The Prevalence of Loneliness Among Adults: A Case Study of the United Kingdom
The Prevalence of Loneliness Among Adults: A Case Study of the United Kingdom
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DOI：
10.1080/00223980.2011.613875
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发表时间：
2012-01-01
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Yang, Keming
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Victor, Christina R.;Yang, Keming
在当代西方(后)现代社会中，孤独被视为一个与老年特别相关的问题。对于考察孤独感在不同年龄段之间的变化，人们的关注要少得多。我们使用欧洲社会调查的数据，调查了英国15岁及以上成年人的孤独模式。我们首先考虑成年人群中孤独的流行程度，然后考虑孤独与一系列关键风险因素之间的关系，最后考虑每个风险因素与年龄的关系。孤独感呈非线性U型分布，25岁以下和65岁以上的人表现出最高的孤独感水平。在所有年龄段中，抑郁都与孤独有关。身体健康状况不佳与青壮年和中年的孤独有关，但与晚年无关。对于中晚年的人来说，社交参与的质量是防止孤独的，而对于年轻人来说，社交参与的数量是最重要的。这表明，不同的因素可能赋予脆弱(或保护)在不同的生命阶段的孤独，并表明需要制定预防战略或干预措施，以反映这些差异。
Within contemporary Western (post) modern societies, loneliness is seen as a problem that is particularly associated with old age. Much less attention has been given to examining variations in loneliness across age groups. We examine patterns of loneliness across adults aged 15 years and older in the United Kingdom using data from the European Social Survey. We first consider the prevalence of loneliness among the adult population; then the relationship between loneliness and a range of key risk factors, and finally the relationship with age for each of our risk factors. Loneliness demonstrates a nonlinear U-shaped distribution, with those aged under 25 years and those aged over 65 years demonstrating the highest levels of loneliness. Depression is associated with loneliness for all age groups. Poor physical health is associated with loneliness in young adult and midlife but not later life. For those in mid and later life, the quality of social engagement is protective against loneliness, while for young adults it is the quantity of social engagement. This indicates that different factors may endow vulnerability (or protect) against loneliness at different stages of life and suggests that preventative strategies or interventions that reflect these variations need to be developed.