Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T00:36:39.406Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Old Age and Loneliness: Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Analyses in the Tampere Longitudinal Study on Aging

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Marja Jylhä
Marja Jylhä*
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, University of Tampere
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to: / Les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à : Marja Jylhä, MD, PhD, Professor of Health Science, School of Public Health, FIN-33014 University of Tampere, Finland. ([email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether older age is associated with increasing loneliness in people aged 60 and over. Data came from TamELSA, a population-based prospective longitudinal study in Tampere, Finland. The follow-up time was 20 years. Loneliness was measured by a single question – “Do you feel lonely?“ – with the possible answers often, sometimes, or never. Cross-sectional analysis showed that the percentage of subjects feeling lonely increased toward older age groups, but in a multivariate analysis, only household composition and social participation were independently associated with loneliness. Longitudinal analysis showed that loneliness increased with higher age. Over a 10-year period, loneliness increased most in those who, at baseline, were married and living alone with their spouse. In conclusion, only a minority of older people continuously suffer from loneliness. Loneliness does increase with age, not because of age per se, but because of increasing disability and decreasing social integration.

Résumé

Le but de cette étude était d'examiner si l'âge mûr est lié au phénomène de solitude accrue parmi la population desplus de 60 ans. Les données ont été fournies par TamELSA, étude prospective longitudinale basée sur la population àTampere, Finlande. Cette étude a été suivie sur une période de 20 ans. La solitude a été évaluée à l'aide d'une seulequestion : « Vous sentez-vous seul ? », avec pour réponses alternatives, « souvent », « parfois » ou « jamais ». Une analysetransversale a permis de montrer que le pourcentage des sujets se sentant seuls parmi les groupes de personnesd'âge mûr avait augmenté ; cependant, dans une analyse multivariée, seuls les facteurs de la composition du foyer etde la participation sociale étaient indépendamment liés au phénomène de solitude. L'analyse longitudinale a montréque la solitude augmentait avec l'âge. Sur une période de 10 ans, la solitude a augmenté surtout pour ceux qui étaientmariés ou vivaient seuls avec leur époux/épouse à la base. En conclusion, seule une minorité de personnes âgées souffrentcontinuellement de la solitude. La solitude s'accroît en effet avec l'âge, non pas à cause de l'âge per se, mais en raisonde la perte accrue des capacités et de l'intégration sociale affaiblie.

Keywords

agingfollow-uplongitudinal studieslonelinessold agewell-beingvieillissementsuiviétudes longitudinalessolitudevieillissementbien-être
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 23 , Special Issue/Numéro special 2: Social Isolation and Loneliness/Isolement social et solitude , Summer/Été 2004 , pp. 157 - 168
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2004

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

Artama, M., & Jylhä, M. (In press). Health, functional ability and living conditions of older people in Tampere in 1999: Results from the third wave if the TamELSA.Google Scholar
Dean, L.R. (1962). Aging and the decline of affect. Journal of Gerontology, 17, 440–446.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
de Jong Gierveld, J. (1978). The construct of loneliness: Components and measurement. Essence, 2, 221–238.Google Scholar
de Jong Gierveld, J., & Kamphuis, E. (1985). The development of a Rasch-type loneliness scale. Applied Psychology Measurement, 9, 289–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Jong Gierveld, J., & Dykstra, P.A. (1996). Loneliness comes and goes: Unraveling the impact of changes in the network of social relationship and changes in the health of older adults. Mens en Maatschappij, 71(3), 189–208.Google Scholar
de Jong Gierveld, J., & van Tilburg, T. (1999). Living arrangements of older adults in the Netherlands and Italy: Coresidence values and behaviour and their consequences for loneliness. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology, 14(1), 1–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dykstra, P.A., & de Jong Gierveld, J. (1999). Loneliness diffrentials among older adults: The importance of type of partner, partner history, health, socioeconomic position, and social relationships. Tijdschrift voor Gerontologie en Geriatrie, 30(5), 212–225.Google Scholar
Ernst, J.M., & Cacioppo, J.T. (1999). Lonely hearts: Psychologic perspectives on loneliness. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 8, 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fees, B.S., Martin, P., & Poon, L. W. (1999). A model of loneliness in older adults. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences, 54B(4), 231–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heikkinen, E., Waters, W.E., & Brzezinski, Z.J. (1983). The elderly in eleven countries: A sociomedical survey. Copenhagen, Denmark: World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe (Public Health in Europe 21).Google Scholar
Heikkinen, R-L.. (1999). Mood problems and changes in an eight-year follow-up study among elderly persons living in Jyväskylä, Finland. In Suutama, T., Ruoppila, I., & Laukkanen, P. (Eds.), Changes in functional abilities among elderly people: Findings from an eight-year follow-up study by the Evergreen project (pp. 117–132). Helsinki, Finland: KELA (Sosiaali- ja terveysturvan tutkimuksia 42).Google Scholar
Holmen, K., Ericsson, K., Andersson, L., & Winblad, B. (1992). Loneliness among elderly people living in Stockholm: A population study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 17(1), 43–51.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnson, D.P., & Mullins, L.C. (1987). Growing old and lonely in different societies: Toward a comparative perspective. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology, 2, 257–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jylhä, M., & Jokela, J. (1990). Individual experiences as cultural: A cross-cultural study on loneliness among the elderly. Ageing and Society, 10, 295–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jylhä, M., Jokela, J., Tolvanen, E., Heikkinen, E., Heikkinen, R-L., Koskinen, S., et al. (1992). The Tampere longitudinal Study on Aging: Description of the study – Basic results on health and functional ability. Stockholm, Sweden: Scandinavian Journal of Social Medicine.Google Scholar
Jylhä, M., Jokela, J., & Heikkinen, E. (1995). Health-related quality of life in the elderly in 1979 and 1989: A birth cohort comparison in Tampere, Finland. In Ferrucci, L., Heikkinen, E., Waters, E., & Baroni, A. (Eds.), Pendulum: Health and quality of life in older Europeans (pp. 67–104). Florence, Italy: INRCA and WHO.Google Scholar
Lopata, H.Z. (1969). Loneliness: Forms and components. Social Problems, 17, 248–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, P., Hagberg, B., & Poon, L.W. (1997). Predictors of loneliness in centenarians: A parallel study. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology, 12, 203–224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mullins, L.C., Sheppard, H.L., & Andersson, L. (1988). A study of loneliness among a national sample of Swedish elderly. Compr Gerontol B, 2, 36–43.Google ScholarPubMed
Penninx, B.W.J.H., van Tilburg, T., Kriegsman, D.M.W., Deeg, D.J.H., Boeke, A.J.P., & van Eijk, J.T.M. (1997). Effects of social support and personal coping resources on mortality in older age: The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. American Journal of Epidemiology, 146(6), 510–519.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peplau, L.A., & Perlman, D. (1982). Perspectives in loneliness. In Peplau, L.A. & Perlman, D. (Eds.), Loneliness: A sourcebook of current theory, research and therapy. New York: Wiley-Interscience.Google Scholar
Peplau, L.A., Bikson, T.K., Rook, K.S., & Goodchilds, J.D. (1982). Being old and living alone. In Peplau, L.A. & Perlman, D. (Eds.), Loneliness: A sourcebook of current theory, research and therapy (pp. 327–347). New York: Wiley-Interscience.Google Scholar
Rokach, A. (1988). The experience of loneliness: A tri-level model. Journal of Psychology, 122, 531–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rokach, A. (2000). Loneliness and the life cycle. Psychological Reports, 86, 629–642.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rubinstein, C.M., & Shaver, P. (1979). Loneliness in two northeastern cities. In Hartog, J. & Andy, R. (Eds.), The Anatomy of loneliness (pp. 319–337). New York: International Universities Press.Google Scholar
Russell, D. (1982). The measurements of loneliness. In Peplau, L.A. & Perlman, D. (Eds.), Loneliness: A sourcebook of current theory, research, and therapy (pp. 81–104). New York: Wiley-Interscience.Google Scholar
Russell, D. (1996). UCLA loneliness scale (version 3): Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66(1), 20–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Samuelsson, G., Andersson, L., & Hagberg, B. (1998). Loneliness in relation to social, psychological and medical variables over a 13-year period: A study of the elderly in a Swedish rural district. Journal of Mental Health and Aging, 4(3).Google Scholar
Sugisawa, H., Liang, J., & Liu, X. (1994). Social networks, social support, and mortality among older people in Japan. Journals of Gerontology, 49(1), S3–S13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tijhuis, M.A.R., de Jong Gierveld, J., Feskens, E.J.M., & Kromhout, D. (1999). Changes in and factors related to loneliness in older men: The Zutphen elderly study. Age and Ageing, 28, 491–495.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tornstam, L. (1988). Ensamhets ansikten: en studie av ensamhetsupplevelser hos svenskar i åldrarna 15–80 år [The face of loneliness: A study of loneliness experiences among Swedish people aged 15 to 80 years]. Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala universitet (Äldre i samhället - förr, nu och i framtiden. Arbetsrapport; 1).Google Scholar
van Tilburg, T., de Jong Gierveld, J., Lecchini, L., & Marsiglia, D. (1998). Social integration and loneliness: A comparative study among older adults in the Netherlands and Tuscany, Italy. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 15(6), 740–754.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waters, W.E., Heikkinen, E., & Dontas, A.S. (1989). Health lifestyles and services for the elderly. Copenhagen, Denmark: World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe (Public Health in Europe 29).Google Scholar
Weiss, R.S. (1973). Loneliness: The experience of emotional and social isolation. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Wenger, G.C., Davies, R., Shahtahmasebi, S., & Scott, A. (1996). Social isolation and loneliness in old age: Review and model refinement. Ageing and Society, 16, 333–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar