Loneliness in Men 60 Years and Over: The Association With Purpose in Life

Effects of Changes in Frequency of Going Out during the COVID-19 Pandemic on ikigai (Sense of Purpose in Life) and Mental Health in Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Japan

To clarify whether changes in frequency of going out due to the COVID-19 pandemic affect ikigai (sense of purpose in life) and mental health in Japanese middle-aged and older adults. In a questionnaire survey mailed to 16,866 adults aged > 40 years in Japan in September 2020, 7,973 responses were received (response rate, 47.3%) in October 2020. Following exclusions, data from 6,978 individuals (50.6% female, mean age 67.8 ± 12.2 years) were available for analysis. Respondents were categorized based on changes in frequency of going out, reflecting changes in social and/or physical activity, during the pandemic compared with before it: the previously active group went out often before but less often during the pandemic; the remained active group continued going out often; and the inactive group continued not going out often. Whether these changes affected the respondents' ikigai and mental health was investigated. The previously active group had a significantly higher proportion of individuals with decreased ikigai during the pandemic than the other groups. Mental health score decreased in all groups during the pandemic, but more so in the previously active group (-3.21), followed by the inactive and then the remained active groups (-1.45 and -1.28, respectively). Previously active individuals showed the greatest decline in ikigai and mental health among the three groups. These findings suggest that continuing to engage in appropriate physical and social activities, including going out, while following appropriate infection control measures, even under restrictions, can help people maintain ikigai and mental health.

Predictors of male loneliness across life stages: an Australian study of longitudinal data

BACKGROUND

Despite growing recognition of loneliness as a global public health concern, research on its occurrence and precipitants among men across different life stages remains limited and inconclusive. This study aims to address this gap by investigating the prevalence and predictors of loneliness among a large, representative data set of Australian adult men.

METHODS

The study used longitudinal data from waves 2-21 of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, including men aged 15-98. Estimating linear fixed effects regressions that account for unobserved time-invariant individual heterogeneity, a single-item measure of loneliness was regressed on a set of selected explanatory variables over different parts of the life course.

RESULTS

Increased social isolation, romantic partnership dissolution, having a long-term disability, and stronger beliefs that the man, rather than the woman, should be the breadwinner of the household, are associated with greater loneliness. Frequent social connection, having a romantic partner, and high neighbourhood satisfaction are protective against loneliness. The findings also reveal several differences in the predictors of loneliness over the life course. Job security is especially important for younger men, whereas for older men volunteering and less conservative gender role attitudes are important factors that can decrease loneliness.

CONCLUSIONS

The results emphasise the need to consider age-specific factors and societal expectations in understanding and addressing loneliness amongst men. Additionally, the findings underscore the importance of raising awareness about the impact of societal norms and expectations on men's mental health. The results offer valuable insights for policymakers, healthcare providers, and researchers to develop effective strategies and support systems to combat loneliness and promote well-being among men.

Purpose in life, loneliness and depression among patients with substance use disorders in the psychiatric hospitals in Ghana

Substance use disorder is a global mental health issue. Purpose in life, Loneliness and depression are key indicators of poor mental health, and people with substance use disorder are more likely to experience low purpose in life, depression, and loneliness. This study aims to further the understanding of purpose in life, depression and loneliness among substance use disorders (SUD) patients in three hospitals in Ghana. It uses a cross-sectional survey design. A total of 425 SUD inpatients were screened. Beck Depression Inventory-II, the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, and the Purpose in Life Test were utilised to measure depression, loneliness, and purpose in life respectively. Data were analysed using the SPSS version 23 for Windows. Data from 378 participants were collected for this study using a cross sectional survey design; after data cleaning, frequency tables (for categorical variables) and descriptive statistics (for continuous variables) were used to summarise the demographics and the three outcome variables depression, purpose in life, and loneliness. Our findings indicate that overall, participants are more likely to experience low sense of purpose in life, depression, and loneliness compared to the general population. There was no statistically significant relationship between depression and loneliness (r = 0.030, p = 0.567). There was a statistically significant negative relationship between depression and purpose in life (r = -0.514, p < 0.001). There was a statistically significant positive relationship between purpose in life and loneliness (r = 0.147, p = 0.004). There was no gender difference in depression, purpose in life, and loneliness among SUDs patients in psychiatric hospitals. There were no significant differences in purpose in life, depression and loneliness based on marital status. It is anticipated that the findings of this study will inform policies and clinical practice regarding service provision for patients with SUDs.

Pathways Linking Information and Communication Technology Use and Loneliness Among Older Adults: Evidence From the Health and Retirement Study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

This study investigated the association between information and communication technology (ICT) use and loneliness among community-dwelling older adults (aged 65+), as well as the mediating effects of social relations, perceived control, and purpose-in-life.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

The study used data from the 2014 and 2018 Health and Retirement Study (N = 3,026), employing autoregressive path models with contemporaneous mediation to assess the association of 2 kinds of ICT use, social media communication and general computer use, with loneliness through the pathways of perceived social support, social contact, perceived constraints, and purpose-in-life.

RESULTS

Social media communication had a negative association with loneliness. Perceived social support and social contact mediated this association, but not perceived constraints, or purpose-in-life. General computer use did not have a significant total effect on loneliness; however, a significant indirect effect through perceived constraints, purpose-in-life, and social contact was found.

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS

Our findings extended the existing literature regarding the important factors associated with variation in loneliness among older adults. Health programs and ICT solutions could be more effective in mitigating loneliness if they target the root causes of loneliness, including reducing perceptions of constraints and increasing a sense of purpose-in-life, along with strengthening social relationships.

Challenges, Concerns, and Experiences of Community-Dwelling Older Women with Chronic Low Back Pain—A Qualitative Study in Hong Kong, China

Background and Objectives: Although chronic low back pain (CLBP) is known to negatively affect multiple aspects of the lives of older people, prior qualitative studies mainly focused on the lived experiences of older people with CLBP in Western countries. Given cultural and contextual differences and poor understanding of CLBP in older women with CLBP, it is important to better understand the concerns and lived experiences of Chinese older women with CLBP. The current study aimed to investigate the experiences, challenges, concerns, and coping strategies of older women with CLBP in Hong Kong. Research Design and Methods: A total of 15 community-dwelling older women with CLBP aged ≥60 years were recruited from a physiotherapy clinic or a community center for semi-structured interviews. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed ‘verbatim’. The transcription was imported to NVivo 12 software. Thematic analysis was conducted using Braun and Clarke’s method. Results: Five themes were identified: (1) physical impacts of CLBP on daily life; (2) psychological influences of CLBP; (3) management of CLBP; (4) family support; and (5) social activities and support. Discussion and implications: Negative physical and psychosocial impacts of CLBP were common among older women, and they adopted diverse pain management strategies, although some of their treatment options were influenced by the Chinese culture. Misbeliefs and responses of family and friends also affected their management strategies. Elderly community centers are a significant source of social support for older women with CLBP, making it an ideal platform for establishing self-help groups to facilitate their self-management of CLBP.

Associations Among Loneliness, Purpose in Life and Subjective Cognitive Decline in Ethnoracially Diverse Older Adults Living in the United States

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD), which precedes Mild Cognitive Impairment and dementia, may be affected by purpose in life (PiL) and loneliness in older adults. We investigated associations among PiL, loneliness, and SCD in US Latino (n = 126), Black (n = 74), Asian (n = 33), and White (n = 637) adults. Higher PiL predicted lower SCD in all groups (p-values < .012), except Black participants. Lower loneliness predicted lower SCD in Latino and White groups (p-values < .05), and PiL moderated this association in White adults. PiL and loneliness may play important roles in cognitive decline. Differential predictors of SCD suggest differential targets for preventing cognitive decline and dementia across ethnoracial groups.

Sense of purpose as a potential buffer between mental health and subjective cognitive decline

OBJECTIVES

Purposeful adults may experience greater cognitive resilience because sense of purpose may help buffer against the effects of depressive symptoms and loneliness. We also evaluated whether these associations differed by race.

DESIGN

This study uses a wave of self-report data from the SPAN study of psychosocial aging.

SETTING

Participants come from a representative sample of older adults in St. Louis.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants (N = 595) ages range from 65 to 78 (Mage = 71.46), with 18.3% of participants identifying as Black/African-American.

MEASURES

Sense of purpose was assessed with the Life Engagement Test, depressive symptoms with the Beck Depression Inventory-II, loneliness with the UCLA Loneliness Scale, and subjective cognitive decline with the AD-8.

RESULTS

Correlational analyses supported predictions that sense of purpose was negatively related to subjective cognitive decline, whereas depressive symptoms and loneliness were positively related (|r|s > .30, ps < .001). For loneliness, but not depression, this association was moderated by sense of purpose (b = -0.43, p < .001). A relatively high sense of purpose attenuated associations between loneliness and subjective cognitive decline. A three-way race × purpose × loneliness interaction (b = -0.25, p = .021) revealed that the buffering effects of sense of purpose on subjective cognitive decline were stronger for Black adults.

DISCUSSION

This study provided partial support for the buffering hypothesis, showing that sense of purpose may help mitigate the cognitive decrements associated with loneliness. Future research needs to consider how purpose-promoting programs may support healthy cognitive aging, particularly among Black older adults and those who experience greater social isolation.

Caregiving, volunteering, and loneliness in middle-aged and older adults: a systematic review

OBJECTIVES

Older adults contribute vast amounts of care to society, yet it remains unclear how unpaid productive activities relate to loneliness. The objective of this systematic review is to synthesise the evidence for associations between midlife and older people's unpaid productive activities (i.e., spousal and grandparental caregiving, volunteering) and loneliness.

METHODS

Peer-reviewed observational articles that investigated the association between loneliness and caregiving or volunteering in later life (>50 years) were searched on electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, PsychInfo and Global Health) from inception until July 2021. Studies were analysed using narrative synthesis and assessed for methodological quality applying the Newcastle Ottawa Scale.

RESULTS

A total of 28 articles from 21 countries with 191,652 participants were included (52.5% women). Results were separately discussed for the type of unpaid productive activity, namely, general caregiving (N = 10), spousal caregiving (N = 7), grandparental caregiving (N = 7), and volunteering (N = 6). Risk of bias assessments revealed a moderate to high quality of included studies. Loneliness was positively associated with spousal caregiving but negatively associated with caregiving to grandchildren and volunteering.

CONCLUSIONS

Grandparental caregiving and volunteering may be promising avenues for reducing loneliness in older age. Future studies will need to distinguish between different types of caregiving and volunteering and explore more complex longitudinal designs with diverse samples to investigate causal relationships with loneliness.

From invisibility to inclusion: Opening the doors for older men at the University of the Third Age in Malta

Older men are highly under-represented in late-life learning programmes. In reaction, the University of the Third Age in Malta (U3A) planned and implemented an 'Older Men Learning in the Community' project that (i) employed advertising strategies targeting specifically older men; (ii) organized preliminary meetings with older men to elicit 'generative themes' for possible subject content; and (iii), prompted facilitators to employ novel teaching styles such as peer and situated learning approaches. Data demonstrated that older men were highly inclined to participate in learning activities that intrigued their interest, were deemed practical to their lives, and resonated with their occupational careers and generational habitus. Moreover, the U3A presented older men with a possibility to address perceived challenges to their masculinity following their retirement from work and physical aging. However, the study also emphasized that U3As must not let such an interest on older men serve to reinforce patriarchal and masculine hegemony. Rather than a late-life learning programme be designed to address older men's inclinations to learn about subjects that are not of interest to older women, it is certainly also valuable for future learning projects to organize learning programmes that enable older men to overcome misogynistic notions.

Sense of purpose in life and concurrent loneliness and risk of incident loneliness: An individual-participant meta-analysis of 135,227 individuals from 36 cohorts

BACKGROUND

Sense of purpose, the feeling that one's life is goal-oriented and driven, tends to be protective for psychological health. Less is known about its relation with social health, particularly loneliness. We test whether the cross-sectional association between purpose and loneliness is replicable and whether purpose protects against the development of incident loneliness over time.

METHODS

Participants from 36 cohorts (total N = 135,227; age range 18-109) reported on their sense of purpose, loneliness, and psychological distress. Follow-up measures of loneliness were available in 28 cohorts that ranged from six weeks to 15 years. Prospective, random-effect meta-analysis was used to summarize the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations from each cohort.

RESULTS

Sense of purpose was associated significantly with less loneliness in all 36 cohorts, controlling for sociodemographic factors (meta-analytic mean effect estimate = -0.31, 95% CI = -0.34, -0.29, p < .001). This association was stronger among participants experiencing concurrent severe psychological distress. Sense of purpose was protective against the development of new incident loneliness (meta-analytic mean hazard ratio estimate = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.82, 0.87, p < .001). Age did not moderate any of the associations.

LIMITATIONS

Limitations include the lack of lower-income countries. The mechanisms that explain this association also need to be identified in future research.

CONCLUSIONS

Sense of purpose is associated with less loneliness and with protection against developing loneliness over time, associations that replicated across cohorts from North America, South America, Europe, and the Middle East. Sense of purpose may be a useful target of intervention to prevent or reduce loneliness, especially among individuals suffering from psychological distress.

Hope, Purpose, and Religiosity: The Impact of Psychosocial Resources on Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms Among Middle-Aged and Older Blacks

Objective: We assessed the effects of hope, purpose in life, and religiosity on trajectories of depressive symptoms among middle-aged and older Blacks, with a focus on age differences in these associations. Methods: Data come from 1906 respondents from the 2006-2016 Health and Retirement Study. Linear mixed models were estimated and included interactions between age and time and between age and each psychosocial resource. Results: Depressive symptoms decreased for Blacks ages 51-64, did not change for those 65-74, and increased among Blacks age 75+. Hope and purpose in life were inversely associated with symptom levels but were not associated with change over time in symptomology. Associations were stronger among the youngest age group and weakest among the oldest. Religiosity was unrelated to depressive symptoms. Discussion: Psychosocial resources protect against depressive symptoms in age-dependent ways among middle-aged and older Blacks. Differences in these effects may be related to aging, cohort, and selection effects.

Conditional Process Modeling of the Relationship Among Self-Reliance, Loneliness, and Depressive Symptoms, and the Moderating Effect of Feeling Understood

ABSTRACT

Self-reliance features as one of the notable male norms espoused by traditional masculine socialization. Strict adherence to a self-reliant attitude has been found to confer risk for depression and suicidality among men. Yet, little research has investigated the factors that may contribute to self-reliance having a negative impact for men. Using data from a large sample of Canadian men (N = 530), the present study examined the association between self-reliance and depression, while also assessing the roles of loneliness and not feeling understood as contributing factors in this process. Findings indicated that the moderated mediation model was significant, pointing to loneliness as a significant mediator in the association between self-reliance and depression. Furthermore, the findings revealed that not feeling understood moderated the relationship between self-reliance and loneliness, indicating that this association applies mainly to those men who do not feel understood by at least one important person in their life.

Purpose in Life, Loneliness, and Protective Health Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background and Objectives

Social distancing, while effective in slowing the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), can increase social isolation. The current preregistered study examined purpose in life as a psychological resource that may buffer against loneliness and increase intentions to engage in health-protective behaviors.

Research Design and Methods

During the COVID-19 pandemic, 517 adults (mean = 37.71, SD = 11.30; range = 19–73) reported their levels of purpose in life, current and prepandemic levels of loneliness, and degrees to which they intended to engage in behaviors known to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Results

Across age, having a stronger sense of purpose in life was associated with lower loneliness, as well as greater intentions to engage in COVID-protective behaviors. Higher loneliness was associated with lower intentions to maintain social distance and engage in additional health promotion behaviors such as handwashing. However, this link was not present at higher levels of purpose in life. Older age was also associated with less loneliness, but not for individuals with lower levels of purpose in life.

Discussion and Implications

Results suggest that psychological resources such as purpose in life are associated with increased protective health behaviors. Furthermore, purpose in life may reduce loneliness and counteract the negative effects of stressors that diminish the willingness to engage in health-protective behaviors. Our data also highlight resilience among older individuals in times of isolation during a global pandemic.

Meaning in life and health care use: findings from a nationally representative study of older adults in Germany

Background

There is a lack of studies examining the link between meaning in life and health care use. Meaning in life refers to a sense of comprehension and significance in life. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to investigate the association between meaning in life and health care use.

Methods

Cross-sectional data from the German Ageing Survey, a nationally representative sample of older adults, was used for this study (in the analytical sample: n = 3850; year 2002). The frequency of GP and specialist visits in the past 12 months were used as outcome measures. Meaning in life was assessed using a single item measure. Based on Andersen’s model, covariates were selected. Sex, age, family status, occupational status, income, self-rated health, physical functioning, depressive symptoms, and the number of physical illnesses were adjusted for in a multiple regression analysis.

Results

After adjusting for various potential confounders, there was a positive association between meaning in life and GP (IRR: 1.04, 95%-CI: 1.01–1.08) as well as specialist visits (IRR: 1.07, 95%-CI: 1.02–1.12) in a multiple regression analysis. With the exception of employment status (retired vs. employed), income and need factors, no covariates were consistently associated with both outcome measures.

Conclusions

This study highlighted the association between meaning in life and health care use. Our results indicate that there are other factors that are associated with health care use, beyond need-variables. This might help to identify individuals at risk for under- or overuse of health care services.