Loneliness, especially in old age, is an issue of growing interest and concern in Europe and beyond. A new Austrian study evaluates four of the most important factors that bring loneliness to the elderly: their poor health (43.3%), lack of social support and isolation (27%), some neurotic personality traits that favor loneliness (10.4 %), as well as negative conditions and personal experiences during childhood (7.5%).
It is known from previous research that loneliness is clearly associated with an increased risk of deteriorating physical and mental health, a greater need for medical-hospital care and reduced life expectancy. The new study, led by Sophie Guthmüller of the Vienna University of Economics and Business, published in the scientific journal PLoS One, analyzed data from the major international survey on Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). , which concerns people over 50 years.
The study concluded that factors such as the existence of few friends in childhood, the absence of siblings, bad relationships with parents, upbringing in a poor household, etc. increase the likelihood of loneliness when one grows up. The probability of loneliness after 50 is 1.24 times higher for those who had few or no good friends in childhood, 1.34 times higher for those who had a bad relationship with their mother as children and 1.21 times higher for those who grew up in family who had financial difficulties.
Loneliness is also 1.20 times more likely in those who have neurotic personality traits and less likely in those who have largely other traits (conscientiousness, extroversion, friendliness, disposition for new experiences). The findings, according to the researchers, confirm the importance of social networks and support from others in old age, as well as personality and the way it is shaped in childhood.
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