Loneliness and Emancipation: A Multilevel Analysis of the Connection between Gender Inequality, Loneliness, and Social Isolation in the ISSP 2017

Sex-based trajectories of health system use in lonely and not lonely older people: A population-based cohort study

BACKGROUND

There is growing interest in understanding the care needs of lonely people but studies are limited and examine healthcare settings separately. We estimated and compared healthcare trajectories in lonely and not lonely older female and male respondents to a national health survey.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of community-dwelling, Ontario respondents (65+ years) to the 2008/2009 Canadian Community Health Survey-Healthy Aging. Respondents were classified at baseline as not lonely, moderately lonely, or severely lonely using the Three-Item Loneliness Scale and then linked with health administrative data to assess healthcare transitions over a 12 -year observation period. Annual risks of moving from the community to inpatient, long-stay home care, long-term care settings-and death-were estimated across loneliness levels using sex-stratified multistate models.

RESULTS

Of 2684 respondents (58.8% female sex; mean age 77 years [standard deviation: 8]), 635 (23.7%) experienced moderate loneliness and 420 (15.6%) severe loneliness. Fewer lonely respondents remained in the community with no transitions (not lonely, 20.3%; moderately lonely, 17.5%; and severely lonely, 12.6%). Annual transition risks from the community to home care and long-term care were higher in female respondents and increased with loneliness severity for both sexes (e.g., 2-year home care risk: 6.1% [95% CI 5.5-6.6], 8.4% [95% CI 7.4-9.5] and 9.4% [95% CI 8.2-10.9] in female respondents, and 3.5% [95% CI 3.1-3.9], 5.0% [95% CI 4.0-6.0], and 5.4% [95% CI 4.0-6.8] in male respondents; 5-year long-term care risk: 9.2% [95% CI 8.0-10.8], 11.1% [95% CI 9.3-13.6] and 12.2% [95% CI 9.9-15.3] [female], and 5.3% [95% CI 4.2-6.7], 9.1% [95% CI 6.8-12.5], and 10.9% [95% CI 7.9-16.3] [male]).

CONCLUSIONS

Lonely older female and male respondents were more likely to need home care and long-term care, with severely lonely female respondents having the highest probability of moving to these settings.

Exploring the personality and relationship factors that mediate the connection between differentiation of self and phubbing

One of the family patterns crucial for mental and physical well-being is differentiation of self. In this study, our aim was to investigate its impact on the phenomenon of phubbing-where individuals prioritize smartphones over in-person interactions. The prevalence of phubbing behavior has risen substantially in tandem with the increased adoption of smartphones. The study investigated familial, interpersonal, and personal factors that could potentially contribute to the escalation of phubbing behaviors. It was hypothesized that differentiation of self would be associated with phubbing through the mediation of fear of missing out, romantic relationship satisfaction, and loneliness in intimate relationships. We also expected gender differences in the study variables. A sample of 431 young adults, with an average age of 29 (M = 29.05, SD = 9.14), completed the DSI-R, Phubbing, FoMO, ENRICH, and LIRS questionnaires online. Results indicated that fear of missing out mediated the relationship between three dimensions of differentiation of self-emotional reactivity, emotional cutoff, and fusion with others-and phubbing behavior. However, the expected mediation by romantic relationship satisfaction and loneliness in intimate relationships did not reach significance, although these variables were found to be associated with differentiation of self. Women reported higher levels of phubbing behavior, emotional reactivity, and fusion with others, whereas men reported higher levels of I-position. We conclude that fear of missing out may serve as a catalyst, triggering anxiety in individuals, which in turn drives them to adopt phubbing as a coping mechanism. Moreover, individuals with lower levels of differentiation of self appear to be at increased risk of engaging in phubbing behaviors through the mediation of fear of missing out.

Exploring the role of country-level gender equality in the link between relationship status and perceived social support across 49 countries

Past studies have demonstrated that higher perceived social support among coupled individuals and greater gender equality foster a more supportive social context. Less is known about how the link between relationship status and perceived social support may vary across countries that differ in gender equality. Employing the data collected from the COVIDiSTRESS I (39 countries; N = 99,075) and COVIDiSTRESS II (23 countries; N = 8293) projects, we examined whether country-level gender equality moderates the link between relationship status and perceived social support. Multilevel regression analyses indicated that gender equality moderated the link between relationship status and perceived social support. Single people in countries with less gender equality reported less perceived social support than was reported by both coupled people and single people from countries with moderate and high levels of gender equality, however, the effect of the interaction between relationship status and gender equality on perceived social support was very low. The results suggest that gender equality fosters perceived social support, both for single people and for partnered people.