Loneliness in Mid and Later life

1. Loneliness in Mid and Later life Dan Perlman

2. Only the Lonely, Roy Orbison • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjq4wYuwgxs

3. Today’s Talk • Introduction: Definition, Importance • Peplau & Perlman Model • Loneliness in Mid and Later Life • Demographic Correlates • Life Events & Transitions • Social Correlates • Health and Mortality

4. Definition Loneliness is the unpleasant experience that occurs when a person’s network of social relations is deficient in some important way, either quantitatively or qualitatively.

5. Alcoholism Suicide Poor Immune functioning, overuse of health care facilities Sleep disorders Poor psychological adjustment Poor grades Aggression Delinquency Running away from home Breakdown of society Social Problems Associated With Loneliness

6. Anne Peplau • Other collaborators • Linda Carroll • James Check • Ann Gerson • Judith Goldberg • Judy Lobdell • Neil Malamuth • Dan Russell • Kathryn Saulnier

7. Peplau and Perlman Discrepancy Model • C:\Documents and Settings\D_PERLMA\My Documents\Doc\RESEARCH\geront\LONE_FIG.DOC

8. The Role of Genetics • Dutch twins (N=8387) and siblings (N=2295) study • The heritability estimate for loneliness was 40% and did not differ between males and females. • Boomsma, D. I., Cacioppo, J. T., Slagboom, P. E., & Posthuma, D. (2006). Genetic Linkage and Association Analysis for Loneliness in Dutch Twin and Sibling Pairs Points to a Region on Chromosome 12q23-24. Behavior Genetics, 36, 137-146. doi: 10.1007/s10519-005-9005-z

9. Social Control(Schulz, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1976) • Study of college students visiting seniors over a 2-month period • Included a no-visit condition, a condition where the student decided on the visits, and a condition where the senior decided on the visits • Loneliness declined in the condition where the senior controlled visits but not in the other two conditions

10. AARP Studyhttp://www.aarp.org/personal-growth/transitions/info-09-2010/loneliness_2010.html • Many of today’s slides are based on a 2010 ARRP Survey • The study sought a nationally represent-ative sample of adults 45 + years old • 3012 individuals participated • Measure: UCLA Scale

11. Demographic Correlates of Loneliness

12. AARP Survey: Loneliness as a Function of Age

13. Loneliness Across the Lifespan:Adolescent High Point

14. Gender Differences:Mixed Results AARP Study Meta-Analysis Results Measure Specific Women higher in self-labeling Women higher on UCLA No Difference on Dutch Measure

15. Loneliness by Income

16. Loneliness by Mid and Later Life Events and Transitions

17. Loneliness and Midlife Transitions • Departure of children • Divorce

18. Retirement Retirement Contact with Coworkers After Retiring

19. Loneliness and Bereavement • Loneliness: A key aspect of bereavement • What widows lose (Lopata) • Correlates of loneliness in widowhood: • Unexpected death • Rumination about negative consequences of death • Negative view of spouse

20. Social Correlates of Loneliness

21. Loneliness by Marital Status

22. Loneliness by Length of Current Marriage

23. Loneliness by Duration of Divorce

24. Loneliness by Time Spent on Hobbies per Week

25. Community Involvement and Loneliness Volunteer Work Participate Community Org’s

26. Loneliness and Contact with Friends per Month In Person (~ Phone) Email

27. Loneliness and Contact with Children per Month In Person Phone

28. Loneliness and Perceived Social Support: How many people have been very supportive of you in the last year?

29. Loneliness by Length of Current Residence

30. Loneliness by Length of Current Residence

31. Health Correlates of Loneliness

32. Loneliness and Self-Reported Health

33. Loneliness and Nursing Homes(Russell et al., Psychology and Aging, 1997) • 4-year prospective study: Higher levels of loneliness were found to increase the likelihood of nursing home admission

34. Prospective Longitudinal StudyPerissinotto et al., 2012. Archives of Internal Medicine Community sample, nationally representative, followed 2002 -2008, N = 1604, Age = 60+

35. Loneliness and Mortality • Perissinotto, C, Stijacic Cenzer, I, Covinsky, KE. Loneliness in older persons: A predictor of functional decline and death. Archives of Internal Medicine 2012; 172(14): 1078-1084. PMID: 22710744 • Penninx, B.W.J.H. , van Tilburg, T.G., Kriegsman, D.M.W. , Deeg, D.J.H. , Boeke, A.J.P. & van Eijk, J.T.M. (1997). Effects of social support and personal coping resources on mortality in older age: The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam.American Journal of Epidemiology 146 (6), 510-519.   • Beekman, A. T. F.; Deeg, D. J. H.; Stek, M. L.; van Tilburg, T. G. (2012). Increased risk of mortality associated with social isolation in older men: only when feeling lonely? Results from the Amsterdam Study of the Elderly (AMSTEL). Psychological Medicine, 42(4):843-853 • Tilvis, R. S.; Routasalo, P.; Karppinen, H.; et al. (2012). e: Social isolation, social activity and loneliness as survival indicators in old age; a nationwide survey with a 7-year follow-up . European Geriatric Medicine, 3(1), 18-22   DOI: 10.1016/j.eurger.2011.08.004 • Shiovitz-Ezra, S., & Ayalon, L. (2010). Situational versus chronic loneliness as risk factors for all-cause mortality. International Psychogeriatrics, 22(3), 455-462   DOI: 10.1017/S1041610209991426 • Luo, Y., Hawkley, L. C., Waite, L. J., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2012). Loneliness, health, and mortality in old age: A national longitudinal study. Social Science & Medicine, 74(6), 907-914. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.11.028 • Sugisawa H, Liang J, & Liu X. (1994). Social networks, social support, and mortality among older people in Japan. Journal of Gerontology, 49, S3–13.

36. Question • From a lifespan, developmental perspective, how can we prevent or help alleviate loneliness?