Loneliness of Older Adults: Social Network and the Living Environment

The social participation and integration of older adults are important aspects of healthy aging. However, in general, older adults have smaller social networks than their younger counterparts due to changes in their life cycle stage, such as retirement or age-related losses, along with a declining h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health Vol. 16; no. 3; p. 406
Main Authors: Kemperman, Astrid, van den Berg, Pauline, Weijs-Perrée, Minou, Uijtdewillegen, Kevin
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 31.01.2019
MDPI
Subjects:
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging in place
Bayes Theorem
Data collection
Emotions
Female
Healthy Aging
Humans
Literature reviews
Loneliness
Male
Mobility
Mobility Limitation
Neighborhoods
Netherlands
Older people
Participation
Population
Quality of life
Residence Characteristics
Social Isolation
Social Networking
Social networks
Social Perception
Social Support
Sociodemographics
Studies
Surveys and Questionnaires
Netherlands
social network
aging
loneliness
neighborhood
social participation
Bayesian belief network (BBN)
ISSN:1660-4601, 1661-7827, 1660-4601
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The social participation and integration of older adults are important aspects of healthy aging. However, in general, older adults have smaller social networks than their younger counterparts due to changes in their life cycle stage, such as retirement or age-related losses, along with a declining health and increasing mobility limitations. Consequently, with increasing age, an increasing proportion of older people experience feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Previous studies that have analyzed the relationships between loneliness, social networks, and the living environment have often been based on bivariate relationships or included only a limited number of variables. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze multiple relationships in a more comprehensive framework. Data were collected using a survey among 182 adults aged 65 years and over in the Netherlands. A Bayesian belief network (BBN) modeling approach was used that derives all direct and indirect relationships between the variables. The results showed that feelings of loneliness are directly related to satisfaction with one’s social network and neighborhood attachment and are indirectly related to perceived safety and satisfaction with local amenities and services. This knowledge is relevant to urban planners and policy makers who focus on creating livable and healthy social neighborhoods for the aging population.
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ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph16030406