Loneliness among older adults in Europe: The relative importance of early and later life conditions

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to study the association between childhood circumstances and loneliness in older adults in Europe. Based on rich information collected by the Survey on Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) on childhood characteristics and individual characteristics at age 50+, the study is able to control for personality traits, socioeconomic and demographic factors, social support and health in later life, and country-specific characteristics. The analyses show strong correlations between life circumstances in childhood and feeling lonely in older age; these correlations remain significant after adjusting for covariates. While ill health is the main factor correlated with loneliness at 50+, as expected, the analysis of the relative importance of the determinants reveals that personality traits account for more than 10% of the explained variance and that life circumstances during childhood account for 7%. Social support at older ages is the second highest category of factors, accounting for 27%—with, interestingly, support at home and social network characteristics contributing about 10% each, engaging in activities and computer skills accounting for 7% of the explained variance. Demographic and socioeconomic factors account for 6% and country-level characteristics contribute 5%. This paper points out the relevance of early life interventions to tackling loneliness in older age, and it shows that early interventions and interventions aiming at increasing social support in later life need to be adapted to all personality types. Thus, the role of childhood circumstances and the mechanisms explaining the association between loneliness in childhood and loneliness in later life deserve more attention in future research.

Risk factors for loneliness: A literature review

“…The above results, suggesting that mostly neuroticism (or its opposite, emotional stability) and extroversion are associated with loneliness (and possibly its onset), have been broadly confirmed by other single studies published in the most recent years ( Abdellaoui et al, 2019 ; Altschul et al, 2021 ; Guthmuller, 2022 ; Stavrova et al, 2022 ; von Soest et al, 2018 ), with some exceptions ( Lampraki et al, 2019 ; Ormstad et al, 2020 ). The link between neuroticism and loneliness has been examined also genetically and by studying twins in the Netherlands, and the results suggest it is bidirectional, with a stronger influence of neuroticism on loneliness than the other way around ( Abdellaoui et al, 2019 ).…”

“…A strong association between mental health and loneliness is found also in cross-sectional studies with samples of all age categories, with mental health sometimes being among the strongest correlates of loneliness (e.g., Franssen et al, 2020 ; Guthmuller, 2022 ; Hutten et al, 2022 ; Lodder et al, 2015 ; Victor and Yang, 2012 ).…”

“…The evidence on the relationship between education and loneliness among older adults is quite mixed, as several literature reviews show ( Cohen-Mansfield et al, 2016 ; Dahlberg et al, 2021 ). One meta-analysis finds a negative (i.e., protective) relationship ( Pinquart and Sörensen, 2001 ), and some (but not all) very recent studies confirm this ( Arpino et al, 2022 ; Guthmuller, 2022 ; Nyqvist et al, 2021 ; Rapolienė and Aartsen, 2022 ).…”

“…In cross-sectional studies, having a partner or a spouse is consistently linked to lower levels of loneliness, while being single, divorced or widowed are associated with higher levels of loneliness (e.g., Arpino et al, 2022 ; Cohen-Mansfield et al, 2016 ; Guthmuller, 2022 ; Nicolaisen and Thorsen, 2014b ; von Soest et al, 2018 ). This relationship with loneliness is often found to be one of the strongest among all predictors, especially when it comes to widowhood ( Fokkema et al, 2012 ; Hajek and König, 2020 ; Lykes and Kemmelmeier, 2013 ; Tapia-Muñoz et al, 2022 ).…”

“…More often than not, larger social network size and the presence of at least one close, intimate figure (a confidant) are linked to less feelings of loneliness (e.g., de Jong Gierveld et al, 2015 ; Guthmuller, 2022 ; Lykes and Kemmelmeier, 2013 ; Milicev et al, 2022 ; Nyqvist et al, 2019 ; Smale et al, 2022 ). However, longitudinal studies often fail to find statistically significant effects, at least when it comes to older adults ( Dahlberg et al, 2021 ; Nyqvist et al, 2021 ).…”