Sense of purpose in life and concurrent loneliness and risk of incident loneliness: An individual-participant meta-analysis of 135,227 individuals from 36 cohorts.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Sense of purpose, the feeling that one's life is goal-oriented and driven, tends to be protective for psychological health. Less is known about its relation with social health, particularly loneliness. We test whether the cross-sectional association between purpose and loneliness is replicable and whether purpose protects against the development of incident loneliness over time.

Methods

Participants from 36 cohorts (total N = 135,227; age range 18-109) reported on their sense of purpose, loneliness, and psychological distress. Follow-up measures of loneliness were available in 28 cohorts that ranged from six weeks to 15 years. Prospective, random-effect meta-analysis was used to summarize the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations from each cohort.

Resul

SUBMITTER: Sutin AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9133197 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature