{"title":"Depression, Anxiety, and Insomnia Among Older Adults in South Dakota: The Role of Social Isolation.","authors":"Abdallah M Badahdah, Filip Viskupič, David Wiltse","doi":"10.1080/07317115.2025.2562512","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Social isolation is a serious public health issue with adverse physical and mental health problems. This cross-sectional study investigated the association between the number of friends and depression, anxiety, and insomnia in a sample of older adults in South Dakota.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A sample of 363 adults aged older than 59 (M = 69.78, SD = 6.72) completed self-report measures on their number of close friends and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Most of the participants were non-Hispanic White (96.3%), mostly married (81.1%), Republican (44.4%), and had two or fewer years of college education (44.0%).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A series of logistic regression analyses showed that a smaller number of close friends was associated with high levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and insomnia.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The results showed that late-life close friendship is a significant protector against mental health problems.</p><p><strong>Clinical implications: </strong>Screening for loneliness and social isolation is important for timely interventions. Clinicians are encouraged to use a brief valid measure to identify the presence of social isolation among older adults, especially those in rural communities.</p>","PeriodicalId":10376,"journal":{"name":"Clinical Gerontologist","volume":" ","pages":"1-11"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clinical Gerontologist","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07317115.2025.2562512","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives: Social isolation is a serious public health issue with adverse physical and mental health problems. This cross-sectional study investigated the association between the number of friends and depression, anxiety, and insomnia in a sample of older adults in South Dakota.
Methods: A sample of 363 adults aged older than 59 (M = 69.78, SD = 6.72) completed self-report measures on their number of close friends and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Most of the participants were non-Hispanic White (96.3%), mostly married (81.1%), Republican (44.4%), and had two or fewer years of college education (44.0%).
Results: A series of logistic regression analyses showed that a smaller number of close friends was associated with high levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and insomnia.
Conclusions: The results showed that late-life close friendship is a significant protector against mental health problems.
Clinical implications: Screening for loneliness and social isolation is important for timely interventions. Clinicians are encouraged to use a brief valid measure to identify the presence of social isolation among older adults, especially those in rural communities.
期刊介绍:
Clinical Gerontologist presents original research, reviews, and clinical comments relevant to the needs of behavioral health professionals and all practitioners who work with older adults. Published in cooperation with Psychologists in Long Term Care, the journal is designed for psychologists, physicians, nurses, social workers, counselors (family, pastoral, and vocational), and other health professionals who address behavioral health concerns found in later life, including:
-adjustments to changing roles-
issues related to diversity and aging-
family caregiving-
spirituality-
cognitive and psychosocial assessment-
depression, anxiety, and PTSD-
Alzheimer’s disease and other neurocognitive disorders-
long term care-
behavioral medicine in aging-
rehabilitation and education for older adults.
Each issue provides insightful articles on current topics. Submissions are peer reviewed by content experts and selected for both scholarship and relevance to the practitioner to ensure that the articles are among the best in the field. Authors report original research and conceptual reviews. A unique column in Clinical Gerontologist is “Clinical Comments." This section features brief observations and specific suggestions from practitioners which avoid elaborate research designs or long reference lists. This section is a unique opportunity for you to learn about the valuable clinical work of your peers in a short, concise format.