Prevalence of Loneliness and Its Association With General and Health-Related Measures of Subjective Well-Being in a Longitudinal Bicultural Cohort of Older Adults in Advanced Age Living in New Zealand: LiLACS NZ

A critical review of the literature on social and leisure activity and wellbeing in later life

Roy Lay-Yee, Barry J Milne, Valerie A Wright-St Clair, Joanna Broad, Tim Wilkinson, Martin Connolly, Ruth Teh, Karen Hayman, Marama Muru-Lanning and Ngaire Kerse

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2022, vol. 77, issue 10, 1904-1915

Abstract: ObjectivesThere is evidence that loneliness is detrimental to the subjective well-being of older adults. However, little is known on this topic for the cohort of those in advanced age (80 years or older), which today is the fastest-growing age group in the New Zealand population. We examined the relationships between loneliness and selected subjective well-being outcomes over 5 years.MethodsWe used a regional, bicultural sample of those in advanced age from 2010 to 2015 (Life and Living in Advanced Age: a Cohort Study in New Zealand). The first wave enrolled 937 people (92% of whom were living in the community): 421 Māori (Indigenous New Zealanders aged 80–90 years) and 516 non-Māori aged 85 years. We applied standard regression techniques to baseline data and mixed-effects models to longitudinal data, while adjusting for sociodemographic factors.ResultsFor both Māori and non-Māori, strong negative associations between loneliness and subjective well-being were found at baseline. In longitudinal analyses, we found that loneliness was negatively associated with life satisfaction as well as with mental health-related quality of life.DiscussionOur findings of adverse impacts on subjective well-being corroborate other evidence, highlighting loneliness as a prime candidate for intervention—appropriate to cultural context—to improve well-being for adults in advanced age.

Keywords: Health-related quality of life; Loneliness; Self-rated health; Social support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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