The Influence of Depression, and Family and Friendship Relations, on Residents' Loneliness in Congregate Housing

Mullins, Larry C.; Dugan, Elizabeth

doi:10.1093/geront/30.3.377

Cited by 98 publications

(78 citation statements)

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“…For instance, freshman who leave family and friends behind often feel increased social isolation when they arrive at college even though they are surrounded by large numbers of other young adults (e.g., (Cutrona, 1982;Russell, Peplau, & Cutrona, 1980). Lower levels of loneliness are associated with marriage (Hawkley, Browne, & Cacioppo, 2005;Pinquart & Sorenson, 2003), higher education (Savikko, Routasalo, Tilvis, Strandberg, & Pitkala, 2005), and higher income (Andersson, 1998;Savikko et al, 2005), whereas higher levels of loneliness are associated with living alone (Routasalo, Savikko, Tilvis, Strandberg, & Pitkala, 2006), infrequent contact with friends and family (Bondevik & Skogstad, 1998;Hawkley et al, 2005;Mullins & Dugan, 1990), dissatisfaction with living circumstances (Hector-Taylor & Adams, 1996), physical health symptoms (Hawkley et al, In press), chronic work and/or social stress (Hawkley et al, In press), small social network Mullins & Dugan, 1990), lack of a spousal confidant (Hawkley et al, In press), marital or family conflict (Jones, 1992;Segrin, 1999), poor quality social relationships (Hawkley et al, In press;Mullins & Dugan, 1990;Routasalo et al, 2006), and divorce and widowhood (Dugan & Kivett, 1994;Dykstra & De Jong Gierveld, 1999;Holmen, Ericsson, Andersson, & Winblad, 1992;Samuelsson, Andersson, & Hagberg, 1998).…”

Section: Structure and Spread Of Lonelinessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alone in the Crowd: The Structure and Spread of Loneliness in a Large Social Network

2008

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Section: Structure and Spread Of Lonelinessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alone in the Crowd: The Structure and Spread of Loneliness in a Large Social Network

2008

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“…At the end of the 1990s, about one third (36%) of aged Finns ( 1 60 years, n = 1,037) experienced loneliness often or sometimes [12] . It is also known that loneliness is strongly associated with depression [13,14] , poor health status and impaired functioning [2] . In prospective studies, loneliness has predicted dementia [15] , increased use of health services [16] , early institutionalization [15] and impaired survival [17] .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Contacts and Their Relationship to Loneliness among Aged People – A Population-Based Study

Savikko²,

et al. 2006

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Background: Emotional loneliness and social isolation are major problems in old age. These concepts are interrelated and often used interchangeably, but few studies have investigated them simultaneously thus trying to clarify their relationship. Objectives: To describe the prevalence of loneliness among aged Finns and to study the relationship of loneliness with the frequency of social contacts, with older people’s expectations and satisfaction of their human relationships. Especially, we wanted to clarify whether emotional loneliness is a separate concept from social isolation. Methods:The data were collected with a postal questionnaire. Background information, feelings of loneliness, number of friends, frequency of contacts with children, grandchildren and friends, the expectations of frequency of contacts as well as satisfaction of the contacts were inquired. The questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 6,786 aged people (>74 years) in various urban and rural areas in Finland. We report here the results of community-dwelling respondents (n = 4,113). Main Results: More than one third of the respondents (39.4%) suffered from loneliness. Feeling of loneliness was not associated with the frequency of contacts with children and friends but rather with expectations and satisfaction of these contacts. The most powerful predictors of loneliness were living alone, depression, experienced poor understanding by the nearest, and unfulfilled expectations of contacts with friends. Conclusion: Our findings support the view that emotional loneliness is a separate concept from social isolation. This has implications for practice. Interventions aiming at relieving loneliness should be focused on enabling an individual to reflect her own expectations and inner feelings of loneliness.

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“…Many researchers have found a link between depression and shyness (Alfano, Joiner, Perry, & Metalsky, 1994;Anderson & Arnoult, 1985a, 1985bAnderson & Harvey, 1988;Traub, 1983) as well as between depression and loneliness (Andersson, 1985;Jackson & Cochran, 1991;Mullins & Dugan, 1990;Yang & Clum, 1994). Although some consider neither loneliness nor depression to be a direct cause of the other (Weeks et al, 1980), others have found that lonely and isolated people tend to be vulnerable to depression (Brown & Harris, 1978;Krietman, 1977;Rich & Bonner, 1987), that loneliness at the beginning of a semester predicted depression later in the semester (Rich & Scovel, 1987), and that experiencing feelings of loneliness at one point in time is significantly related to depression 3 years later (Green et al, 1992).…”

Section: Shyness and Lonelinessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Specifically, interventions should foster social support (Brage et al, 1993), provide enhanced opportunities for social contacts (Blai, 1989), and be directed at improving the lonely individual's links with others by providing settings where friendships may be easily formed (Weeks, 1994). Loneliness in older adults, therefore, could be somewhat relieved by placement in a residential setting where the individual's social network is facilitated by the proximity of neighbors and the establishment of apartment-ponsored activities (Mullins & Dugan, 1990). Seligson (1983) added that these activd ities should be noncompetitive in nature, such as volunteer work in hospitals and schools or perhaps group therapy, which provides multiple contacts with peers.…”

Section: Lonelinessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Loneliness, shyness, and depression: The etiology and interrelationships of everyday problems in living.

Dill

Anderson²

The Interactional Nature of Depression: Advances in Interpersonal Approaches.

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In addition to the emotional trauma and psychological suffering inflicted on the victims, these problems exact a heavy monetary toll on society. Like a pebble tossed into a pond, these problems have their most obvious effects at the point of entry, but the impact radiates outward in an ever-widening circle. Perhaps this simile is too optimistic: It implies that one can observe and predict relatively low-level effects as the modestsized waves dissipate at increasing distances from the initial point of impact. A coastal earthquake may provide a better analogy. The most obvious victims are those at the epicenter-the shy, the lonely, and the depressed. However, such traumatic events can lead to unexpected problems at quite some distance, just as the tsunami created by the earthquake can appear suddenly and unexpectedly thousands of miles away. For example, it is not simply the immediate family who suffer with the shy, lonely, and depressed; coworkers, friends, and acquaintances of the family may also be adversely affected. The health care costs, lost days at work, increased accident rates, and decreased productivity of the immediate victims and these "ripple effect" victims are all consequences of shyness, loneliness, and depression.Other hidden costs also accrue. For instance, there are theoretical and empirical reasons to suspect that these problems in living increase the likelihood of a variety of violent behaviors, ranging from child abuse to murder. For instance, Lee, Zimbardo, and Bertholf (1977) showed that convicted murderers who had no prior history of violence were unusually shy. Shyness, loneliness, and depression may all increase a variety of aggressive behaviors through at least three separate mechanisms (e.g., Anderson, Anderson, & Deuser, 1996; see also Berkowitz, 1993;Geen, 1990). First, the lack of satisfying interpersonal ties may contribute to a lower or less effective set of inhibitions against aggression. Second, the high level of negative affect characteristic of these problems in living may increase unwarranted aggression. Finally, these problems may prime aggressive thoughts, thus producing increases in aggression. THE ROLE OF MODERN SOCIETYNumerous characteristics of modern society contribute to shyness, loneliness, and depression. The high mobility in U.S. society makes it difficult to develop and maintain close interpersonal relationships, even within families. Similarly, the loss of intergenerational ties and the rise of single-parent families contribute to the social isolation that underlies many of the problems in living. These characteristics of modem U.

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The Influence of Depression, and Family and Friendship Relations, on Residents' Loneliness in Congregate Housing

Cited by 98 publications

References 0 publications

Alone in the Crowd: The Structure and Spread of Loneliness in a Large Social Network

Alone in the Crowd: The Structure and Spread of Loneliness in a Large Social Network

Social Contacts and Their Relationship to Loneliness among Aged People – A Population-Based Study

Loneliness, shyness, and depression: The etiology and interrelationships of everyday problems in living.

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