No abstract

Purpose of the studyWe consider the points at which cognitive impairment may impact on the pathway to loneliness for older people, through impeding social interaction with family and friends, or by interfering with judgments concerning satisfaction with relationships.Design and methodsWe conceptualize a mediation model anticipating that social resources (LSNS-6) will mediate the pathway between disability (Townsend Disability Scale) and loneliness (De Jong Gierveld 6-item scale) and a moderated-mediation model in which we hypothesize that cognitive impairment (MMSE) will moderate the association between disability and social resources and between social resources and loneliness. To validate the hypothesized pathways, we draw on the CFAS Wales data set (N = 3,593) which is a nationally representative study of community-dwelling people aged 65 and older in Wales.ResultsDisability had a significant indirect effect on loneliness through the mediating variable social resources. Cognitive impairment was significantly associated with social resources, but did not moderate the relationship between disability and social resources. Cognitive impairment had a significant impact on loneliness, and moderated the effect of social resources on loneliness.ImplicationsSocial structures can (dis)empower people with cognitive impairment and lead to exclusion from social resources or impact on the social construction of aging, cognitive impairment, and dementia. The sense of self for an older person with cognitive impairment may be influenced by social norms and stereotypes, or through a temporal social comparison with an “earlier” sense of self. We conclude that loneliness interventions should be theoretically informed to identify key areas for modification.

Background and Objectives We examined whether technology-mediated communication has functional or emotional equivalence to face-to-face (FtF) contact in familial relationships, by scrutinizing the effects of phone, text/e-mail, and video contact on isolation and loneliness. Research Design and Methods We tested whether FtF contact with a relative would mediate the pathway between proximity to family and (i) isolation and (ii) loneliness. We then tested hypotheses that telephone, text/e-mails, and video contact would moderate this mediated pathway. We compared models for younger (<75) and older (≥75) cohorts, expecting to observe moderation effects for text/e-mail and video contact in the younger cohort only. Data were drawn from Wave 2 of CFAS Wales (United Kingdom) study (N = 2,099). Results Proximity to a relative had a significant indirect effect on isolation and loneliness through the mediating variable FtF contact. Phone and text/e-mail contact moderated the effect of FtF contact on isolation for all samples. None of the technologies moderated the impact of FtF contact on loneliness for the full sample. Telephone contact had a moderating influence on loneliness for the younger cohort only. Video calls had no significant moderation effect. Discussion and Implications Telephone and text/e-mail contact have functional equivalence to FtF contact in familial relationships. None of the forms of technological communication have emotional equivalence to the “gold standard” of embodied presence. The study demonstrates the importance of theorizing about the pathways to isolation and loneliness to better understand the likelihood of implementing successful interventions using technology-mediated communication within families.

No abstract

No abstract