Life Events and Loneliness Transitions Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults Around the World.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

Adult loneliness is a substantial social problem and a growing point of concern for policymakers around the world. We assess whether the predictors of loneliness onset among middle-aged and older adults vary from country to country in a large array of settings across world regions. Taking a life course perspective, we focus on common life events in our focal age range, including changes in partnership, coresidence, work, and health, and we test whether changes in them have comparable prospective associations with loneliness onset in different countries.

Methods

We draw on respondent-level data from a diversity of world regions surveyed in 7 harmonized cross-national studies in 20 countries, representing 47% of the global population over the age of 50. Our innovati

SUBMITTER: Sheftel MG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10745269 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature