The Effect of Loneliness on Social Networks over Time: A Study from Singapore

Abhijit Visaria, Centre for Ageing Research and Education, Duke-NUS Medical School
Angelique Chan, National University of Singapore

Loneliness at older ages is a significant concern given the higher risk of adverse physical and mental health outcomes among lonely older adults. Although there is considerable research on the predictors of loneliness, relatively few studies have examined the dynamics of social networks in response to loneliness. In this paper we assess how social networks change after older adults report being lonely. We study different aspects of social networks: size (number of close social contacts), strength (frequency of contact), as well as family- and friends-focused networks. We use data from 3 waves of the Panel on Health and Ageing of Singaporean Elderly, a nationally representative study of older adults in Singapore aged 60 years and older, conducted in 2009 (n=4990) with follow-ups in 2011 and 2015. We use cross-lagged panel models with fixed effects that estimate the effect of loneliness at time t and t+1 on social networks at time t+1 and t+2, while also accounting for the possibility of reverse causation and auto-regressive relationships, and several time-varying and time-invariant sociodemographic and health characteristics. We find that friends-focused but not family-focused social networks increase initially. However, over time loneliness adversely affects the frequency of contact with both friends and family.

Keywords: Longitudinal studies , Older Adults and Intergenerational Relations

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