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Loneliness is associated with detrimental consequences for mental and physical health. Even though loneliness affects people of all ages, very few studies have examined its prevalence across the adult lifespan. Additionally, no study has examined the distinction between social and emotional loneliness across the lifespan, even though it has long been considered functionally important. To address these issues, the present study examined the prevalence of social and emotional loneliness across the adult lifespan based on two cohorts (2016/17 and 2017/18) of a nationally representative survey (N ~ 8000 per cohort, age range: 16 to ~ 90). We estimated how similar or distinct patterns of social and emotional loneliness were across the adult lifespan and their consistency across cohorts. The results consistently showed that social and emotional loneliness levels differ as a function of age. Emotional loneliness peaked in younger and older adulthood, whereas social loneliness was stable in early and middle adulthood, before dropping steeply in later stages of life. These findings update basic understanding of loneliness by demonstrating how the experience of different loneliness types may vary across the adult lifespan. In the longer term, the findings have potential societal and clinical importance by informing interventions that target specific loneliness subtypes and age groups., (© 2022. Crown.)

The present study aims to investigate the prevalence of loneliness and its associated factors among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study was conducted in October 2020 among 1032 older Bangladeshi adults aged 60 years and above through telephone interviews. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information on participants' characteristics and COVID-19-related information. Meanwhile, the level of loneliness was measured using a 3-item UCLA Loneliness scale. More than half (51.5%) of the older adults experienced loneliness. We found that participants formally schooled [adjusted odds ratio (aOR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.43-0.88)] and received COVID-19-related information from health workers (aOR = 0.33, 95% CI 0.22-0.49) had lower odds of being lonely during the pandemic. However, older adults living alone (aOR: 2.57, 95% CI 1.34-4.94), residing distant from a health facility (aOR = 1.46, 95% CI 1.02-2.08) and in rural areas (aOR = 1.53, 95% CI 1.02-2.23) had higher odds of loneliness than their counterparts. Likewise, odds of loneliness were higher among those overwhelmed by COVID-19 (aOR = 1.93, 95% CI 1.29-2.86), who faced difficulty in earning (aOR = 1.77, 95% CI 1.18-2.67) and receiving routine medical care during pandemic (aOR = 2.94, 95% CI 1.78-4.87), and those perceiving requiring additional care during the pandemic (aOR = 6.01, 95% CI 3.80-9.49). The findings suggest that policies and plans should be directed to reduce loneliness among older adults who require additional care., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Introduction: Loneliness can have a negative impact on people's physical and psychological well‐being; building social capital is a potential means of addressing this connection. Community initiatives (e.g. groups, clubs, neighbourhood activities) may be a route that enables people to build social capital to tackle loneliness. Understanding what is known, and where gaps in knowledge exist, is important for advancing research on this topic. Methods: A scoping review was undertaken to explore the question – What community initiatives, with a focus on well‐being, have been evaluated in the United Kingdom that include information about social capital and loneliness? Four databases (Medline, CINAHL, ASSIA and Embase) were searched for relevant research papers. References were screened by two researchers to identify if they met the review's inclusion criteria. Data were summarised as a narrative and in tables. Results: Five papers met the review's inclusion criteria. They all used qualitative methods. Findings suggested that social capital could be developed through creating a sense of trust, group cohesion and reciprocity among participants in the community initiatives. This connection enabled people to experience a sense of belonging and to feel they had a meaningful relationship with others, which appeared to alleviate feelings of loneliness. Conclusion: More research is warranted on the review topic, including studies that have employed quantitative or mixed methods. Clarity around definitions of social capital and loneliness in future research is required. Engagement with community initiatives can provide a formalised route to help people develop connections and counteract limitations in their social networks. However, individuals may be wary about attending community initiatives, needing support and encouragement to do so. Social prescribing link workers are one means of motivating people to access groups, events or organisations that could improve their well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers the author's insight on "The death of Marat II," a painting made by Edvard Munch, while examining the philosophical concepts of philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. He states that Levinas's philosophy holds on emotional and relational focus including the other, emotional suffering, and loneliness in thinking about death. He mentions that Munch's painting gives an impression of something shameless and fear, while demonstrating something to be seen.

This paper examines the digital behaviour on one widely used instant messaging (IM) platform, namely WhatsApp, of young people in Romania, with a focus on the reasons for sharing information on the platform and dependency of using it. Within the broad framework of the digital single market, little is known about the motivations and behavioural patterns of young Europeans while using the increasingly popular IM platforms, nor is it clear whether country characteristics are relevant or not when evaluating the impact of such technological platforms on the life of young audiences. Rooted in the uses and gratifications perspective, this study uses media diaries (N = 229), filled in by young people in an ordinary day of the week and self-administered questionnaires in order to assess what might be the main gratifications that lead young and educated people to share information on WhatsApp and what makes them spend more time and be dependent on the platform on a daily basis. Main results show that the most frequent reasons why young Romanians use WhatsApp are social, professional, and instrumental. Moreover, the tendency to share content on the platform is higher for people who use it for instrumental and informative purposes. Dependency on the platform is significantly higher for young people who use it to fulfil affective needs (i.e., to express or receive affection or emotional support and avoid loneliness). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isolation and loneliness are related to various aspects of health. Physical performance is a central component of health. However, its relationship with isolation and loneliness is not well understood. We therefore assessed the relationship between loneliness, different aspects of social isolation, and physical performance over time. 8,780 participants from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, assessed three times over 8 years of follow-up, were included. Measures included physical performance (Short Physical Performance Battery), loneliness (modified UCLA Loneliness Scale), and isolation considered in three ways (domestic isolation, social disengagement, low social contact). Fixed effects regression models were used to estimate the relationship between changes in these parameters. Missing data were imputed to account for variable response and ensure a representative sample. Loneliness, domestic isolation and social disengagement were longitudinally associated with poorer physical performance when accounting for both time-invariant and time-variant confounders (loneliness: coef = - 0.06, 95% CI - 0.09 to - 0.02; domestic isolation: coef = - 0.32, 95% CI - 0.46 to - 0.19; social disengagement: coef = - 0.10, 95% CI - 0.12 to - 0.07). Low social contact was not associated with physical performance. These findings suggest social participation and subjectively meaningful interpersonal interactions are related to physical performance, and highlight additional considerations regarding social distancing related to COVID-19 control measures.

Background: Whilst the uniqueness of loneliness and social isolation is now recognised for members of the Armed Forces Community, there is currently a lack of evidence examining these experiences within the Military Widow/er population. Therefore, this scoping review aimed to search and synthesise the current evidence base exploring experiences of loneliness and social isolation in this community. Method: Six databases were searched; ASSIA; CINAHL; ProQuest Dissertation & Theses Global; PsycArticles; Medline; Web of Science. Any article type was included if they focused on UK or international Military Widows and loneliness and social isolation. In the absence of loneliness and social isolation, related aspects were included, for example, social support. Results: A thematic synthesis was completed on the nine eligible papers, where key findings were coded and generated into four themes; Experiences of Loneliness and Social Isolation, The Uniqueness of the Military, Access to Social Support, and The Importance of Peer Support. Conclusions: Evidence supports the need for military-specific support services with peers who recognise the individuals' unique experiences of loneliness and social isolation. None of the available evidence focused specifically on social isolation, however this was often prevalent in the results. All of the studies were carried out in the USA and Israel, with none including the views of widowers. Further evidence is required, particularly relating to a UK-context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Currently, numerous qualitative research studies on food and its influence on health are being conducted. In qualitative research, data are obtained by analyzing participants' responses. However, silence during conversation has been little studied. The aim of this study was to interpret the silences in the narratives of elderly people living alone about the potential risks of not keeping a healthy diet. (2) Methods: This is a descriptive and interpretative observational study under the qualitative research paradigm following a phenomenological and ethnographic perspective. The study was developed in two phases with people over 65 years old. In the first phase, from June 2021 to January 2022, 90 interviews, 12 life history analyses, 58 food diaries and 51 free listings (cultural domain technique) were conducted. In the second phase, from March to June 2022, 3 participatory workshops and 24 pile sorts (cultural domain technique) were conducted, as well as 3 focus groups. Only data from participants over 65 years old living alone are analyzed in this paper. The ATLAS-ti (Version 22) qualitative analysis software was used for coding and data analysis. (3) Results: The results show that elderly people living alone would sometimes remain silent during the various conversations conducted within the research. This silence reflects their desire to downplay the risks to their health from not eating well due to their unwanted loneliness. The people participating in our research had chronic health problems, financial insecurity and emotional problems. (4) Conclusions: We concluded that elderly people living alone are unable to maintain a healthy diet because they downplay their risk of malnutrition. This mindset is caused by their loneliness and bolstered by a situation of learned helplessness and social injustice.

Background: In the older population, depression, loneliness, and quality of life are closely related, significantly influencing health status. This paper aimed (1) to investigate autoregressive and cross-lagged associations over 2 years between depression, loneliness, and quality of life, and (2) to examine sex-related differences in the 2-year associations between depression, loneliness, and quality of life in a large sample of European citizens aged ≥ 50 years., Methods: This is a longitudinal analysis. We included 7.456 individuals (70.89 ± 7.64 years; (4.268 females) who responded to waves 7 (2017) and 8 (2019) of the SHARE project. The variables analyzed in both waves were depression, loneliness, and quality of life., Results: Comparatively, females indicated higher depression and loneliness scores than males and a lower perception of quality of life. Autoregressive associations pointed that past depression, loneliness, and quality of life predicted their future episodes 2 years later (p < 0.001). The cross-lagged analysis of males showed positive and significant bidirectional associations between depression and loneliness 2 years later. Females also showed a positive and significant association between depression and loneliness, but loneliness was not associated with depression 2 years later. In turn, previous high levels of quality of life had a protective role in late depression and loneliness up to 2 years., Conclusions: This study highlighted the need to simultaneously assess and manage depression, loneliness, and quality of life in the older European population. It is suggested that sex-specific policies can be created, including social support, in order to reduce depression and loneliness, and promote quality of life., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Loneliness is a serious public health concern. Although previous interventions have had some success in mitigating loneliness, the field is in search of novel, more effective, and more scalable solutions. Here, we focus on "relational agents", a form of software agents that are increasingly powered by artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs). We report on a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the impact of relational agents on loneliness across age groups., Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched 11 databases including Ovid MEDLINE and Embase from inception to Sep 16, 2022. We included randomised controlled trials and non-randomised studies of interventions published in English across all age groups. These loneliness interventions, typically attempt to improve social skills, social support, social interaction, and maladaptive cognitions. Peer-reviewed journal articles, books, book chapters, Master's and PhD theses, or conference papers were eligible for inclusion. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias via the RoB 2 and ROBINS-I tools. We calculated pooled estimates of Hedge's g in a random-effects meta-analysis and conducted sensitivity and sub-group analyses. We evaluated publication bias via funnel plots, Egger's test, and a trim-and-fill algorithm., Findings: Our search identified 3,935 records of which 14 met eligibility criteria and were included in our meta-analysis. Included studies comprised 286 participants with individual study sample sizes ranging from 4 to 42 participants (x̄ = 20.43, s = 11.58, x̃ = 20). We used a Bonferroni correction with α Bonferroni  = 0.05 / 4 = 0.0125 and applied Knapp-Hartung adjustments. Relational agents reduced loneliness significantly at an adjusted α Bonferroni (g = -0.552; 95% Knapp-Hartung CI, -0.877 to -0.226; P = 0.003), which corresponds to a moderate reduction in loneliness., Conclusion: Our results are currently the most comprehensive of their kind and provide promising evidence for the efficacy of relational agents. Relational agents are a promising technology that can alleviate loneliness in a scalable way and that can be a meaningful complement to other approaches. The advent of LLMs should boost their efficacy, and further research is needed to explore the optimal design and use of relational agents. Future research could also address shortcomings of current results, such as small sample sizes and high risk of bias. Particularly young audiences have been overlooked in past research., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Research on loneliness is extensive. This paper presents a systematic review of intervention studies, outlining the antecedents to, and consequences of loneliness in community-dwelling older people. Using PRISMA methodology, a systematic literature review was conducted between January and August 2021 resulting in 49 useable articles. Papers were included if they: (a) investigated older people (+50); (b) were living in community dwellings; (c) had been published in English; (d) had titles or abstracts available and, (e) were published between 2016 and 2021. This study found the antecedents and consequences of social, emotional and existential loneliness differ, however, the vast majority of research has not examined the unique types of loneliness and instead kept loneliness as a generic term, despite the acceptance that various types of loneliness exist. In addition, the findings of intervention studies identified through this review have yielded mixed results. Those interventions focused on improving personal and psycho-social resources for older people fared better outcomes than those focused on technological and social connections alone. This paper reports important implications for the future of research conducted on loneliness and interventions accordingly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]