Loneliness, age at immigration, family relationships, and depression among older immigrants: A moderated relationship

Systematic review of factors influencing loneliness in older-adult migrants

OBJECTIVES

Older-adult migrants constitute a proportion of the global population, and loneliness hinders their adaptation to host areas. However, review studies on risk factors for loneliness target general older-adults without focusing on older-adult migrants. Therefore, this study systematically reviews and synthesizes the factors influencing the loneliness of older-adult migrants.

METHOD

Five databases were searched and screened for quantitative studies investigating the relationship between risk factors and loneliness among older-adult migrants (over age 50). Finally, 35 articles were included.

RESULTS

Factors related to loneliness in older-adult migrants were synthesized into sociodemographic, physical health, psychological, interpersonal, and acculturation-related factors. Consistent significant relationships with loneliness were found for a few risk factors, including not having spouses, low subjective financial status, poor self-rated health, poor psychological status, few non-kin ties, low quality of kin and non-kin ties, and a weak sense of belonging to either one's ethnic group or that of the host areas.

CONCLUSION

This review discusses the unique findings on the risk factors for loneliness in older-adult migrants. Additionally, the current literature on loneliness in older-adult migrants has some research gaps, calling for longitudinal studies with a rigorous design.

Anti-stigmatizing: a collaborative autoethnography on recovery from depression

Introduction

Despite extensive research on clinical treatments for depression, there remains a significant gap in understanding of the lived experiences and recovery journeys of those with depression. This study sought to explore the recovery process through an "anti-stigmatizing" lens, emphasizing the cultural-psychological mechanisms at play and the importance of personal narratives in shaping the recovery trajectory.

Methods

Using a collaborative autoethnographic approach, this report focuses on the first author's journey of depression recovery. This research methodology allows for an in-depth exploration of subjective experiences, with a specific emphasis on the interaction between societal stigma, personal identity, and mental-health challenges.

Results

It is found that the depression-recovery experience can be divided into four stages from an anti-stigma perspective: (1) encountering the public stigma of emotions; (2) internalizing the stigma to a self-stigma; (3) "decriminalizing" the expected stigma of a "depressed" identity through diagnosis; and (4) being able to cope with and understanding the public stigma relating to depression when facing it again. Key factors that were found to contribute to recovery were self-awareness, community empowerment, and recognition and acceptance by close friends and family.

Discussion

We propose a reconceptualization of depression that incorporates a societal perspective on internalized stigma. Recovery from depression is not merely a medical process; it also pertains to how the patient frees themselves from public stigma. The results strongly indicate the need for a paradigm shift toward a more inclusive and empathetic approach to mental-health care, and we emphasize the importance of personal narratives in depression recovery.

Determinants of self-rated health among highly educated Ukrainian women refugees in Czechia: analysis based on cross-sectional study in 2022

BACKGROUND

Russia's military aggression against Ukraine set in motion a large number of refugees. Considerable amount of them came and stayed in Czechia. Refugees represent special vulnerable individuals often affected by war physically and psychologically. Due to the national regulations not allowing most of Ukrainian men aged 18-60 to leave the country, nowadays Ukrainian forced migration is relatively young and strongly gendered. Evidence suggests the higher probability for searching the safe refuge abroad among Ukrainian women with small children as well as those with relatively higher economic and cultural capital. The aim of this study is to identify the structural features of systemic risks associated with war migration by examining determinants of self-rated health among forcibly displaced highly educated Ukrainian women of productive age residing in Czechia.

METHODS

Data from one wave of the panel survey among Ukrainian refugees in Czechia conducted in September 2022 was used. Determinants of self-rated health including self-reported diseases and healthcare factors, lifestyle, human and social capital, economic factors, and migration characteristics were analysed using binary logistic regression.

RESULTS

About 45% highly educated Ukrainian women refugees in Czechia assessed their health as poor. The poor self-rated health was mostly associated with the number of diseases and depressive symptoms, and by social capital and economic factors. Having four and more diseases (OR = 13.26; 95%-CI: 5.61-31.35), showing some severe depressive symptoms (OR = 7.20; 95%-CI: 3.95-13.13), experiencing difficulties to seek help from others (OR = 2.25; 95%-CI: 1.20-4.23), living alone in a household (OR = 2.67; 95%-CI: 1.37-5.27), having severe material deprivation (OR = 2.70; 95%-CI: 1.35-5.41) and coming originally from the eastern part of Ukraine (OR = 2.96; 95%-CI: 1.34-6.55) increased the chance of these refugees to assess their health as poor.

CONCLUSION

Social and economic determinants such as lack of social contacts for seeking help and material deprivation were found to be crucial for self-rated health and should be tackled via migration policies. Further, qualitative research is needed to better understand the mechanisms behind the factors affecting subjectively assessed health.

A comparative study of health outcomes between elderly Migrant and non-migrant population in India: Exploring health disparities through propensity score matching

Migrants constitute a vulnerable segment of the population, particularly susceptible to various health challenges. Despite this, limited research has delved into the comparative health statuses of migrants and non-migrants in the rising elderly population. This study aims to bridge this gap by exploring health disparities between these two groups. Leveraging data from a nationally representative, large-scale Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) survey (n = 29002; 3103 Migrants and 25899 Non-migrants), this research focuses on four health indicators: self-rated health (SRH), depression, multimorbidity, and functional limitations. The study undertakes descriptive and bivariate analyses for migrant and non-migrant groups and employs propensity score matching techniques to fulfil its objectives. The findings reveal that for respective migrant and non-migrant populations, the prevalence of poor-SRH was 24.04 % and 16.29 %; depression was 12.32 % and 6.62 %; multimorbidity was 26.78 % and 15.71 %, and functional limitation was 28.35 % and 23.13 %. The study uncovers a 2.4 percentage point increase in poor self-rated health, a 1.0 percentage point rise in depression, and notably, a 4.2 and 1.0 percentage point elevation in multimorbidity and functional limitations among migrants relative to non-migrants. Evident from the outcomes is a stark health disparity, emphasising migrants' heightened vulnerability across multiple health dimensions. The implication of this research highlights the necessity for policy interventions aimed at eliminating health inequalities between migrant and non-migrant populations.

Loneliness and Psychological Distress Among Older Californians: The Moderating Roles of Citizenship Status and English Proficiency

OBJECTIVES

Guided by the theory of stress proliferation, our study examined whether loneliness, citizenship status, and English proficiency were associated with psychological distress among older adults, and if citizenship status and English proficiency moderated these relationships.

METHODS

Using the older adult subsample (65+ years) of the 2019-2020 California Health Interview Survey (N = 15,210), we assessed cross-sectional associations between loneliness, citizenship status, and English proficiency on psychological distress by conducting multivariable linear regression models. Interaction terms were included in subsequent models to determine if citizenship status and English proficiency moderated the relationship between loneliness and psychological distress.

RESULTS

In unadjusted models, greater loneliness was associated with higher distress. Both naturalized citizens and noncitizens, and those with limited English proficiency (LEP) exhibited greater distress than US born citizens and those who speak English only (EO). After adjusting for sociodemographic and health covariables, loneliness remained significant for distress although the relationships between citizenship status and English proficiency became attenuated. With the inclusion of interactions, the magnitude of the relationship between loneliness and distress was stronger for naturalized citizens and those with LEP than native-born citizens and those who speak EO, respectively.

DISCUSSION

Loneliness was the most consistent stressor affecting multiple life domains. However, our findings demonstrate that stress proliferation is occurring among older immigrant adults and the interplay between loneliness, citizenship status, and English proficiency is contributing to heightened distress. Further attention is needed in understanding the role of multiple stressors influencing mental health among immigrant older adults.

On Experiential Loneliness

Presumably, everyone has, at some point in their lives, felt lonely. Loneliness is, in that particular sense, omnipresent. What it feels like to be lonely can, however, vary significantly. Loneliness is far from being a homogeneous phenomenon. Different kinds of loneliness need to be distinguished, considering its causes, contexts, a person's capacities to cope with it, and many other factors. This paper introduces the notion of a specific kind of loneliness: experiential loneliness. Experiential loneliness, it will be argued, consists in particular ways of experiencing the world, oneself, and others. Although feelings of being lonely in one way or another can emanate from one's experience of the world being structured in a particular manner, such kinds of loneliness need not-at least, not always and the whole time-lead to emotional feelings that are concerned with one's loneliness or the lack of meaningful social relationship. Loneliness can give rise to quite different emotional feelings that sometimes even cover up their provenience from underlying experiential loneliness. The notion of experiential loneliness, it is suggested, helps to tie back certain styles of thinking, desires, feelings, and behaviors to contexts of loneliness. Moreover, it will be argued that the notion can also elucidate the development of feelings of being lonely in contexts in which others are not only around but also available. To develop and enrich the notion of experiential loneliness as well as to exemplify its usefulness, a closer look will be taken at the case of borderline personality disorder, a condition in which sufferers are often plagued by loneliness.