Increasing evidence suggests that perceived social isolation or loneliness is a major risk factor for physical and mental illness in later life. This review assesses the status of research on loneliness and health in older adults. Key concepts and definitions of loneliness are identified, and the prevalence, correlates, and health effects of loneliness in older individuals are reviewed. Theoret...

OBJECTIVE The present analysis aimed to examine the associations of isolation and loneliness, individually as well as simultaneously, with 2 measures of functional status (gait speed and difficulties in activities of daily living) in older adults over a 6-year period using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, and to assess if these associations differ by SES. METHOD Loneliness ...

This study examined loneliness and its associations with social functioning in children across different historical times and contexts in China. We collected data from urban and rural groups of school-age children (N = 2,588; M age = 10 years) using self-reports and peer assessments. The results indicated that children in 2002 and 2005 urban groups had lower scores on loneliness than did childr...

Mental ill-health is reported to be of major concern in public health. Persons suffering from mental ill-health are a vulnerable group, and loneliness influences the perception of physical, social, and emotional well-being. However, there are few studies exploring lived experiences of loneliness among people with mental ill-health. This qualitative study aimed to illuminate experiences of lonel...

As a complex trait, loneliness is likely to be influenced by the interplay of numerous genetic and environmental factors. Studies in behavioral genetics indicate that loneliness has a sizable degree of heritability. Candidate-gene and gene-expression studies have pointed to several genes related to neurotransmitters and the immune system. The notion that these genes are related to loneliness is...

BACKGROUND Previous studies have demonstrated that loneliness is more frequently present in citizens of ethnic minority groups than in natives. The current study investigates whether ethnic differences in emotional and social loneliness between Moroccan, Turkish, Surinamese and Dutch adults living in the Netherlands are due to ethnic differences in the presence and/or impact of an array of poss...

This study examined whether clique isolation predicted an increase in depressive symptoms and whether this association was mediated by loneliness and perceived social acceptance in 310 children followed from age 11-14 years. Clique isolation was identified through social network analysis, whereas depressive symptoms, loneliness, and perceived social acceptance were assessed using self ratings. ...

Loneliness is a pressing social issue for older people globally. Despite this, there is a paucity of studies on how older people themselves perceive loneliness and how service providers can support them. This study sought to address the gap using in-depth and semi-structured interviews with 60 older people and eight focus groups with aged care service providers in Australia in 2007. A purposive...

While age has been identified as a risk factor for loneliness, whether it is a necessary or sufficient condition for loneliness has never been examined. This is the first study that applies fuzzy-set QCA, a special type of set-theoretic method, to discover the necessary and sufficient causal conditions for loneliness, respectively, among adults in the UK, analysing the data collected from the U...

This study aimed at examining the role of social support and self-esteem in the relationship between shyness and loneliness. The sample consisted of 399 college students, ranging in age from 18 to 30. Cheek and Buss shyness scale, multi-dimensional scale of perceived social support, Rosenberg self-esteem scale and emotional and social loneliness scale were used for data collection. Structural e...