Does stimulating various coping strategies alleviate loneliness? Results from an online friendship enrichment program

Abstract

Loneliness stems from a mismatch between the social relationships one has and those one desires. Loneliness often has severe consequences for individuals and society. Recently, an online adaptation of the friendship enrichment program (FEP) was developed and tested to gain insight in its contribution to the alleviation of loneliness. Three loneliness coping strategies are introduced during the program: network development, adapting relationship standards, and reducing the importance of the discrepancy between actual and desired relationships. Data were collected among 239 participants aged 50–86. Loneliness was measured four times using a multi-item scale, and on various days with a single, direct question. Loneliness assessed with the scale declined during and after the program. Scores on loneliness assessed for a specific day, however, are more ambiguous. Despite the immediate positive effect of conducting assignments, we did not observe a decline in the single loneliness item score over the course of the program. The online FEP seems to reduce loneliness in general, but these effects are not visible on today’s loneliness. Nevertheless, the online intervention to reduce loneliness is a valuable new contribution to the collection of loneliness interventions.

Being acknowledged by others and bracketing negative thoughts and feelings: Frail older people's narrations of how existential loneliness is eased

“…For frail older people, meaningful togetherness and voluntary solitude are of importance to ease EL. This is in difference to studies concerning loneliness in general among older people that have shown that interventions to maintain social contact (Tsai, Tsai, Wang, Chang, & Chu, 2010) or to create new contacts (Bouwman, Aartsen, van Tilburg, & Stevens, 2017) have a positive effect. However, these studies have focused mainly on the social aspects of loneliness rather than the existential and spiritual dimensions.…”

Relationships of self-management abilities to loneliness among older people: a cross-sectional study

“…Knowledge about ways in which loneliness can be prevented and how feelings of loneliness can be reduced in older populations is urgently needed. Promising intervention strategies to reduce loneliness attempt to correct deficits in social skills, social support, opportunities for social interaction, and/or maladaptive social cognition [35][36][37][38][39]. Broader self-management abilities to maintain overall well-being could be considered to be important self-regulatory skills to handle these deficits and to combat loneliness in older populations.…”

New Ways of Theorizing and Conducting Research in the Field of Loneliness and Social Isolation

“…Nowadays interventions are also offered via internet (e.g. Bouwman et al, 2016). Results show that quick fixes or single shots such as a film plus dinner at a residential home do not result in reduced loneliness.…”