Loneliness in mid-life and older adults from ethnic minority communities in England and Wales: measure validation and prevalence estimates.

ABSTRACT: We investigated the prevalence of loneliness among 1206 adults aged 40 + from six minority communities in England and Wales: Black Caribbean, Black African, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Chinese. Replicating the approach from the previous studies, we demonstrate robust acceptability, reliability and validity for both the six-item De Jong Gierveld (DJG) and single-item loneliness scales in our six ethnic groups. The prevalence of loneliness using a single-item question (loneliness reported as often/always) ranges from 5% (Indian) to 14% (Chinese) compared with approximately 5% for the general population aged 40 + in Britain. Levels of loneliness are very much higher using the DJG scale. Using a loneliness threshold score of 5 +, the percentage ranged from 13% (Indian) to 36% (Chinese).

SUBMITTER: Victor CR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7925782 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature