Risk factors of loneliness across the life span

Abstract

Although loneliness is typically associated with adolescence and old age, research has revealed that it is prevalent across the life span. The present study contributes to the loneliness literature by investigating a broad range of risk factors in a Dutch sample ( N = 52,341) ranging from late adolescence to old age using a cross-sectional survey administered by the regional public health services in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. Risk factors associated with higher levels of self-reported loneliness across the life span were being male, lower education levels, inadequacy of financial resources, mental health, informal caregiving that is experienced as burdensome, and limited social contact or network type. In addition, in early adulthood, having a non-western migration background and having a physical disability were associated with higher levels of loneliness, whereas living alone, having a non-western migration background, and not having a paid job were risk factors of loneliness in middle adulthood. In late adulthood, living alone and having a physical disability were associated with loneliness. The present study demonstrates that different stages of life are associated with different vulnerability factors of loneliness. Hence, the prevention of loneliness might require different interventions in different age groups.

A Longitudinal Study on Loneliness during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan

“…Loneliness refers to not only the state of being lonely but also the feeling of deprivation of social connectedness, which the changing socioeconomic scenarios during the pandemic are likely to affect. Loneliness has long been a public health concern [ 2 , 3 ] with several known risk factors, such as age, gender, lower education levels, inadequate financial resources, and limited social contact or network type [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]. The implementation of health safety measures at varying magnitudes during different phases of the pandemic, along with changes in living conditions, earning capacity, employment status, anxiety, depression, and other factors, have affected people’s psychological conditions, making them more prone to loneliness [ 7 , 8 ].…”

Estimating the prevalence of social and emotional loneliness across the adult lifespan

“…Another thing to consider is that the findings only focus on one country. This could be problematic because loneliness levels can vary considerably between different regions 20 , 21 , 32 . For example, previous research has demonstrated that Eastern European countries are characterised by a gradual increase of both loneliness and age, whereas Western European countries are associated with a rapid increase in loneliness only after ~ 70 years of age 17 .…”

“…Although many factors could have contributed to these mixed findings (e.g., sociodemographic and health characteristics of the samples 20 ), in this study we consider two factors that have not received sufficient attention in the research literature. First, the majority of studies have treated loneliness as a unidimensional concept, which could have masked relationships between age and different dimensions of loneliness.…”

“…However, these prior studies focused only on younger or older adults, thus leaving middle adulthood understudied, and being unable to directly compare different loneliness types across the entire adult lifespan. Moreover, the loneliness measurements (i.e., social and emotional loneliness scale) and sample characteristics (e.g., nationality) in these studies are divergent, which makes comparison between results difficult, given that different national backgrounds and loneliness measures can influence loneliness scores 20 , 31 , 32 . Therefore, the prevalence of social and emotional loneliness across the adult lifespan remains unclear.…”

“…Most studies have revealed a non-linear, U-shaped relationship between loneliness and age, whereby loneliness increases during young adulthood and older age, and substantially decreases in middle adulthood 3,[13][14][15][16][17][18] . However, recent large-scale studies have also shown that loneliness has a linear relationship with age (i.e., loneliness gradually increases as people get older [19][20][21] ), as well as a different nonlinear trajectory (i.e., loneliness decreases in young adulthood and gradually peaks from middle adulthood onwards 22 ), or no relationship with age 23 . As such, even though a majority of prior studies have demonstrated a U-shaped trajectory of loneliness across the lifespan, the results remain mixed overall.Although many factors could have contributed to these mixed findings (e.g., sociodemographic and health characteristics of the samples 20 ), in this study we consider two factors that have not received sufficient attention in the research literature.…”