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Social isolation, the objective characteristics of a situation of a small social network, is frequently mentioned as a major risk factor for loneliness and mental health problems. In contrast to social isolation, loneliness is the subjective experience of a situation as one of an undesired lack of (quality of) certain relationships. Although social isolation is strongly associated with loneliness, there is no direct, simple association between both phenomena. The standards or wishes for specific types of relationships and the varying cognitive discrepancy experienced are crucial intermediates between social isolation and loneliness.

Objectives: To test the interrelation of the naturalistic course of depression in older people with long-term support received. Design: Longitudinal cohort study. Methods: A sample of 277 adults age 55-85years participating in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, with clinically relevant depressive symptoms at baseline (scores ≥16 on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale) were followed up over a period of 13years. General estimating equations were used to examine the relation between depression course and emotional/instrumental support received over time. In addition, partner status, gender, and age were tested as modifiers. Results: A 2-way interaction between depression courses types and time showed significant differences in instrumental support received over time in older people with a late-life depression. Three-way interactions showed that associations between depression course and support variables were modified by gender and partner status. Conclusion: Both men and singles, with a chronic course of depression may be at risk to lose emotional and instrumental support over time. Professional attention is needed to prevent a chronic course of late-life depression, and to preserve personal social networks.

Social isolation, the objective characteristics of a situation of a small-sized social network, is frequently mentioned as a major risk factor for loneliness and mental health problems. In contrast to social isolation, loneliness is the subjective experience of a situation as one of an undesired lack of (quality of) certain relationships. Although social isolation is strongly associated with loneliness, there is not a direct simple association between both phenomena. The standards or wishes for specific types of relationships and the varying cognitive discrepancy experienced are crucial intermediates between social isolation and loneliness.

Divorce increases the risk of loneliness. With divorce increasingly becoming a normal life event, societal changes are now challenging this idea as regards to current cohorts. We hypothesize that the relative strong feelings of loneliness among divorcees, compared with married people, has diminished over time. Using 1992, 2002, and 2012 data sets of 54–65-year-old people, we examine the impact of divorce on loneliness over 20 years. We compare those who are divorced or remarried to people married for the first time, and differentiate the supportiveness of the partnership. The results show that for both emotional and social loneliness, divorcees were lonelier than respondents in their first marriage; remarried divorces were socially lonelier than respondents in their first marriage. Respondents with a supportive partnership were less emotionally and socially lonely than respondents without a partnership or with a less supportive partnership. The main finding is that, compared with 1992, the divorcees are less socially lonely in 2002, with a smaller and non-significant further decrease in loneliness in 2012. This suggests that the social position of divorcees has been improved over the past two decades.

A brief review of major conceptual notions and empirical findings within the literature on grandparent–grandchild relationships is presented. Four major topics for understanding the intergenerational relationship are addressed: the historical context, the importance of the relationship, changes over individual time, and culture and variation. The focus is on grandparents and grandchildren from Western societies and who are biologically connected.

Objective. This work aims to gain insight into the long-term impact of depression course on social network size and perceived loneliness in older people living in the community. Methods. Within a large representative sample of older people in the community (Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA)), participants with clinically relevant levels of depressive symptoms (scores >16 on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale) were followed up over a period of 13 years of the LASA study (five waves). General estimating equations were used to estimate the impact of depression course on network size and loneliness and the interaction with gender and age. Results. An unfavorable course of depression was found to be associated with smaller network sizes and higher levels of loneliness over time, especially in men and older participants. Conclusions. The findings of this study stress the importance of clinical attention to the negative consequences of chronicity in depressed older people. Clinicians should assess possible erosion of the social network over time and be aware of increased feelings of loneliness in this patient group.

Guided by trends of increased prevalence and social acceptance of stepfamilies, the authors argue that stepparents are more likely to include stepchildren in their personal network in recent times. Data are from observations by 2 studies: (a) the Living Arrangements and Social Networks of Older Adults Study and (b) the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam in 1992-2009 of 247 Dutch stepparents age 54-91 years. The results revealed that in 1992, 63% of the stepparents had stepchildren in their personal network, and this percentage increased to 85% in 2009. The network membership of stepchildren was less likely for stepparents from living-apart-together partnerships. Stepmothers less often included stepchildren in their personal network than stepfathers. Both effects may be understood in terms of family commitment. Stepfamily boundaries have become more permeable over time, suggesting that there is an increased potential for support exchange and caregiving within stepfamilies. © National Council on Family Relations, 2013.

Given population aging and the productive potential of older people, it is important to examine how individual and societal developments affect social engagement in later life. The study aimed to disentangle the effects of age, aging, and cohort on volunteering among the young old. Using data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, we examined volunteering rates of young olds (N=2,745) in two decades: those being 55-69 years old in 1992 and their age-peers in 2002. Six-year follow-up on both cohorts allowed for cohort-sequential analyses. Multilevel logistic regression analyses revealed that (i) regardless of age, the 2002 cohort volunteered more often than the 1992 cohort, (ii) in 6 years' time volunteering increased for the 55- to 59-year-olds, stabilized among the 60- to 64-year-olds, and declined among the 65- to 69-year-olds, and (iii) these age-differential changes were observed in both cohorts. These effects remained significant after adjusting for gender, education, religious involvement, health, employment status, network size, and partner status. A higher education, religious involvement, staying in good health, and maintaining a large network increased the likelihood of volunteering. Unobserved factors, such as a more positive view on aging within society, may also account for the large increase in volunteering among the recent cohort of young olds. © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Loneliness concerns the subjective evaluation of the situation individuals are involved in, characterized either by a number of relationships with friends and colleagues which is smaller than is considered desirable (social loneliness), as well as situations where the intimacy in confidant relationships one wishes for has not been realized (emotional loneliness). To identify people who are lonely direct questions are not sufficient; loneliness scales are preferred. In this article, the quality of the three-item scale for emotional loneliness and the three-item scale for social loneliness has been investigated for use in the following countries participating in the United Nations "Generations and Gender Surveys": France, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Bulgaria, Georgia, and Japan. Sample sizes for the 7 countries varied between 8,158 and 12,828. Translations of the De Jong Gierveld loneliness scale have been tested using reliability and validity tests including a confirmatory factor analysis to test the two-dimensional structure of loneliness. Test outcomes indicated for each of the countries under investigation reliable and valid scales for emotional and social loneliness, respectively. © 2010 The Author(s).

Over the past years, older persons' workforce participation has increased and, after years of studying early retirement, the focus has gradually shifted to workforce participation between age 60 and 70 years. Those are the years directly below and above the mandatory retirement age in most of the European countries. We investigate the influence of socio-economic status (SES) on older persons' workforce participation. Moreover, we study whether the importance of private pensions in a country modifies the effect of SES. Survey data from eleven European countries are analysed in multilevel analyses. Results show that paid work in old age is the domain of persons with high SES. Moreover, a high share of private pensions in a country diminishes the influence of occupational prestige on men's workforce participation. This suggests that older persons with low SES deserve particular attention in labour market reforms. Additionally, it suggests that pension reforms be monitored concerning their effects on social inequalities. © The Authors.

Using cross-sectional data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (N = 1,231), this study examines the relationship between grandchildren and their grandparents across early adulthood. Age is used as a proxy for change during the grandchild's life course and the influence of major life course characteristics is examined. Results indicate that the majority of young adult grandchildren have contact with their grandparents, but the average frequency is low. Age differences in contact frequency suggest a decline in grandparent-grandchild contact across early adulthood. Multilevel analyses show that grandchildren's employment status, partner, and parenthood status do not affect contact frequency with grandparents. Rather, the results point at the importance of the parental home for facilitating grandparent-grandchild contact as age-related differences are accounted for by whether grandchildren left the parental home. Furthermore, most of the variance in grandparent-grandchild contact is attributable to differences between family of the mother's and family of the father's side. © 2009 SAGE Publications.

Value studies indicate that the process of individualization in Europe started in Sweden and Norway, and continued via France and the Netherlands; the southern European countries lag behind, and are still characterized by more traditional family orientations. Starting from this point of view, this paper investigates the effects of differences between the Netherlands and Italy in the field of living arrangements of older adults with and without partners. The consequences of living alone and of coresidence with adult children have been further investigated, using loneliness as the dependent variable. The size and support functions of the network of social relationships, socio-economic resources, health, sex and age are also taken into account. Data come from face-to-face surveys among a random sample of older adults (55- to 89-year-old women and men) in the Netherlands (n = 4,494) and in Italy (n = 1,570), using the same research design and questionnaire. The data show country-specific differences in household types of older adults: the proportion living alone is much higher among older people without partners in the Netherlands; the proportion coresiding with their adult children is higher in Italy than in the Netherlands. Controlled for age, health, sex, size and support of the network, and for differences in socio-economic resources, household composition is still the most important determinant of loneliness. Living without a partner in the same household as one's adult children yields country-specific correlations that correspond with differences in value orientations: less loneliness in Italy, more loneliness in the Netherlands.

Reprinted from: De Jong Gierveld, J., & Van Tilburg, T.G. (1987). The partner as source of social support in problem and non-problem situations. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2, 191-200.