The association between loneliness and depressive symptoms among adults aged 50 years and older: a 12-year population-based cohort study

Lee, Siu Long; Pearce, Eiluned; Ajnakina, Olesya; Johnson, Sonia; Lewis, Glyn; Mann, Farhana; Pitman, Alexandra; Solmi, Francesca; Sommerlad, Andrew; Steptoe, Andrew; Tymoszuk, Urszula; Lewis, Gemma

doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(20)30383-7

Cited by 240 publications

(237 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

213

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Many studies suggest that having positive and enjoyable social experiences and recalling socially rewarding information is linked to lower depressive symptoms [20], that experiencing loneliness is linked to higher threat vigilance which may promote depressive cognitions [21], and that social support may moderate the effect of stressful life events on health [22]. This has been confirmed through studies tracking experiences longitudinally, including a recent study of UK older adults that found greater risk of depression up to 12 years later in those reporting loneliness [23]. However, the association may be bidirectional as depressive symptoms such as reduced capacity for enjoyment, interest and concentration, and impaired self-esteem and self-confidence may impair social relationships or a person’s perception of them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social relationships and depression during the COVID-19 lockdown: longitudinal analysis of the COVID-19 social study

Sommerlad

Marston

Huntley

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic led to social and physical distancing measures that reduced social contact and support. We explored whether people with more frequent and supportive social contact had fewer depressive symptoms during the UK Spring 2020 ‘lockdown’, whether this applied to face-to-face and remote electronic contact, and whether people with higher empathy levels, or more frequent pre-COVID social contact with others were more protected.MethodsUK dwelling participants aged ≥18 in the internet-based longitudinal COVID-19 Social Study completed up to 22 weekly questionnaires about frequency of face-to-face and phone/video social contact, perceived social support, and depressive symptoms assessed with the patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9). Mixed linear models examined associations between social contact and support, and depressive symptoms. We examined for interaction by empathic concern and perspective taking and pre-COVID social contact frequency.ResultsIn 71,117 people with mean age 49 years (standard deviation 15) we found that daily face-to-face or phone/video contact was associated with lower PHQ-9 scores (mean difference 0.258 (95% confidence interval 0.225, 0.290) and 0.117 (0.080, 0.154) respectively) compared to having no contact. Those with high social support scored 1.836 (1.801, 1.871) PHQ-9 points lower than those with low support. The odds ratio for depression for those with daily face-to-face social contact compared to no face-to-face contact was 0.712 (0.678, 0.747). Daily compared to no phone/video contact was associated with odds ratio for depression 0.825 (0.779, 0.873). And reporting high, compared to low, social support was associated with 0.145 (95%CI 0.138, 0.152) odds ratio for depression. The negative association between social relationships and depressive symptoms was stronger for those with high empathic concern, perspective taking and usual sociability.ConclusionsThose who had more face-to-face contact during lockdown had fewer depressive symptoms. Phone or video communication were beneficial but less so. People who were usually more sociable or had higher empathy were more likely to have depressive symptoms during enforced reduced social contact. Results have implications both for our management of COVID-19 and potential future pandemics, and for our understanding of the relationship between social factors and mental health.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social relationships and depression during the COVID-19 lockdown: longitudinal analysis of the COVID-19 social study

Sommerlad

Marston

Huntley

et al. 2020

Preprint

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These include systematic reviews and meta-analyses that have reported an association between loneliness and major chronic health conditions, including stroke and coronary heart disease [5] and dementia [21]. A recent analysis of multiple waves of the English Longitudinal Survey on Ageing (ELSA) reports an association between loneliness at baseline and long-term higher levels of depression [4], while an analysis of the cross-sectional Adult Psychiatric Morbidity survey in England also suggests an association between both severe and moderate levels of loneliness and rates of intentional self-harm [22]. Loneliness has also been shown to be a risk factor for nursing home admission in logistic regression models making use of ELSA data [23].…”

Section: Model Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Loneliness can be thought of as a subjective, unpleasant, and distressing phenomenon resulting from a discrepancy between an individual's desired and achieved levels of social relations [1]. Even though periods of loneliness for all of us are an inevitable part of life, there is increasing evidence suggesting that enduring loneliness potentially can have an adverse impact on mental and physical health across different age groups [2][3][4][5]. The risk of premature death may also be associated with more severe levels of loneliness in older people [6][7][8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the Economic Impact of Reducing Loneliness in Community Dwelling Older People in England

McDaid

Park

2021

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Loneliness has been associated with poor mental health and wellbeing. In England, a 2018 national strategy on loneliness was published, and public health guidelines recommend participation in social activities. In the absence of existing economic evidence, we modelled the potential cost effectiveness of a service that connects lonely older people to social activities against no-intervention. A 5-year Markov model was constructed from a health and social care perspective. Parameters were drawn from the literature, with the intervention structure based on an existing loneliness alleviation programme implemented in several settings across England. Univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses were undertaken. The total expected cost per participant in the intervention group is £ 7131 compared to £ 6783 in the usual care group with 0.45 loneliness free years (LFY) gained. The incremental cost per LFY gained is £ 768; in the probabilistic sensitivity analysis the intervention is cost saving in 3.5% of iterations. Potentially such interventions may be cost-effective but are unlikely to be cost-saving even allowing for sustained effects and cumulative adverse health and social care events averted. Empirical studies are needed to determine the cost-effectiveness of these interventions, ideally mapping changes in loneliness to the quality of life, in order to allow the key metric in health economic studies, cost per quality adjusted life year to be estimated.

show abstract

“…Depressive symptoms have also been observed 13 and their increase is expected if the physical distancing measures are maintained in the long term 14 . Maintaining physical distance over a long period would in fact increase loneliness, which is recognized as a risk factor for mental health and in particular for depressive disorders of the elderly and middle aged 15 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Affective empathy predicts self-isolation behaviour acceptance during coronavirus risk exposure

Petrocchi

Bernardi²,

Malacrida³

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Health risk exposure during the global COVID-19 pandemic has required people to adopt self-isolation. Public authorities have therefore had the difficult task of sustaining such protective but stressful behaviour. Evidence shows that besides egoistic drives, the motivation for self-isolation behaviour could be altruistic. However, the type and role of prosocial motivation in the current pandemic is underestimated and its interaction with risk exposure and psychological distress is largely unknown. Here we show that affective empathy for the most vulnerable predicts acceptance of lockdown measures. In two retrospective studies, one with a general population and one with COVID-19 positive patients, we found that (1) along with health risk exposure, affective empathy is a predictor of acceptance of lockdown measures (2) social covariates and psychological distress have no significant impact. Our results support the need to focus on altruistic behaviours while informing the public instead of on fear-inducing messages.

show abstract

The association between loneliness and depressive symptoms among adults aged 50 years and older: a 12-year population-based cohort study

Cited by 240 publications

References 44 publications

Social relationships and depression during the COVID-19 lockdown: longitudinal analysis of the COVID-19 social study

Social relationships and depression during the COVID-19 lockdown: longitudinal analysis of the COVID-19 social study

Modelling the Economic Impact of Reducing Loneliness in Community Dwelling Older People in England

Affective empathy predicts self-isolation behaviour acceptance during coronavirus risk exposure

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About