Estimating the prevalence of social and emotional loneliness across the adult lifespan
Abstract Loneliness is associated with detrimental consequences for mental and physical health. Even though loneliness affects people of all ages, very few studies have examined its prevalence across the adult lifespan. Additionally, no study has examined the distinction between social and emotional...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-24084-x |
| _version_ | 1811203720429436928 |
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| author | Aikaterini Manoli Johanna McCarthy Richard Ramsey |
| author_facet | Aikaterini Manoli Johanna McCarthy Richard Ramsey |
| author_sort | Aikaterini Manoli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Loneliness is associated with detrimental consequences for mental and physical health. Even though loneliness affects people of all ages, very few studies have examined its prevalence across the adult lifespan. Additionally, no study has examined the distinction between social and emotional loneliness across the lifespan, even though it has long been considered functionally important. To address these issues, the present study examined the prevalence of social and emotional loneliness across the adult lifespan based on two cohorts (2016/17 and 2017/18) of a nationally representative survey (N ~ 8000 per cohort, age range: 16 to ~ 90). We estimated how similar or distinct patterns of social and emotional loneliness were across the adult lifespan and their consistency across cohorts. The results consistently showed that social and emotional loneliness levels differ as a function of age. Emotional loneliness peaked in younger and older adulthood, whereas social loneliness was stable in early and middle adulthood, before dropping steeply in later stages of life. These findings update basic understanding of loneliness by demonstrating how the experience of different loneliness types may vary across the adult lifespan. In the longer term, the findings have potential societal and clinical importance by informing interventions that target specific loneliness subtypes and age groups. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T03:00:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-826a9cdf46cb4ac28b8ce11ec90d5ee7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T03:00:52Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-826a9cdf46cb4ac28b8ce11ec90d5ee72022-12-22T03:50:41ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-12-0112111010.1038/s41598-022-24084-xEstimating the prevalence of social and emotional loneliness across the adult lifespanAikaterini Manoli0Johanna McCarthy1Richard Ramsey2School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie UniversitySchool of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie UniversitySchool of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie UniversityAbstract Loneliness is associated with detrimental consequences for mental and physical health. Even though loneliness affects people of all ages, very few studies have examined its prevalence across the adult lifespan. Additionally, no study has examined the distinction between social and emotional loneliness across the lifespan, even though it has long been considered functionally important. To address these issues, the present study examined the prevalence of social and emotional loneliness across the adult lifespan based on two cohorts (2016/17 and 2017/18) of a nationally representative survey (N ~ 8000 per cohort, age range: 16 to ~ 90). We estimated how similar or distinct patterns of social and emotional loneliness were across the adult lifespan and their consistency across cohorts. The results consistently showed that social and emotional loneliness levels differ as a function of age. Emotional loneliness peaked in younger and older adulthood, whereas social loneliness was stable in early and middle adulthood, before dropping steeply in later stages of life. These findings update basic understanding of loneliness by demonstrating how the experience of different loneliness types may vary across the adult lifespan. In the longer term, the findings have potential societal and clinical importance by informing interventions that target specific loneliness subtypes and age groups.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-24084-x |
| spellingShingle | Aikaterini Manoli Johanna McCarthy Richard Ramsey Estimating the prevalence of social and emotional loneliness across the adult lifespan Scientific Reports |
| title | Estimating the prevalence of social and emotional loneliness across the adult lifespan |
| title_full | Estimating the prevalence of social and emotional loneliness across the adult lifespan |
| title_fullStr | Estimating the prevalence of social and emotional loneliness across the adult lifespan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Estimating the prevalence of social and emotional loneliness across the adult lifespan |
| title_short | Estimating the prevalence of social and emotional loneliness across the adult lifespan |
| title_sort | estimating the prevalence of social and emotional loneliness across the adult lifespan |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-24084-x |
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