents' network: the partner, the respondent's children, parents, siblings, friends, and so forth (Nam et al, ; Valtorta, Kanaan, Gilbody, & Hanratty, ). Therefore, this paper analyzes network size from three aspects: the number of family members, the community, and therapeutic agencies. Network diversity : Network diversity refers to the extent to which participants' social networks were composed of diverse role categories of network members (Hilding et al, ; Nam et al, ; Valtorta et al, ).…”

“…• Network size: Network size refers to the number of the following people in the respondents' network: the partner, the respondent's children, parents, siblings, friends, and so forth (Nam et al, 2015;Valtorta, Kanaan, Gilbody, & Hanratty, 2016). Therefore, this paper analyzes network size from three aspects: the number of family members, the community, and therapeutic agencies.…”

“…• Network diversity: Network diversity refers to the extent to which participants' social networks were composed of diverse role categories of network members (Hilding et al, 2015;Nam et al, 2015;Valtorta et al, 2016). Here, this article considers network from three aspects: density, frequency of contact, and types of roles.…”