Key Points

The peer-reviewed research, published in Aging and Mental Health, shows loneliness generally increases with age -- with only the US and the Netherlands representing places where middle-aged people feel more lonely than older generations.

"There is a general perception that people get lonelier as they age, but the opposite is actually true in the US where middle-aged people are lonelier than older generations," said lead author Robin Richardson, a social and psychiatric epidemiologist and assistant professor at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health.

Advocacy and interventions to address the loneliness epidemic have historically focused on older adults and adolescents. Middle-aged adults represent a critical population that is being overlooked, he mentioned.

Loneliness is a significant public health concern, responsible for a wide range of physiological, cognitive, mental and behavioural health outcomes that decrease quality of life and increase the risk of disease.

Using data from 64,324 older adults in countries across Europe, North America, and the Middle East, Richardson collaborated with experts from Columbia University; McGill University in Canada; and Universidad Mayor in Santiago, Chile.

The team found that while loneliness generally increased with age, the size of the increase was greater in some countries than others. Adults in Bulgaria and Latvia reported the most substantial increase in loneliness as people age. They found that adults in Cyprus and Greece had the highest prevalence of loneliness among adults aged 50-90 years.

The US had a substantially higher prevalence of loneliness among middle-aged adults, a pattern shared with only one other country, the Netherlands.

Being unmarried, not working, depression and poor health were major reasons why loneliness varied with age, but the importance of these contributors and the combination of factors were different in each country.

For example, in the US, not working was the top reason for a higher amount of loneliness among middle-aged adults, while in other countries it resulted in more loneliness among older adults.

The authors suggest this could be due to the unique social circumstances middle-aged adults face, such as highly constrained leisure time to socialise due to competing work, childcare, and aging parents' caregiving demands.

Given that loneliness varies across location and life circumstances, health policies and social programs to reduce loneliness should first confirm which age groups are at highest risk of loneliness in a particular setting, the authors noted.

- IANS