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Tapia-Muñoz T, Staudinger UM, Allel K, Steptoe A, Miranda-Castillo C, Medina JT, Calvo E. Income inequality and its relationship with loneliness prevalence: A cross-sectional study among older adults in the US and 16 European countries. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0274518. [PMID: 36472996 PMCID: PMC9725142 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2022] [Accepted: 08/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUNDS The prevalence of loneliness increases among older adults, varies across countries, and is related to within-country socioeconomic, psychosocial, and health factors. The 2000-2019 pooled prevalence of loneliness among adults 60 years and older went from 5.2% in Northern Europe to 24% in Eastern Europe, while in the US was 56% in 2012. The relationship between country-level factors and loneliness, however, has been underexplored. Because income inequality shapes material conditions and relative social deprivation and has been related to loneliness in 11 European countries, we expected a relationship between income inequality and loneliness in the US and 16 European countries. METHODS We used secondary cross-sectional data for 75,891 adults age 50+ from HRS (US 2014), ELSA (England, 2014), and SHARE (15 European countries, 2013). Loneliness was measured using the R-UCLA three-item scale. We employed hierarchical logistic regressions to analyse whether income inequality (GINI coefficient) was associated with loneliness prevalence. RESULTS The prevalence of loneliness was 25.32% in the US (HRS), 17.55% in England (ELSA) and ranged from 5.12% to 20.15% in European countries (SHARE). Older adults living in countries with higher income inequality were more likely to report loneliness, even after adjusting for the sociodemographic composition of the countries and their Gross Domestic Products per capita (OR: 1.52; 95% CI: 1.17-1.97). DISCUSSION Greater country-level income inequality was associated with higher prevalence of loneliness over and above individual-level sociodemographics. The present study is the first attempt to explore income inequality as a predictor of loneliness prevalence among older adults in the US and 16 European countries. Addressing income distribution and the underlying experience of relative deprivation might be an opportunity to improve older adults' life expectancy and wellbeing by reducing loneliness prevalence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thamara Tapia-Muñoz
- Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- Society and Health Research Center, School of Public Health, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile
- Laboratory on Aging and Social Epidemiology, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Artes, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile
- Millennium Institute for Caregiving Research, Santiago, Chile
- Millennium Nucleus on Sociomedicine, Santiago, Chile
| | - Ursula M. Staudinger
- Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States of America
- Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
| | - Kasim Allel
- Millennium Nucleus on Sociomedicine, Santiago, Chile
- Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- College of Medicine and Health, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew Steptoe
- Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Claudia Miranda-Castillo
- Millennium Institute for Caregiving Research, Santiago, Chile
- Faculty of Nursing, Universidad Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile
- Millennium Institute for Research in Depression and Personality, Santiago, Chile
| | - José T. Medina
- Society and Health Research Center, School of Public Health, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile
- Laboratory on Aging and Social Epidemiology, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Artes, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile
- Millennium Nucleus on Sociomedicine, Santiago, Chile
| | - Esteban Calvo
- Society and Health Research Center, School of Public Health, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile
- Laboratory on Aging and Social Epidemiology, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Artes, Universidad Mayor, Santiago, Chile
- Millennium Nucleus on Sociomedicine, Santiago, Chile
- Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Guthmuller S. Loneliness among older adults in Europe: The relative importance of early and later life conditions. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0267562. [PMID: 35584108 PMCID: PMC9116676 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267562] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to study the association between childhood circumstances and loneliness in older adults in Europe. Based on rich information collected by the Survey on Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) on childhood characteristics and individual characteristics at age 50+, the study is able to control for personality traits, socioeconomic and demographic factors, social support and health in later life, and country-specific characteristics. The analyses show strong correlations between life circumstances in childhood and feeling lonely in older age; these correlations remain significant after adjusting for covariates. While ill health is the main factor correlated with loneliness at 50+, as expected, the analysis of the relative importance of the determinants reveals that personality traits account for more than 10% of the explained variance and that life circumstances during childhood account for 7%. Social support at older ages is the second highest category of factors, accounting for 27%-with, interestingly, support at home and social network characteristics contributing about 10% each, engaging in activities and computer skills accounting for 7% of the explained variance. Demographic and socioeconomic factors account for 6% and country-level characteristics contribute 5%. This paper points out the relevance of early life interventions to tackling loneliness in older age, and it shows that early interventions and interventions aiming at increasing social support in later life need to be adapted to all personality types. Thus, the role of childhood circumstances and the mechanisms explaining the association between loneliness in childhood and loneliness in later life deserve more attention in future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Guthmuller
- Department of Socioeconomics, Health Economics and Policy group, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria
- RWI Essen, Leibniz Science Campus Ruhr, Essen, Germany
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