IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i15p5314-d388720.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Inequalities and Loneliness as Predictors of Ageing Well: A Trend Analysis Using Mixed Models

Author

Listed:
  • Jens Klein

    (Institute of Medical Sociology, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Olaf von dem Knesebeck

    (Institute of Medical Sociology, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany)

  • Daniel Lüdecke

    (Institute of Medical Sociology, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany)

Abstract

Background : This study examines if education, income, and loneliness are associated with physical functioning and optimism in an ageing population in Germany. Furthermore, time trends of physical functioning and optimism as well as of associations with social inequality and loneliness are analyzed. Methods : The German Ageing Survey (DEAS), a longitudinal population-based survey of individuals aged 40 years and older, was used (four waves between 2008 and 2017, total sample size N = 23,572). Physical functioning and optimism were introduced as indicators of ageing well. Educational level, net equivalent income, and loneliness were used as predictors in linear mixed models for longitudinal data. Results : Time trends show that physical functioning decreases over time, while optimism slightly increases. Education and income are positively associated with physical functioning, while higher loneliness correlates with lower physical functioning. Higher optimism was associated with higher income and particularly with lower loneliness. Income and notable educational inequalities in physical functioning increase over time. Time trends of the associations with optimism show decreasing income inequalities and increasing disparities in loneliness. Conclusions : Increasing educational inequalities in physical functioning and a strong association of loneliness with optimism provide information for further interventions. Targeted health promotion among the aged and addressing maladaptive social cognition are options to tackle these issues. Key areas for action on healthy ageing include, for instance, the alignment of health systems to the needs of older populations or the creation of age-friendly environments.

Suggested Citation

  • Jens Klein & Olaf von dem Knesebeck & Daniel Lüdecke, 2020. "Social Inequalities and Loneliness as Predictors of Ageing Well: A Trend Analysis Using Mixed Models," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-14, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:15:p:5314-:d:388720
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/15/5314/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/15/5314/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Julia K Boehm & Ying Chen & David R Williams & Carol Ryff & Laura D Kubzansky, 2015. "Unequally Distributed Psychological Assets: Are There Social Disparities in Optimism, Life Satisfaction, and Positive Affect?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(2), pages 1-16, February.
    2. Huisman, Martijn & Kunst, Anton E. & Mackenbach, Johan P., 2003. "Socioeconomic inequalities in morbidity among the elderly; a European overview," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(5), pages 861-873, September.
    3. Siok Swan Tan & Irene N. Fierloos & Xuxi Zhang & Elin Koppelaar & Tamara Alhambra-Borras & Tasos Rentoumis & Greg Williams & Tomislav Rukavina & Rob van Staveren & Jordi Garces-Ferrer & Carmen B. Fran, 2020. "The Association between Loneliness and Health Related Quality of Life (HR-QoL) among Community-Dwelling Older Citizens," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-12, January.
    4. Bates, Douglas & Mächler, Martin & Bolker, Ben & Walker, Steve, 2015. "Fitting Linear Mixed-Effects Models Using lme4," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 67(i01).
    5. Mundlak, Yair, 1978. "On the Pooling of Time Series and Cross Section Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 46(1), pages 69-85, January.
    6. Liliya Leopold & Henriette Engelhardt, 2013. "Erratum to: Education and physical health trajectories in old age. Evidence from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(2), pages 329-329, April.
    7. Liliya Leopold & Henriette Engelhartdt, 2013. "Education and physical health trajectories in old age. Evidence from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 58(1), pages 23-31, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hui-Chuan Hsu, 2020. "Typologies of Loneliness, Isolation and Living Alone Are Associated with Psychological Well-Being among Older Adults in Taipei: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-14, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Patricia Gómez-Costilla & Carmen García-Prieto & Noelia Somarriba-Arechavala, 2022. "Aging and Gender Health Gap: A Multilevel Analysis for 17 European Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 1051-1069, April.
    2. Jens Hoebel & Alexander Rommel & Sara Lena Schröder & Judith Fuchs & Enno Nowossadeck & Thomas Lampert, 2017. "Socioeconomic Inequalities in Health and Perceived Unmet Needs for Healthcare among the Elderly in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, September.
    3. Tsai, Tsung-Han, 2016. "A Bayesian Approach to Dynamic Panel Models with Endogenous Rarely Changing Variables," Political Science Research and Methods, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(3), pages 595-620, September.
    4. Isabel Neira & Fernando Bruna & Marta Portela & Adela García-Aracil, 2018. "Individual Well-Being, Geographical Heterogeneity and Social Capital," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1067-1090, April.
    5. Levinsky, Michal & Schiff, Miriam, 2021. "Lifetime cumulative adversity and physical health deterioration in old age: Evidence from a fourteen-year longitudinal study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    6. Philipp F. M. Baumann & Enzo Rossi & Alexander Volkmann, 2020. "What Drives Inflation and How: Evidence from Additive Mixed Models Selected by cAIC," Papers 2006.06274, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2022.
    7. Michael Freeman & Nicos Savva & Stefan Scholtes, 2021. "Economies of Scale and Scope in Hospitals: An Empirical Study of Volume Spillovers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(2), pages 673-697, February.
    8. Jinkyung Cho & Inhwan Lee & Dong-Ho Park & Hyo-Bum Kwak & Kisuk Min, 2021. "Relationships between Socioeconomic Status, Handgrip Strength, and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Middle-Aged Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-11, February.
    9. Andrew Bell & Malcolm Fairbrother & Kelvyn Jones, 2019. "Fixed and random effects models: making an informed choice," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 1051-1074, March.
    10. Tibor András Marton & Anna Kis & Anna Zubor-Nemes & Anikó Kern & Nándor Fodor, 2020. "Human Impact Promotes Sustainable Corn Production in Hungary," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-16, August.
    11. Xin Xu & Yuan Zhao & Jianfang Zhou & Siyou Xia, 2022. "Quality-of-Life Evaluation among the Oldest-Old in China under the “Active Aging Framework”," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-15, April.
    12. Sven-Erik Johansson & Patrik Midlöv & Jan Sundquist & Kristina Sundquist & Susanna Calling, 2015. "Longitudinal trends in good self-rated health: effects of age and birth cohort in a 25-year follow-up study in Sweden," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 60(3), pages 363-373, March.
    13. Thomas Leoni & Martin Spielauer & Peter Reschenhofer, 2020. "Soziale Unterschiede, Lebenserwartung und Gesundheitsausgaben im Lebensverlauf," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 66626, April.
    14. Stefan Fors & Mats Thorslund, 2015. "Enduring inequality: educational disparities in health among the oldest old in Sweden 1992–2011," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 60(1), pages 91-98, January.
    15. Carmen B Franse & Amy van Grieken & Li Qin & René J F Melis & Judith A C Rietjens & Hein Raat, 2017. "Socioeconomic inequalities in frailty and frailty components among community-dwelling older citizens," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(11), pages 1-15, November.
    16. Wen, Jun & Deng, Peidong & Fu, Qiang & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2022. "Does health innovation relieve disease burden? The comprehensive evidence," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    17. Isabel PROENÇA & Enrique MARTINEZ-GALÁN & Maria Paula FONTOURA, 2017. "Trade Potential Revisited: A Panel Data Analysis For Zimbabwe," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 17(1), pages 113-130.
    18. Matthew M. Chingos & Grover J. Whitehurst & Michael R. Gallaher, 2015. "School Districts and Student Achievement," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 10(3), pages 378-398, July.
    19. Jirjahn, Uwe & Chadi, Cornelia, 2016. "Risk Attitude and Nonmarital Birth," IZA Discussion Papers 10316, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Kerstin Bruckmeier & Katrin Hohmeyer & Stefan Schwarz, 2018. "Welfare receipt misreporting in survey data and its consequences for state dependence estimates: new insights from linked administrative and survey data," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 52(1), pages 1-21, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:15:p:5314-:d:388720. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.