Older adult loneliness: myths and realities

The focus in this paper is on the social domain of quality of life, and more particularly loneliness. The empirical literature on older adult loneliness is reviewed, thereby challenging three often-held assumptions that figure prominently in public debates on loneliness. The first assumption that lo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEuropean journal of ageing Vol. 6; no. 2; p. 91
Main Author Dykstra, Pearl A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.06.2009
Subjects
Aging
Demography
Geriatrics/Gerontology
Psychology
Public Health
Review
Social Sciences
Loneliness
Ageing
Cross-national comparison
Quality of life
Change over time
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Summary:The focus in this paper is on the social domain of quality of life, and more particularly loneliness. The empirical literature on older adult loneliness is reviewed, thereby challenging three often-held assumptions that figure prominently in public debates on loneliness. The first assumption that loneliness is a problem specifically for older people finds only partial support. Loneliness is common only among the very old. The second assumption is that people in individualistic societies are most lonely. Contrary to this belief, findings show that older adults in northern European countries tend to be less lonely than those in the more familialistic southern European countries. The scarce data on Central and Eastern Europe suggest a high prevalence of older adult loneliness in those countries. The third assumption that loneliness has increased over the past decades finds no support. Loneliness levels have decreased, albeit slightly. The review notes the persistence of ageist attitudes, and underscores the importance of considering people’s frame of reference and normative orientation in analyses of loneliness.
ISSN:1613-9372
1613-9380
DOI:10.1007/s10433-009-0110-3