%0 Journal Article %J Soc Sci Med %D 2012 %T Loneliness, health, and mortality in old age: a national longitudinal study. %A Ye Luo %A Louise C Hawkley %A Linda J. Waite %A John T. Cacioppo %K Aged %K Aged, 80 and over %K Aging %K Cohort Studies %K depression %K Female %K Health Behavior %K Health Status %K Humans %K Interpersonal Relations %K Loneliness %K Longitudinal Studies %K Male %K Middle Aged %K Mortality %K Social Support %K Socioeconomic factors %K United States %X

This study examined the relationship between loneliness, health, and mortality using a U.S. nationally representative sample of 2101 adults aged 50 years and over from the 2002 to 2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. We estimated the effect of loneliness at one point on mortality over the subsequent six years, and investigated social relationships, health behaviors, and health outcomes as potential mechanisms through which loneliness affects mortality risk among older Americans. We operationalized health outcomes as depressive symptoms, self-rated health, and functional limitations, and we conceptualized the relationships between loneliness and each health outcome as reciprocal and dynamic. We found that feelings of loneliness were associated with increased mortality risk over a 6-year period, and that this effect was not explained by social relationships or health behaviors but was modestly explained by health outcomes. In cross-lagged panel models that tested the reciprocal prospective effects of loneliness and health, loneliness both affected and was affected by depressive symptoms and functional limitations over time, and had marginal effects on later self-rated health. These population-based data contribute to a growing literature indicating that loneliness is a risk factor for morbidity and mortality and point to potential mechanisms through which this process works.

%B Soc Sci Med %I 74 %V 74 %P 907-14 %8 2012 Mar %G eng %U http://proquest.umi.com.proxy.lib.umich.edu/pqdweb?did=2601961601andFmt=7andclientId=17822andRQT=309andVName=PQD %N 6 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22326307?dopt=Abstract %2 PMC3303190 %4 Emotions/Emotions/Mortality/Clinical outcomes/Health behavior/Risk factors/Personal health/Older people %$ 62840 %R 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.11.028 %0 Journal Article %J Ann Behav Med %D 2010 %T Loneliness matters: a theoretical and empirical review of consequences and mechanisms. %A Louise C Hawkley %A John T. Cacioppo %K Cognition %K Gene Expression %K Health Status %K Humans %K Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System %K Immune System %K Loneliness %K Mental Health %K Mortality %K Pituitary-Adrenal System %X

As a social species, humans rely on a safe, secure social surround to survive and thrive. Perceptions of social isolation, or loneliness, increase vigilance for threat and heighten feelings of vulnerability while also raising the desire to reconnect. Implicit hypervigilance for social threat alters psychological processes that influence physiological functioning, diminish sleep quality, and increase morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this paper is to review the features and consequences of loneliness within a comprehensive theoretical framework that informs interventions to reduce loneliness. We review physical and mental health consequences of loneliness, mechanisms for its effects, and effectiveness of extant interventions. Features of a loneliness regulatory loop are employed to explain cognitive, behavioral, and physiological consequences of loneliness and to discuss interventions to reduce loneliness. Loneliness is not simply being alone. Interventions to reduce loneliness and its health consequences may need to take into account its attentional, confirmatory, and memorial biases as well as its social and behavioral effects.

%B Ann Behav Med %I 40 %V 40 %P 218-27 %8 2010 Oct %G eng %N 2 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20652462?dopt=Abstract %4 Psychology %$ 25500 %R 10.1007/s12160-010-9210-8 %0 Journal Article %J Psychol Aging %D 2006 %T Loneliness as a specific risk factor for depressive symptoms: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. %A John T. Cacioppo %A Mary Elizabeth Hughes %A Linda J. Waite %A Louise C Hawkley %A Ronald A. Thisted %K Aged %K Cross-Sectional Studies %K depression %K Female %K Follow-Up Studies %K Health Status %K Hostility %K Humans %K Loneliness %K Male %K Middle Aged %K Risk Factors %K Severity of Illness Index %K Social Support %K Stress, Psychological %K Surveys and Questionnaires %X

The extent to which loneliness is a unique risk factor for depressive symptoms was determined in 2 population-based studies of middle-aged to older adults, and the possible causal influences between loneliness and depressive symptoms were examined longitudinally in the 2nd study. In Study 1, a nationally representative sample of persons aged 54 and older completed a telephone interview as part of a study of health and aging. Higher levels of loneliness were associated with more depressive symptoms, net of the effects of age, gender, ethnicity, education, income, marital status, social support, and perceived stress. In Study 2, detailed measures of loneliness, social support, perceived stress, hostility, and demographic characteristics were collected over a 3-year period from a population-based sample of adults ages 50-67 years from Cook County, Illinois. Loneliness was again associated with more depressive symptoms, net of demographic covariates, marital status, social support, hostility, and perceived stress. Latent variable growth models revealed reciprocal influences over time between loneliness and depressive symptomatology. These data suggest that loneliness and depressive symptomatology can act in a synergistic effect to diminish well-being in middle-aged and older adults.

%B Psychol Aging %I 21 %V 21 %P 140-51 %8 2006 Mar %G eng %N 1 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16594799?dopt=Abstract %4 Loneliness/Depression/Social Support/Stress %$ 25220 %R 10.1037/0882-7974.21.1.140