Development of loneliness in midlife and old age: Its nature and correlates
Journal article, Peer reviewed
Accepted version
Date
2018-10-04Metadata
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Original version
von Soest TvS, Luhmann, Hansen T, Gerstorf D. Development of loneliness in midlife and old age: Its nature and correlates. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000219Abstract
Research has long demonstrated that loneliness is a key risk factor for poor health. However, less
is known about the development and predictors of loneliness across later adulthood. We
examined these questions using two-wave data obtained 5 years apart in the population-based
Norwegian NorLAG study (N = 5,555; age 40-80 years; 51% women). We considered direct
measures of loneliness (asking directly about feeling lonely) and indirect measures (avoiding the
term loneliness) and linked them to self-report data on personality and contact with friends, and
to register data on socioeconomic (education, income, unemployment), physical health (sick
leave, lifetime history of disability), and social factors (children, marriage/cohabitation, lifetime
history of divorce and widowhood). Results indicated that levels of loneliness increased steadily
for women, whereas men’s levels followed a U-shaped curve, with highest loneliness at ages 40
and 80. At age 40, loneliness declined between the two data waves, but with increasing age the
decrease abated and turned into increases when loneliness was measured indirectly. Disability,
no spouse/cohabitating partner, widowhood, and little contact with friends were each associated
with more loneliness. Similarly, people high in emotional stability and extraversion reported less
loneliness and experienced steeper loneliness declines on one or both loneliness measures. We
take our results to illustrate the utility of combining self-report and register data and conclude
that the development of loneliness across the second half of life is associated with both
individual difference characteristics and aspects of social embedding. We discuss possible
mechanisms underlying our findings and consider practical implications.