{"title":"Loneliness in Retirement.","authors":"Alen Greš, Nika Spasić, Dijana Staver","doi":"10.4274/MMJ.galenos.2025.24804","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Loneliness has been identified as a subjective unpleasant feeling of emptiness and distress, affecting diverse age groups, particularly retirees. Retirement is a major life event characterized by the cessation of professional activities and the loss of regular income. These phenomena are often combined and their relationship can be complex.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The research encompassed 75 randomly selected outpatients at the University Hospital Center Zagreb, Department for Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine in Zagreb Croatia with an anxiety disorder who were in remission and met the inclusion criteria. The participants were divided into three groups of 25 respondents: five years before retirement, one year before retirement, and one year after retirement. The participants were tested once using psychological tests: The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>This study examined loneliness among 75 participants across retirement phases. UCLA Loneliness Scale scores increased significantly from pre to post-retirement (p<0.001), peaking one year after retirement. Emotional loneliness, particularly feelings of isolation, rose sharply, while social loneliness increased gradually. A One-Way Analysis of Variance confirmed a significant effect of retirement on loneliness, F (2.72)=24,561, p<0.001, with an impact level of η<sup>2</sup>=0.405. A substantial impact is observed on emotional and social well-being.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Study results indicate a significant increase in loneliness among retired individuals. Transition to retirement can have an impact on individuals' emotions and social interactions. There is a need to support retirees in establishing new daily routines.</p>","PeriodicalId":37427,"journal":{"name":"Medeniyet medical journal","volume":"40 2","pages":"53-60"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12203447/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Medeniyet medical journal","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4274/MMJ.galenos.2025.24804","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: Loneliness has been identified as a subjective unpleasant feeling of emptiness and distress, affecting diverse age groups, particularly retirees. Retirement is a major life event characterized by the cessation of professional activities and the loss of regular income. These phenomena are often combined and their relationship can be complex.
Methods: The research encompassed 75 randomly selected outpatients at the University Hospital Center Zagreb, Department for Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine in Zagreb Croatia with an anxiety disorder who were in remission and met the inclusion criteria. The participants were divided into three groups of 25 respondents: five years before retirement, one year before retirement, and one year after retirement. The participants were tested once using psychological tests: The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview.
Results: This study examined loneliness among 75 participants across retirement phases. UCLA Loneliness Scale scores increased significantly from pre to post-retirement (p<0.001), peaking one year after retirement. Emotional loneliness, particularly feelings of isolation, rose sharply, while social loneliness increased gradually. A One-Way Analysis of Variance confirmed a significant effect of retirement on loneliness, F (2.72)=24,561, p<0.001, with an impact level of η2=0.405. A substantial impact is observed on emotional and social well-being.
Conclusions: Study results indicate a significant increase in loneliness among retired individuals. Transition to retirement can have an impact on individuals' emotions and social interactions. There is a need to support retirees in establishing new daily routines.
期刊介绍：
The Medeniyet Medical Journal (Medeniyet Med J) is an open access, peer-reviewed, and scientific journal of Istanbul Medeniyet University Faculty of Medicine on various academic disciplines in medicine, which is published in English four times a year, in March, June, September, and December by a group of academics. Medeniyet Medical Journal is the continuation of Göztepe Medical Journal (ISSN: 1300-526X) which was started publishing in 1985. It changed the name as Medeniyet Medical Journal in 2015. Submission and publication are free of charge. No fees are asked from the authors for evaluation or publication process. All published articles are available online in the journal website (www.medeniyetmedicaljournal.org) without any fee. The journal publishes intradisciplinary or interdisciplinary clinical, experimental, and basic researches as well as original case reports, reviews, invited reviews, or letters to the editor, Being published since 1985, the Medeniyet Med J recognizes that the best science should lead to better lives based on the fact that the medicine should serve to the needs of society, and knowledge should transform society. The journal aims to address current issues at both national and international levels, start debates, and exert an influence on decision-makers all over the world by integrating science in everyday life. Medeniyet Med J is committed to serve the public and influence people’s lives in a positive way by making science widely accessible. Believing that the only goal is improving lives, and research has an impact on people’s lives, we select the best research papers in line with this goal.
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