How loneliness increased among different age groups during COVID-19: a longitudinal analysis.

IF 3.7 2区社会学 Q1 GERONTOLOGY

European Journal of Ageing Pub Date : 2024-01-03 DOI:10.1007/s10433-023-00798-3

Fiona Köster, Oliver Lipps

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic entailed restrictions that hampered face-to-face interactions and social gatherings. In this paper, we examine whether loneliness increased to different extents among age groups due to these restrictions, and if these differences were mediated by specific life course conditions. Based on longitudinal data from the Swiss Household Panel, our results show that loneliness increased disproportionately among younger individuals during the pandemic. This finding aligns with the social convoy model and the socioemotional selectivity theory, which postulate a decline of social network size over the life course. It also corresponds to findings indicating a decrease in contact frequency with increasing age. Individuals aged 30 years and above experienced a lower increase in loneliness when they lived in shared households; however, this protective effect was not observed for younger individuals. Living together with a partner, being male, and not anticipating health complications in case of a COVID-19 infection moderated the increases of loneliness, but they were independent of age.

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在 COVID-19 期间，不同年龄组的孤独感是如何增加的：纵向分析。

COVID-19 大流行所带来的限制阻碍了面对面的交流和社交聚会。在本文中，我们研究了不同年龄组的孤独感是否会因为这些限制而在不同程度上增加，以及这些差异是否会受到特定生活过程条件的影响。基于瑞士家庭小组的纵向数据，我们的研究结果表明，在大流行病期间，年轻人的孤独感增加得不成比例。这一发现与社会护航模式和社会情感选择性理论相吻合，这两种理论都认为在人的一生中，社交网络的规模会逐渐缩小。这也与随着年龄增长接触频率下降的研究结果相吻合。30 岁及以上的人如果生活在共同的家庭中，其孤独感的增加幅度较低；然而，这种保护作用在年轻人身上却没有观察到。与伴侣共同生活、男性以及不预期感染 COVID-19 后会出现健康并发症会减缓孤独感的增加，但这些因素与年龄无关。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

European Journal of Ageing GERONTOLOGY-

CiteScore

6.50

自引率

7.90%

发文量

期刊介绍： The European Journal of Ageing: Social, Behavioural and Health Perspectives is an interdisciplinary journal devoted to the understanding of ageing in European societies and the world over. EJA publishes original articles on the social, behavioral and population health aspects of ageing and encourages an integrated approach between these aspects. Emphasis is put on publishing empirical research (including meta-analyses), but conceptual papers (including narrative reviews) and methodological contributions will also be considered. EJA welcomes expert opinions on critical issues in ageing. By stimulating communication between researchers and those using research findings, it aims to contribute to the formulation of better policies and the development of better practice in serving older adults. To further specify, with the term ''social'' is meant the full scope of social science of ageing related research from the micro to the macro level of analysis. With the term ''behavioural'' the full scope of psychological ageing research including life span approaches based on a range of age groups from young to old is envisaged. The term ''population health-related'' denotes social-epidemiological and public health oriented research including research on functional health in the widest possible sense.