The “timbre” of loneliness in later life

Abstract

The "timbre" of loneliness in later lifeThe social distancing restrictions associated with the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic brought increased attention to issues of social isolation and loneliness among older adults (Vahia et al., 2020;Frenkel-Yosef et al., 2020). The body of empirical research on loneliness among older adults goes back over half a century (Munnichs, 1964), but the past decade has seen an uptick in attention in the professional and lay-press, as well as government and public policy circles (Levine, 2018; United States Senate Special Commitee on Aging, 2020). Much of the focus over the past decade has been grounded in concern about the adverse downstream biological effects of loneliness in terms of medical comorbidity, dementia, and early mortality (Frenkel-Yosef et al., 2020;Lutzman et al., 2021;Goldberg et al., 2021). Although the biological impact of loneliness is of course important, it is at least equally if not more critical to consider the adverse effects of loneliness on quality of life and mental well-being.Loneliness by definition is a form of psychological distress, i.e. distress about a perceived discrepancy in the quality or quantity of one's relationships relative to those the person desires (Cacioppo and Patrick, 2008). The distress of loneliness can take many forms and be triggered by different types of discrepancies between one's desired vs. perceived social relationships and environment. The triggers or social focus of loneliness may vary from a longing for relationships that do not (yet) exist to grief for relationships that have fundamentally changed or are no longer available. Moreover, the emotional distress of loneliness can be experienced as any combination of unpleasant feelings such as anxiety, sadness, resentment/anger, or despair.There have been a variety of efforts to categorize the types of loneliness. The most frequently cited is that proposed in 1973 by Weiss (1973) in terms of emotional vs. social loneliness. Emotional loneliness may be understood as an unmet desire for a close/ intimate relationship. In contrast, social loneliness may be experienced as a self-perceived deficiency in one's broader social network of friends (Cacioppo and Patrick, 2008;Weiss, 1973). Alternatively, based on factor analyses of responses to items on the 20-item version of the UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS), Russell et al. (1980) and Hawkley et al.

Loneliness in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Neglected Factor in Accelerated Aging?

“…Thus, different methods may lead to different rates of clinically relevant loneliness [90]. It may also be noted that most existing measures provide information about severity of loneliness but not about the phenomenological experience of loneliness in regard to the quality of the psychological distress, such as sadness, anger, or anxiety [9].…”

“…As noted within that report, up to 43% of adults age 60 years or above reported loneliness. Age-related factors may also influence the onset or maintenance of loneliness such as loss of spouses or partners, narrowing changes of one's broader social network, declines in health and independent functioning as well as other environmental and psychological factors [9].…”