25. The impact of living alone on physical and mental health: Does loneliness matter?

Abstract

[Excerpt] Living alone is an increasingly common phenomenon in ageing populations. The death of a spouse and the tendency of older people and their adult children to maintain independent lifestyles are noted as the main causes for this gradual increase in solo living in recent decades (Victor et al., 2000). However, the impact of living alone on the physical and mental health of older people is still unclear. Research on this subject shows that older people who live alone have a high risk of experiencing loneliness (Park et al., 2017). As noted by ShiovitzEzra (2015), loneliness is defined as a feeling of distress that stems from the perception that the quantity and/or the quality of one’s social ties is/are insufficient. A review of several studies concluded that loneliness is associated with poor physical and mental health (Courtin and Knapp, 2017; Shiovitz-Ezra, 2015). Given the increase in solo living among older Europeans, it is important to study the impact of living alone on their physical and mental health, taking into account the role of loneliness in this relationship over time.