Living alone and depression in a developing country context: Longitudinal evidence from South Africa

Abstract

In South Africa, single-person households were a household type enforced by apartheid legislation, designed to restrict the “influx” of Africans into “white” and typically urban areas of the country. Yet the increase in living alone has been one of the most marked demographic trends of the post-apartheid period. The trend, which has occurred alongside the persistence in individual labor migration patterns and a decline in rates of union formation, has been driven by changes among working-age adults, rather than among older adults. This is the first empirical study to investigate the mental health implications of living alone among all adults in South Africa using national longitudinal data. The data come from five waves of the panel household survey, the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS), conducted from 2008 to 2017. Information on depressive symptoms was collected from all adults (15 years and older), who were asked the ten questions which make up the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Short Depression Scale (CES-D 10). Adults who lived alone reported significantly higher depression scores than other adults, in the pooled ordinary least squares models, and in the fixed effects model, which controlled for any unobservable, time-invariant differences between the two groups of adults. Vulnerability to depression was moderated by adults’ preferences to continue living in their area of residence (as a measure of their social integration), but the positive relationship remained sizeable and significant across all models. The findings shed light on a further dimension of the migrant labor system in South Africa, which has not received adequate attention in the empirical literature, viz. the mental health implications for adults of solo migration, and they provide further motivation for the provision of affordable and safe family housing in local areas of employment.

Health indicators and poor health dynamics during COVID-19 pandemic

“…This variable is correlated with the increase in the report of depressive symptoms and poor self-assessed health . However, consistent with other results based on similar data, risk perception is concentrated amongst individuals of higher SES (Burger et al, 2020;, 2021. One could therefore argue that inequality in risk perception is one of the many plausible reasons why the income-health gradient in depressive symptoms has become less steep.…”

“…This is plausible in the South African context because spatial inequality (and security concerns) is such that while the built environment in richer (and urban) areas is suitable for isolation, isolation might not be a practical aspiration in poorer and more crowded areas even if it is desirable. Further, a recent paper argues that due to labour migration and decline in rates of marital union, there has been a rise in solo living in South Africa and this has adverse mental health implications (Posel, 2021). The other side of this argument is that individuals with lower SES are more likely to have lower perceived control even before the pandemic.…”

Relationship between diet quality and depression among Iranian older adults in Tehran

“…According to our findings, older adults who lived alone were more likely to be depressed compared to those who lived with their family/nurse, which is also supported by previous research [ 47 , 49 , 50 ]. Living alone may result in social isolation, which has been linked with moderate and severe depression in older adults [ 51 ].…”

Social support moderates the association of functional difficulty with major depression among community-dwelling older adults: evidence from LASI, 2017–18

“…Similarly, living arrangement can be a structural factor of social support and a measure of real-life social bonds [ 32 , 33 ], and is one of the well-established risk factors for depressive symptoms among older adults [ 34 , 35 ]. In the context of age-related impairments of solo-living older people, their health behaviours and decisions may become critical which may result in further functional decline and increased depressive symptoms [ 36 – 38 ]. Thus, difficulties in physical functioning can be detrimental to mental wellbeing depending on the level of available structural and social support.…”