Loneliness in the elderly in Mexico, challenges to the public policies

Abstract

The National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL 2018) reports that 7.8% of the population in Mexico is 65 years old or older. Approximately 41.1% of this population lives in poverty, 34.6% lives in moderate poverty, and 6.6% lives in extreme poverty. While previous research has discussed the impact of poverty and loneliness on psychological development and well-being (Mayer, F. David, Ecología económica de lacapacidad cognitiva. 2010; Montero-López Lena, María, Pobreza como Dolor Social, su Impacto sobre la Salud Física y Mental en la vejez, 2018), there is limited research on the association of these variables on the mental health of older adults in Mexico. Thus, this study describes the relationship between loneliness and three variables linked to mental health in a sample of 1126 participants from Mexico City: stress, social support, and family interaction. In addition, the role of participants' genders is considered in the analysis. The results indicate gender differences in the participants' levels of reported stress and loneliness, but no significant differences were observed in their levels of social support and family interaction. Latent variable model results indicate that the negative effect of loneliness on mental health is attenuated when there are family support and social interaction. These results confirm the need to both deepen our understanding of the variables that promote mental health among older adults and to start a rigorous analysis of public policies aimed at the promotion of mental health in this demographic group in Mexico.

Spousal Support, Spousal Strain, and Loneliness in Older Mexican Couples

“…Quality of marriage has been argued to be a multidimensional construct consisting of both positive factors (such as spousal support) and negative factors (such as spousal strain), which may co-occur in relationships (Walen & Lachman, 2000). The relevance of spousal support is expected given past studies of the beneficial effects of social support in preventing loneliness (Montero-López Lena et al, 2019;Rodrigues et al, 2014), yet prior studies have found that both spousal support and strain may be independently related with loneliness in couples. In studies of older adults in the United States, support from a spouse has been related with less loneliness, whereas spousal strain tended to increase loneliness (Ayalon et al, 2013;Chen & Feeley, 2014).…”

Connecting and feeling: Associations between social factors and emotions in nine countries

“…The most striking result was that in Mexico, loneliness was not significantly associated with any emotion. A previous study revealed that in Mexico, the negative effect of loneliness on mental health was attenuated when there were social interactions and family support (Lena et al, 2019). In our study, only 0.75% of Mexican participants were living alone, which may somehow be related to the relevance of family ties in Mexico.…”

Salud mental de los servidores de la salud en tiempos de pandemia

“…Por otra parte, la ansiedad fue extremadamente severa para todos los participantes del estudio, indistintamente su edad. Hallazgo que se pone a favor de la determinación de que la ansiedad puede ser un factor que afecta la salud mental de las personas en cualquier etapa de la vida (15,16) . Uno de los descubrimientos de mayor relevancia dentro del estudio fue la determinación de que el estrés y la depresión afectó severamente al personal médico, de enfermería, a los técnicos de emergencia y los auxiliares; lo que evidencia que los servidores de la salud que atendieron en primera línea en tiempos de pandemia fueron los que mayormente sufrieron afecciones en su salud mental.…”