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Loneliness, health, and mortality in old age: A national longitudinal study

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  • Luo, Ye
  • Hawkley, Louise C.
  • Waite, Linda J.
  • Cacioppo, John T.

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Luo, Ye & Hawkley, Louise C. & Waite, Linda J. & Cacioppo, John T., 2012. "Loneliness, health, and mortality in old age: A national longitudinal study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(6), pages 907-914.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:74:y:2012:i:6:p:907-914
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.11.028
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Patterson, Andrew C. & Veenstra, Gerry, 2010. "Loneliness and risk of mortality: A longitudinal investigation in Alameda County, California," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 181-186, July.
    2. Louise C. Hawkley & Mary Elizabeth Hughes & Linda J. Waite & Christopher M. Masi & Ronald A. Thisted & John T. Cacioppo, 2008. "From Social Structural Factors to Perceptions of Relationship Quality and Loneliness: The Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 63(6), pages 375-384.
    3. Okun, Morris A. & August, Kristin J. & Rook, Karen S. & Newsom, Jason T., 2010. "Does volunteering moderate the relation between functional limitations and mortality?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(9), pages 1662-1668, November.
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