Correlates and predictors of loneliness in old age : Evidence from Sweden and England

• It is important to identify factors associated with loneliness in older people if effective policies and strategies to prevent and reduce loneliness are to be developed. In this presentation two studies that identify factors associated with loneliness in old age are reported. Strengths and weaknesses of the studies, which differ in design and focus, shed light on issues of importance for future studies on loneliness.The first study was based on data from two waves of SWEOLD, a Swedish longitudinal national survey study (N=613). It aimed to examine the extent to which older people (70+) report feelings of loneliness with a focus on changes in loneliness over time, and on factors predicting loneliness in women and men, respectively. This study showed that older people moved in and out of loneliness over time, but there was a general increase in loneliness as they aged. It also identified gender differences in both incidence and risk factors.The second study was based on data from the Barnsley Social Exclusion in Old Age Study, an English cross-sectional community survey (N=1255), and aimed to identify risk factors for social and emotional loneliness in older people (65+). This study identified different, as well as shared, risk factors for social and emotional loneliness, thereby providing further empirical support for the conceptual separation of emotional and social loneliness.Taken together, these studies demonstrate the importance of: 1) longitudinal research in order to determine risk factors for loneliness; 2) considering women and men separately; and 3) looking at social and emotional loneliness separately. These approaches in combination will aid the development of effective interventions to reduce loneliness in the older population and to ensure those interventions are targeted at the appropriate groups.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Sociologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Sociology (hsv//eng)

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