‘Loneliness in the city’: examining socio-economics, loneliness and poor health in the North East of England

Abstract

'Loneliness in the City': examining socio-economics, loneliness and poor health in the North East of England Objectives: The aim of this study was to discover whether lower socioeconomic status is associated with increased experiences of loneliness and isolation. The research subsequently determined whether this relationship impacted on health inequalities. Study design: The study employed a cross-sectional, self-reported survey collecting information on loneliness, isolation and poor health (n= 680). The survey was administered through Sunderland District Council in 2016-2017 and data was analysed at the University of Sunderland. Methods: The study employed a quantitative approach, and data was analysed using descriptive statistics, engaging in univariate, bivariate and multivariate levels of analysis. Results: A number of significant findings emerged from the data analysis, linking lower socioeconomic status to experiences of loneliness (p = 0.000) and social isolation (p = 0.000). When determining if social isolation and socioeconomics had a detrimental impact on a person's health, no statistical association was discovered (p = 0.098). Yet, there was a significant relationship concerning socioeconomic status, loneliness and poor health (p = 0.026). Conclusions: The authors have identified a number of associations within the data with reference to isolation, loneliness and poor health. Therefore, participants from a lower socioeconomic group experienced disproportionately high levels of social isolation and emotional loneliness when compared with other socioeconomic groups. The data also demonstrates that participants who experienced loneliness, and were from a lower socioeconomic background, were consistently more likely to report poor health than those from other socioeconomic backgrounds.

Phenome-wide investigation of health outcomes associated with genetic predisposition to loneliness

“…income, job satisfaction, educational attainment, social deprivation of the neighborhood), with lower SES indicators showing a genetic association with more loneliness (with a particularly strong genetic correlation for income and job satisfaction: r g = −.50). Number of offspring is negatively genetically correlated with educational attainment 43 (and positively genetically correlated with loneliness), higher age at first birth is positively genetically correlated with educational attainment (43) (and negatively genetically correlated with loneliness), while alcohol consumption shows a positive genetic correlation with educational attainment (44) (and a negative genetic correlation with loneliness), and alcohol dependence is negatively genetically correlated with educational attainment (45) (and positively genetically correlated with loneliness); these observations are all in line with the negative genetic association between loneliness and educational attainment/SES (46).…”

Factors Influencing the Stages of Frailty among Korean Older Adults Focusing on Objective and Subjective Social Isolation

“…Social isolation also varied substantially according to the socioeconomic position, with the highest isolation level observed among older adults living alone. These results were consistent with the ndings in previous studies [35]. Therefore, to prevent social isolation that accelerates the transition to the frail stage, priority targets for interventions that help maintain existing social networks or help them connect with new social networks should be older adults with low socioeconomic status or older adults living alone.…”

Unemployment and Psychological Distress among Young People during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Psychological Resources and Risk Factors

“…It could also be derived from a gap between an individual’s actual and expected number and quality of social interactions and relations [ 60 , 61 ]. Loneliness has been found to be a major risk factor for the mental health of people of all ages [ 62 , 63 , 64 ] and its association with PD is well documented [ 65 , 66 ]. This link may reflect the gap between one’s desire for vs. actual social interactions, potentially leading to an increase in PD.…”