Loneliness of Older Adults: Social Network and the Living Environment. 2019

Astrid Kemperman, and Pauline van den Berg, and Minou Weijs-Perrée, and Kevin Uijtdewillegen
Department of the Built Environment, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands. a.d.a.m.kemperman@tue.nl.

The social participation and integration of older adults are important aspects of healthy aging. However, in general, older adults have smaller social networks than their younger counterparts due to changes in their life cycle stage, such as retirement or age-related losses, along with a declining health and increasing mobility limitations. Consequently, with increasing age, an increasing proportion of older people experience feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Previous studies that have analyzed the relationships between loneliness, social networks, and the living environment have often been based on bivariate relationships or included only a limited number of variables. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze multiple relationships in a more comprehensive framework. Data were collected using a survey among 182 adults aged 65 years and over in the Netherlands. A Bayesian belief network (BBN) modeling approach was used that derives all direct and indirect relationships between the variables. The results showed that feelings of loneliness are directly related to satisfaction with one's social network and neighborhood attachment and are indirectly related to perceived safety and satisfaction with local amenities and services. This knowledge is relevant to urban planners and policy makers who focus on creating livable and healthy social neighborhoods for the aging population.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D008132 Loneliness The state of feeling sad or dejected as a result of lack of companionship or being separated from others. Homesickness
D008297 Male Males
D009426 Netherlands Country located in EUROPE. It is bordered by the NORTH SEA, BELGIUM, and GERMANY. Constituent areas are Aruba, Curacao, and Sint Maarten, formerly included in the NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. Holland,Kingdom of the Netherlands
D011795 Surveys and Questionnaires Collections of data obtained from voluntary subjects. The information usually takes the form of answers to questions, or suggestions. Community Survey,Nonrespondent,Questionnaire,Questionnaires,Respondent,Survey,Survey Method,Survey Methods,Surveys,Baseline Survey,Community Surveys,Methodology, Survey,Nonrespondents,Questionnaire Design,Randomized Response Technique,Repeated Rounds of Survey,Respondents,Survey Methodology,Baseline Surveys,Design, Questionnaire,Designs, Questionnaire,Methods, Survey,Questionnaire Designs,Questionnaires and Surveys,Randomized Response Techniques,Response Technique, Randomized,Response Techniques, Randomized,Survey, Baseline,Survey, Community,Surveys, Baseline,Surveys, Community,Techniques, Randomized Response
D012111 Residence Characteristics Elements of residence that characterize a population. They are applicable in determining need for and utilization of health services. Community,Domicile,Living Arrangements,Neighborhood,Place of Birth,Residential Selection,Arrangement, Living,Birth Place,Communities,Domiciles,Living Arrangement,Neighborhoods,Residence Characteristic
D004644 Emotions Those affective states which can be experienced and have arousing and motivational properties. Feelings,Regret,Emotion,Feeling,Regrets
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000073656 Healthy Aging The development and maintenance of optimal physical, mental, spiritual, and social well-being and function with advancing age. Ageing Well,Aging Well,Healthy Ageing,Well Aging,Ageing, Healthy,Aging, Healthy,Aging, Well,Well, Ageing,Well, Aging
D000368 Aged A person 65 years of age or older. For a person older than 79 years, AGED, 80 AND OVER is available. Elderly

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