The effect of loneliness on depressive symptoms in the 65+ European population: a longitudinal observational study using SHARE data.

ABSTRACT: Loneliness has consistently been found to be associated with an increased probability of depressive symptoms among older adults. Yet, the relationship is complex, and it remains unclear whether loneliness is a cause of depressive symptomatology. The aim of this study is to investigate the possible causal effect of loneliness on subsequent depressive symptoms among older adults (65+) in Europe. We analyzed two waves of observational data (2015-2017) from the Study of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) (n = 6808) and attempted to identify a causal effect of loneliness on depressive symptomatology by accounting for confounding by potential unmeasured factors using an endogenous treatment-effect model. The results showed a substantial positive association between loneliness in 201

SUBMITTER: Smit DH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11904008 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature