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Research papers on Loneliness and isolation

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  1. Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review

    Julianne Holt‐Lunstad, Timothy B. Smith, J. Bradley Layton · 2010 · PLoS Medicine · 7,342 citations

    BACKGROUND: The quality and quantity of individuals' social relationships has been linked not only to mental health but also to both morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVES: This meta-analytic review was conducted to determine the extent to which social relationships influence risk for mortality, which aspects of social relationships are most highly predictive, and which factors may moderate the risk. DATA EXTRACTION: Data were extracted on several participant characteristics, including cause of mortality, initial health status, and pre-existing health conditions, as well as on study characteristics, including length of follow-up and type of assessment of social relationships. RESULTS: Across 14

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  2. Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Mortality

    J. Holt-Lunstad, Timothy B. Smith, M. Baker, et al. · 2015 · Perspectives on Psychological Science · 5,995 citations

    Actual and perceived social isolation are both associated with increased risk for early mortality. In this meta-analytic review, our objective is to establish the overall and relative magnitude of social isolation and loneliness and to examine possible moderators. We conducted a literature search of studies (January 1980 to February 2014) using MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Social Work Abstracts, and Google Scholar. The included studies provided quantitative data on mortality as affected by loneliness, social isolation, or living alone. Across studies in which several possible confounds were statistically controlled for, the weighted average effect sizes were as follows: social isolation odds r

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  3. Loneliness Matters: A Theoretical and Empirical Review of Consequences and Mechanisms

    Louise C. Hawkley, John T. Cacioppo · 2010 · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · 4,835 citations

    As a social species, humans rely on a safe, secure social surround to survive and thrive. Perceptions of social isolation, or loneliness, increase vigilance for threat and heighten feelings of vulnerability while also raising the desire to reconnect. Implicit hypervigilance for social threat alters psychological processes that influence physiological functioning, diminish sleep quality, and increase morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this paper is to review the features and consequences of loneliness within a comprehensive theoretical framework that informs interventions to reduce loneliness. We review physical and mental health consequences of loneliness, mechanisms for its effects, an

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  4. Social isolation, loneliness, and all-cause mortality in older men and women

    Andrew Steptoe, Aparna Shankar, Panayotes Demakakos, et al. · 2013 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2,547 citations

    Both social isolation and loneliness are associated with increased mortality, but it is uncertain whether their effects are independent or whether loneliness represents the emotional pathway through which social isolation impairs health. We therefore assessed the extent to which the association between social isolation and mortality is mediated by loneliness. We assessed social isolation in terms of contact with family and friends and participation in civic organizations in 6,500 men and women aged 52 and older who took part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing in 2004-2005. A standard questionnaire measure of loneliness was administered also. We monitored all-cause mortality up to Ma

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  6. Social isolation, loneliness and health in old age: a scoping review

    Émilie Courtin, Martín Knapp · 2015 · Health & Social Care in the Community · 1,485 citations

    The health and well-being consequences of social isolation and loneliness in old age are increasingly being recognised. The purpose of this scoping review was to take stock of the available evidence and to highlight gaps and areas for future research. We searched nine databases for empirical papers investigating the impact of social isolation and/or loneliness on a range of health outcomes in old age. Our search, conducted between July and September 2013 yielded 11,736 articles, of which 128 items from 15 countries were included in the scoping review. Papers were reviewed, with a focus on the definitions and measurements of the two concepts, associations and causal mechanisms, differences ac

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  7. Loneliness and social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic

    Tzung‐Jeng Hwang, Kiran Rabheru, Carmelle Peisah, et al. · 2020 · International Psychogeriatrics · 1,076 citations

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  8. The Neuroendocrinology of Social Isolation

    John T. Cacioppo, Stephanie Cacioppo, John P. Capitanio, et al. · 2014 · Annual Review of Psychology · 982 citations

    Social isolation has been recognized as a major risk factor for morbidity and mortality in humans for more than a quarter of a century. Although the focus of research has been on objective social roles and health behavior, the brain is the key organ for forming, monitoring, maintaining, repairing, and replacing salutary connections with others. Accordingly, population-based longitudinal research indicates that perceived social isolation (loneliness) is a risk factor for morbidity and mortality independent of objective social isolation and health behavior. Human and animal investigations of neuroendocrine stress mechanisms that may be involved suggest that (a) chronic social isolation increas

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  9. Hearing Loss, Loneliness, and Social Isolation: A Systematic Review

    Aishwarya Shukla, Michael Harper, Emily Pedersen, et al. · 2020 · Otolaryngology · 702 citations

    OBJECTIVE: Social isolation and loneliness are associated with increased mortality and higher health care spending in older adults. Hearing loss is a common condition in older adults and impairs communication and social interactions. The objective of this review is to summarize the current state of the literature exploring the association between hearing loss and social isolation and/or loneliness. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Embase, CINAHL Plus, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Library. REVIEW METHODS: Articles were screened for inclusion by 2 independent reviewers, with a third reviewer for adjudication. English-language studies of older adults with hearing loss that used a validated measure of social

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  10. The Potential Public Health Relevance of Social Isolation and Loneliness: Prevalence, Epidemiology, and Risk Factors

    Julianne Holt‐Lunstad · 2017 · Public Policy & Aging Report · 587 citations

    This article is a revised and updated version of testimony presented to the U.S. Senate Aging Committee on April 27, 2017. Our social relationships are widely considered crucial to emotional well-being; however, the possibility that social connection may be a biological need, vital to physical well-being and even survival, is commonly unrecognized. Still, extreme examples clearly illustrate infants in custodial care who lack human contact fail to thrive and often die (UNICEF, 1997), and social isolation is so distressing that solitary confinement has been used as a form of punishment and even torture. Yet an increasing portion of the U.S. population now experiences isolation regularly. News

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  11. Loneliness, Social Isolation, and Cardiovascular Health

    Ning Xia, Huige Li · 2017 · Antioxidants and Redox Signaling · 498 citations

    SIGNIFICANCE: Social and demographic changes have led to an increased prevalence of loneliness and social isolation in modern society. Recent Advances: Population-based studies have demonstrated that both objective social isolation and the perception of social isolation (loneliness) are correlated with a higher risk of mortality and that both are clearly risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Lonely individuals have increased peripheral vascular resistance and elevated blood pressure. Socially isolated animals develop more atherosclerosis than those housed in groups. CRITICAL ISSUES: Molecular mechanisms responsible for the increased cardiovascular risk are poorly understood. In rece

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  12. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults

    Board on Health Sciences Policy, Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences, Health and Medicine Division, et al. · 2020 · National Academies Press eBooks · 487 citations

    Social isolation and loneliness are serious yet underappreciated public health risks that affect a significant portion of the older adult population. Approximately one-quarter of community-dwelling Americans aged 65 and older are considered to be socially isolated, and a significant proportion of adults in the United States report feeling lonely. People who are 50 years of age or older are more likely to experience many of the risk factors that can cause or exacerbate social isolation or loneliness, such as living alone, the loss of family or friends, chronic illness, and sensory impairments. Over a life course, social isolation and loneliness may be episodic or chronic, depending upon an in

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  14. A Prospective Study of Social Isolation, Loneliness, and Mortality in Finland

    Jussi Tanskanen, Timo Anttila · 2016 · American Journal of Public Health · 153 citations

    Objectives. To estimate the simultaneous effects of social isolation and loneliness on mortality. Methods. We analyzed a representative Finnish sample (n = 8650) from the cross-sectional Living Conditions Survey of 1994, with a 17-year follow-up period (1995–2011), by using Cox regression models adjusted for several possible confounding variables. We examined the possible nonlinear threshold effect of social isolation on mortality. Results. The analyses revealed that social isolation predicted mortality even after we controlled for loneliness and control variables. The connection between social isolation and mortality was linear in nature and there was no synergistic effect between social

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  15. Loneliness, social isolation, cardiovascular disease and mortality: a synthesis of the literature and conceptual framework

    S. Hodgson, Isabella Watts, S. Fraser, et al. · 2020 · Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 148 citations

    To conduct a systematic review and develop a conceptual framework on the mechanisms linking loneliness, social isolation, health outcomes and mortality. Electronic databases were systematically searched (PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus and EMBASE) from inception to October 2018 followed by manual searching to identify research on loneliness, social isolation and mortality in adults published in the English language. Articles were assessed for quality and synthesised into a conceptual framework using meta-ethnographical approaches. A total of 122 articles were included. These collated observational designs examining mediators and moderations of the association in addition to qualitative studies explo

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  16. Economic gradients in loneliness, social isolation and social support: Evidence from the UK Biobank.

    Claryn S. J. Kung, Stephen E. Pudney, Michael A. Shields · 2022 · Social science & medicine · 65 citations

    Despite the substantial literature on how loneliness is associated with poor health and premature mortality, there is little detailed research on the extent of its economic gradients. We provide this evidence using a sample of around 400,000 respondents aged 40-70 years from the UK Biobank, who were assessed between 2006 and 2010. We focus on differences in loneliness, as well as social isolation and a lack of social support, across educational attainment, household income, local area deprivation, and recent experience of financial stress. We employ two statistical approaches, the first exploiting the large sample size and detailed geographical information about where respondents live, so we

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  17. Loneliness, Social Isolation, and All-Cause Mortality in a Large Sample of Older Adults

    Timothy L. Barnes, Manik Ahuja, S. MacLeod, et al. · 2022 · Journal of Aging and Health · 64 citations

    Objectives Using data from a large random sample of U.S. older adults (N = 7982), the effect of loneliness and social isolation on all-cause mortality was examined considering their separate and combined effects. Methods The UCLA-3 Loneliness Scale and the Social Network Index (SNI) were used to define loneliness and social isolation. Cox proportional hazards regression models were performed. Results Among study participants, there were 548 deaths. In separate, adjusted models, loneliness (severe and moderate) and social isolation (limited and moderate social network) were both associated with all-cause mortality. When modeled together, social isolation (limited and moderate social network)

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  18. Affective Neuroscience of Loneliness: Potential Mechanisms underlying the Association between Perceived Social Isolation, Health, and Well-Being

    A. Finley, S. Schaefer · 2022 · Journal of psychiatry and brain science · 61 citations

    Loneliness, or the subjective feeling of social isolation, is an important social determinant of health. Loneliness is associated with poor physical health, including higher rates of cardiovascular disease and dementia, faster cognitive decline, and increased risk of mortality, as well as disruptions in mental health, including higher levels of depression, anxiety, and negative affect. Theoretical accounts suggest loneliness is a complex cognitive and emotional state characterized by increased levels of inflammation and affective disruptions. This review examines affective neuroscience research on social isolation in animals and loneliness in humans to better understand the relationship betw

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  19. Plasma proteomic signatures of social isolation and loneliness associated with morbidity and mortality

    Chun Shen, Ruo-Han Zhang, Jintai Yu, et al. · 2025 · Nature Human Behaviour · 57 citations

    The biology underlying the connection between social relationships and health is largely unknown. Here, leveraging data from 42,062 participants across 2,920 plasma proteins in the UK Biobank, we characterized the proteomic signatures of social isolation and loneliness through proteome-wide association study and protein co-expression network analysis. Proteins linked to these constructs were implicated in inflammation, antiviral responses and complement systems. More than half of these proteins were prospectively linked to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and mortality during a 14 year follow-up. Moreover, Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis suggested causal relationships fr

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  20. Association of loneliness and social isolation with all-cause mortality among older Mexican adults in the Mexican health and aging study: a retrospective observational study

    A. Kammar-García, R. Ramírez-Aldana, P. Roa-Rojas, et al. · 2023 · BMC Geriatrics · 22 citations

    Background Plenty of evidence shows how social isolation and loneliness are associated with increased risk for numerous diseases and mortality. But findings about their interactive or combined effects on health outcomes and mortality remains inconclusive. Objective Analyze the longitudinal association of loneliness, social isolation and their interactions, with the all-cause mortality among older adults in Mexico. Methods A retrospective observational study was conducted. Mexican adults older than 50 years were included. Data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) in the 2015 and 2018 waves were used. The subjects were classified according to their level of loneliness and the presenc

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  24. Sex differences in the impact of social isolation and loneliness on mortality.

    Alexandre Vallée · 2025 · Public health · 11 citations

    OBJECTIVE Social isolation and loneliness are increasingly recognized as risk factors for mortality, but their sex-specific effects remain unclear. STUDY DESIGN This study examines the impact of social isolation and loneliness and their combined association with all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and cancer mortality. METHODS 322,558 participants were analyzed from the UK Biobank cohort (51.3 % female, mean age: 55.66 ± 7.99 years; 48.7 % male, mean age: 56.53 ± 8.16 years). Social isolation and loneliness were assessed using validated measures. Mortality data were obtained from national death registries over a median follow-up of 11.83 years. Cox proportional hazards models estima

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