IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eujoag/v21y2024i1d10.1007_s10433-023-00798-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How loneliness increased among different age groups during COVID-19: a longitudinal analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Fiona Köster

    (University of Lausanne)

  • Oliver Lipps

    (Swiss Centre of Expertise in the Social Sciences (FORS)
    University of Bern)

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic entailed restrictions that hampered face-to-face interactions and social gatherings. In this paper, we examine whether loneliness increased to different extents among age groups due to these restrictions, and if these differences were mediated by specific life course conditions. Based on longitudinal data from the Swiss Household Panel, our results show that loneliness increased disproportionately among younger individuals during the pandemic. This finding aligns with the social convoy model and the socioemotional selectivity theory, which postulate a decline of social network size over the life course. It also corresponds to findings indicating a decrease in contact frequency with increasing age. Individuals aged 30 years and above experienced a lower increase in loneliness when they lived in shared households; however, this protective effect was not observed for younger individuals. Living together with a partner, being male, and not anticipating health complications in case of a COVID-19 infection moderated the increases of loneliness, but they were independent of age.

Suggested Citation

  • Fiona Köster & Oliver Lipps, 2024. "How loneliness increased among different age groups during COVID-19: a longitudinal analysis," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:21:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10433-023-00798-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10433-023-00798-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10433-023-00798-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10433-023-00798-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rosanne Freak-Poli & Claryn S J Kung & Joanne Ryan & Michael A Shields, 2022. "Social Isolation, Social Support, and Loneliness Profiles Before and After Spousal Death and the Buffering Role of Financial Resources," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 77(5), pages 956-971.
    2. Bruno Arpino & Christine A. Mair & Nekehia T. Quashie & Radoslaw Antczak, 2022. "Loneliness before and during the COVID-19 pandemic—are unpartnered and childless older adults at higher risk?," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1327-1338, December.
    3. Benjamin A. Shaw & Neal Krause & Jersey Liang & Joan Bennett, 2007. "Tracking Changes in Social Relations Throughout Late Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 62(2), pages 90-99.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Karen Siedlecki & Timothy Salthouse & Shigehiro Oishi & Sheena Jeswani, 2014. "The Relationship Between Social Support and Subjective Well-Being Across Age," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 561-576, June.
    2. Yu-soo Jeong & Young-soon Lee, 2022. "The Double Mediating Effect of Family Support and Family Relationship Satisfaction on Self-Compassion and Meaning in Life among Korean Baby Boomers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-14, August.
    3. Michael, Yvonne L. & Nagel, Corey L. & Gold, Rachel & Hillier, Teresa A., 2014. "Does change in the neighborhood environment prevent obesity in older women?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 129-137.
    4. Rosario Fernández-Peña & José Luis Molina & Oliver Valero, 2020. "Satisfaction with Social Support Received from Social Relationships in Cases of Chronic Pain: The Influence of Personal Network Characteristics in Terms of Structure, Composition and Functional Conten," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-17, April.
    5. Maria Gabriella Melchiorre & Stefania Cerea & Marco Socci & Giovanni Lamura, 2023. "Social Networks, Use of Communication Technology, and Loneliness of Frail Older People Ageing in Place in Italy: The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-20, October.
    6. Das, Aniruddha, 2013. "How does race get “under the skin”?: Inflammation, weathering, and metabolic problems in late life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 75-83.
    7. Howard Litwin & Michal Levinsky & Ella Schwartz, 2020. "Network type, transition patterns and well-being among older Europeans," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 241-250, June.
    8. Ella Schwartz & Howard Litwin, 2018. "Social network changes among older Europeans: the role of gender," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 359-367, December.
    9. Vanessa Burholt & Bethan Winter & Marja Aartsen & Costas Constantinou & Lena Dahlberg & Villar Feliciano & Jenny Jong Gierveld & Sofie Regenmortel & Charles Waldegrave, 2020. "A critical review and development of a conceptual model of exclusion from social relations for older people," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 3-19, March.
    10. Barjaková, Martina & Garnero, Andrea & d’Hombres, Béatrice, 2023. "Risk factors for loneliness: A literature review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    11. Niloufar Benam & William C. Miller & Gordon Tao & W. Ben Mortenson & Julia Schmidt, 2022. "Anxiety and Social Support Are Associated with Loneliness among Adults with Disabilities and Older Adults with No Self-Reported Disabilities 10 Months Post COVID-19 Restrictions," Disabilities, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-11, December.
    12. Frauke Meyer-Wyk & Susanne Wurm, 2024. "The role of social network diversity in self-perceptions of aging in later life," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-15, December.
    13. Allison Ross & Craig A. Talmage & Mark Searle, 2019. "Toward a Flourishing Neighborhood: the Association of Happiness and Sense of Community," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(5), pages 1333-1352, November.
    14. Hye-Young Jang & Young Ko & Song-Yi Han, 2020. "The Effects of Social Networks of the Older Adults with Limited Instrumental Activities of Daily Living on Unmet Medical Needs," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-10, December.
    15. Palmer Ilabor Ikechukwu CMIOSH, 2024. "Impact of Organizational Downsizing on Psychosocial Wellbeing of Employees," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(11), pages 943-953, November.
    16. Hiroshi Murayama & Joan M. Bennett & Benjamin A. Shaw & Jersey Liang & Neal Krause & Erika Kobayashi & Taro Fukaya & Shoji Shinkai, 2015. "Does Social Support Buffer the Effect of Financial Strain on the Trajectory of Smoking in Older Japanese? A 19-Year Longitudinal Study," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 70(3), pages 367-376.
    17. Zaira Torres & Sara Martínez-Gregorio & Amparo Oliver, 2023. "Senior volunteers: addressing loneliness in times of COVID-19," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-13, December.
    18. Ruby Yu & Osbert Cheung & Kevin Lau & Jean Woo, 2017. "Associations between Perceived Neighborhood Walkability and Walking Time, Wellbeing, and Loneliness in Community-Dwelling Older Chinese People in Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-15, October.
    19. Petrovčič, Andraž & Vehovar, Vasja & Dolničar, Vesna, 2016. "Landline and mobile phone communication in social companionship networks of older adults: An empirical investigation in Slovenia," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 91-102.
    20. Marta Pittavino & Bruno Arpino & Elena Pirani, 2024. "Kinlessness at older ages: Prevalence and heterogeneity in 27 countries," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2024_02, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".

    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:spr:eujoag:v:21:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10433-023-00798-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.