Loneliness of Older Adults: Social Network and the Living Environment

Astrid Kemperman, Pauline van den Berg, Minou Weijs-Perrée and Kevin Uijtdewillegen
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Astrid Kemperman: Department of the Built Environment, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Pauline van den Berg: Department of the Built Environment, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Minou Weijs-Perrée: Department of the Built Environment, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Kevin Uijtdewillegen: Department of the Built Environment, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: loneliness; aging; social network; social participation; neighborhood; Bayesian belief network (BBN) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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