Friendships, loneliness and psychological well-being in older adults: A limit to the benefit of the number friendships.

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the relationship between number of friends and loneliness, depression, anxiety and stress in older adults. Methods: Data were obtained from 335 older adults via completion of an online survey. Measures included loneliness (UCLA Version 3), depression, stress and anxiety (DASS-21). Participants also reported their number of close friends. Results: Regression analysis revealed a negative curvilinear relationship between number of friends and each of the measures tested. Breakpoint analysis demonstrated a threshold for the effect of number of friends on each of the measures (loneliness = 4, depression = 2, anxiety = 3, stress = 2). Discussion: The results suggest that there is a limit to the benefit of increasing the number of friends in older adults for each of these measures. Elucidating these thresholds can enable loneliness and psychological well-being interventions to be more targeted.

Rejection Sensitivity and Psychological Well-Being: Moderating Role of Self-Esteem and Socio-Demographics

“…Testing the advantages of the quantity of friendship, Thompson et al (2020) reported a limit to the number of friends and friendship quality to bene t from positive outcomes of psychological well-being. They found that having at least two or three close friends can help diminish the negative impact of depression, anxiety, and stress on mental health (Thompson, 2020). Interestingly, younger adults had larger social networks than older adults (Bruine de Bruin et al, 2020).…”