Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T06:05:17.395Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Awareness of risk factors for loneliness among third agers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

ERIC C. SCHOENMAKERS ,
THEO G. VAN TILBURG  and
TINEKE FOKKEMA
ERIC C. SCHOENMAKERS*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
THEO G. VAN TILBURG
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
TINEKE FOKKEMA
Affiliation:
Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), The Hague, The Netherlands.
*
Address for correspondence: Eric C. Schoenmakers, Department of Sociology, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: E.C.Schoenmakers@vu.nl
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Awareness of risk factors for loneliness is a prerequisite for preventive action. Many risk factors for loneliness have been identified. This paper focuses on two: poor health and widowhood. Preventive action by developing a satisfying social network requires time and effort and thus seems appropriate for people unexposed to risk factors, i.e. third agers and non-lonely persons. The third age is the period in old age after retirement, before people's social relationships deteriorate. This paper addresses three questions: Are older adults aware of poor health and widowhood as risk factors for loneliness? Are there differences in awareness between third and fourth agers? Are there differences in awareness between lonely and non-lonely older adults? After being introduced to four vignette persons, 920 respondents from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam were asked whether they expected these persons to be lonely. Older adults, especially third agers, expected peers exposed to the risk factors to be lonely more often than peers who were unexposed. The results indicate that awareness of loneliness-provoking factors is high among third agers, which is a first step towards taking actions to avoid loneliness. Compared to lonely older adults, non-lonely ones expected peers to be lonely less often, suggesting the latter's lower awareness of the risk factors. The results provide evidence for policy makers and practitioners that combating loneliness might require early action.

Keywords

lonelinessawarenessrisk factorsthird agepreventive action
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 34 , Issue 6 , July 2014 , pp. 1035 - 1051
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abramson, A. and Silverstein, M. 2006. Images of Aging in America 2004. AARP and the University of Southern California, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Allport, G. W. 1954. The Nature of Prejudice. Addison-Wesley, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Baltes, P. B. and Smith, J. 2003. New frontiers in the future of aging: from successful aging of the young old to the dilemmas of the fourth age. Gerontology, 49, 2, 123–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, M. B. 1999. The psychology of prejudice: ingroup love and outgroup hate? Journal of Social Issues, 55, 3, 429–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cacioppo, J. T., Ernst, J. M., Burleson, M. H., McClintock, M. K., Malarkey, W. B., Hawkley, L. C., Kowalewski, R. B., Paulsen, A., Hobson, J. A., Hugdahl, K., Spiegel, D. and Berntson, G. G. 2000. Lonely traits and concomitant physiological processes: the MacArthur social neuroscience studies. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 35, 2/3, 143–54.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L. C., Crawford, E. L., Ernst, J. M., Burleson, M. H., Kowalewski, R. B., Malarkey, W. B., Van Cauter, E. and Berntson, G. G. 2002. Loneliness and health: potential mechanisms. Psychosomatic Medicine, 64, 3, 407–17.Google Scholar
Cattan, M., White, M., Bond, J. and Learmouth, A. 2005. Preventing social isolation and loneliness among older people: a systematic review of health promotion interventions. Ageing & Society, 25, 1, 41–67.Google Scholar
Clarke, P., Marshall, V., House, J. and Lantz, P. 2011. The social structuring of mental health over the adult life course: advancing theory in sociology of aging. Social Forces, 89, 4, 1287–314.Google Scholar
Cumming, E. and Henry, W. E. 1961. Growing Older: The Process of Disengagement. Basic Books, New York.Google Scholar
De Jong Gierveld, J. 1998. A review of loneliness: concept and definitions, determinants and consequences. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 8, 1, 73–80.Google Scholar
De Jong Gierveld, J., Broese van Groenou, M., Hoogendoorn, A. W. and Smit, J. H. 2009. Quality of marriages in later life and emotional and social loneliness. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 64, 4, S497–506.Google Scholar
Dykstra, P. A. 2009. Older adult loneliness: myths and realities. European Journal of Ageing, 6, 2, 91–100.Google Scholar
Dykstra, P. A. and De Jong Gierveld, J. 2004. Gender and marital-history differences in emotional and social loneliness among Dutch older adults. Canadian Journal on Aging, 23, 2, 141–55.Google Scholar
Findlay, R. A. 2003. Interventions to reduce social isolation amongst older people: where is the evidence? Ageing & Society, 23, 1, 647–58.Google Scholar
Fokkema, T., De Jong Gierveld, J. and Dykstra, P. A. 2012. Cross-national differences in older adult loneliness. The Journal of Psychology, 146, 1/2, 201–28.Google Scholar
Fokkema, T. and Van Tilburg, T. G. 2007. Zin en onzin van eenzaamheidsinterventies bij ouderen [Loneliness interventions among older adults: sense or nonsense?]. Tijdschrift voor Gerontologie en Geriatrie, 38, 4, 185–203.Google Scholar
Gilleard, C. and Higgs, P. 2002. The third age: class, cohort or generation? Ageing & Society, 22, 3, 369–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilleard, C., Higgs, P., Hyde, M., Wiggins, R. D. and Blane, D. 2005. Class, cohort, and consumption: the British experience of the third age. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 60, 6, S305–10.Google Scholar
Gornick, J. C., Munzi, T., Sierminska, E. and Smeeding, T. M. 2009. Income, assets, and poverty: older women in comparative perspective. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, 30, 2/3, 272–300.Google Scholar
Guiaux, M. 2010. Social adjustment to widowhood: changes in personal relationships and loneliness before and after partner loss. PhD dissertation, VU University, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Heinrich, L. M. and Gullone, E. 2006. The clinical significance of loneliness: a literature review. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 6, 695–718.Google Scholar
Hilton, J. L. and Von Hippel, W. 1996. Stereotypes. Annual Review of Psychology, 47, 1, 237–71.Google Scholar
Huisman, M., Poppelaars, J., Van der Horst, M., Beekman, A. T., Brug, J., Van Tilburg, T. G. and Deeg, D. J. 2011. Cohort profile: the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. International Journal of Epidemiology, 40, 4, 868–76.Google Scholar
Jones, W. H., Freemon, J. E. and Goswick, R. A. 1981. The persistence of loneliness: self and other determinants. Journal of Personality, 49, 1, 27–48.Google Scholar
Jones, W. H., Hobbs, S. A. and Hockenbury, D. 1982. Loneliness and social skill deficits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 4, 682–9.Google Scholar
Jylhä, M. 2004. Old age and loneliness: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses in the Tampere Longitudinal Study on Aging. Canadian Journal on Aging/La Revue Canadienne du Vieillissement, 23, 2, 157–68.Google Scholar
Kahn, R. L. and Antonucci, T. C. 1980. Convoys over the life course: attachment, roles and social support. In Baltes, P. B. and Brim, O. C. (eds), Life-span, Development, and Behavior. Academic Press, New York, 254–83.Google Scholar
Katz, S., Ford, A. B., Moskowitz, R. W., Jackson, B. A. and Jaffe, M. W. 1963. Studies of illness in the aged. JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 185, 12, 914–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kite, M. E. and Wagner, L. S. 2002. Attitudes toward older adults. In Nelson, T. D. (ed.), Ageism: Stereotyping and Prejudice Against Older Persons. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 129–61.Google Scholar
Komp, K. 2011. The political economy of the third age. In Carr, D. and Komp, K. (eds), Gerontology in the Era of the Third Age. Springer, New York, 51–66.Google Scholar
Komp, K., Van Tilburg, T. G. and Broese van Groenou, M. 2009. The influence of the welfare state on the number of young old persons. Ageing & Society, 29, 4, 609–24.Google Scholar
Laslett, P. 1991. A Fresh Map of Life: The Emergence of the Third Age. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Levy, B. R. 2003. Mind matters: cognitive and physical effects of aging self-stereotypes. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 58, 4, P203–11.Google Scholar
Macrae, N. C. and Bodenhausen, G. V. 2000. Social cognition: thinking categorically about others. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 1, 93–120.Google Scholar
Masi, C. M., Chen, H. Y., Hawkley, L. C. and Cacioppo, J. T. 2011. A meta-analysis of interventions to reduce loneliness. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15, 3, 219–66.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miller, R., Perlman, D. and Brehm, S. 2007. Intimate Relationships. Fourth edition, McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Ó Luanaigh, C. and Lawlor, B. A. 2008. Loneliness and the health of older people. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 23, 12, 1213–21.Google Scholar
Oeppen, J. and Vaupel, J. W. 2002. Broken limits to life expectancy. Science, 296, 5570, 1029–31.Google Scholar
Peplau, L. A., Miceli, M. and Morasch, B. 1982. Loneliness and self-evaluation. In Peplau, L. A. and Perlman, D. (eds), Loneliness: A Sourcebook of Current Theory, Research, and Therapy. John Wiley, New York, 135–51.Google Scholar
Peplau, L. A. and Perlman, D. 1982. Perspectives on loneliness. In Peplau, L. A. and Perlman, D. (eds), Loneliness: A Sourcebook of Current Theory, Research, and Therapy. John Wiley, New York, 1–18.Google Scholar
Pinquart, M. 2003. Loneliness in married, widowed, divorced, and never-married older adults. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 20, 1, 31–53.Google Scholar
Pinquart, M. and Sörensen, S. 2001. Influences on loneliness in older adults: a meta-analysis. Basic & Applied Social Psychology, 23, 4, 245–66.Google Scholar
Routasalo, P. and Pitkala, K. H. 2003. Loneliness among older people. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 13, 4, 303–11.Google Scholar
Savikko, N., Routasalo, P., Tilvis, R. S., Strandberg, T. E. and Pitkälä, K. H. 2005. Predictors and subjective causes of loneliness in an aged population. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 41, 3, 223–33.Google Scholar
Tajfel, H. and Turner, J. C. 1979. An integrative theory of social conflict. In Austin, W. and Worchel, S. (eds), The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Brooks/Cole, Monterey, California, 7–24.Google Scholar
Tornstam, L. 2007. Stereotypes of old people persist: a Swedish ‘facts on aging quiz’ in a 23-year comparative perspective. International Journal of Ageing and Later Life, 2, 1, 33–59.Google Scholar
Torres, S. 2009. Vignette methodology and culture-relevance: lessons learned through a project on successful aging with Iranian immigrants to Sweden. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology, 24, 1, 93–114.Google Scholar
Townsend, P. 1963. The Family Life of Old People. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, UK.Google Scholar
Tsai, F. F. and Reis, H. T. 2009. Perceptions by and of lonely people in social networks. Personal Relationships, 16, 2, 221–38.Google Scholar
Victor, C. R., Grenade, L. and Boldy, D. 2005. Measuring loneliness in later life: a comparison of differing measures. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 15, 63–70.Google Scholar
Victor, C. R., Scambler, S. J., Bond, J. and Bowling, A. 2000. Being alone in later life: loneliness, social isolation and living alone. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 10, 4, 407–17.Google Scholar
Victor, C. R., Scambler, S. J., Shah, S., Cook, D. G., Harris, T., Rink, E. and De Wilde, S. 2002. Has loneliness amongst older people increased? An investigation into variations between cohorts. Ageing & Society, 22, 5, 585–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, A. 1993. Age and Attitudes. Main Results from a Eurobarometer Survey. Commission of the European Communities, Brussels.Google Scholar
Weinstein, N. D., Sandman, P. F. D. and Blalock, S. J. 2002. The precaution adoption process model. In Glanz, B., Rimer, K. and Viswanath, K. (eds), Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research, and Practice. Fourth edition, Jossey-Bass, San Fransisco, 121–43.Google Scholar
Whitbourne, S. K. and Sneed, J. R. 2002. The paradox of well-being, identity processes, and stereotype threat: ageism and its potential relationships to the self in later life. In Nelson, T. D. (ed.), Ageism: Stereotyping and Prejudice Against Older Persons. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 129–61.Google Scholar
Wiggins, R. D., Higgs, P. F. D., Hyde, M. and Blane, D. B. 2004. Quality of life in the third age: key predictors of the CASP-19 measure. Ageing & Society, 24, 5, 693–708.Google Scholar
Wittenberg, M. T. and Reis, H. T. 1986. Loneliness, social skills, and social perception. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 12, 1, 121–30.Google Scholar