Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34344251›Full record

ArticleResearch on aging

Change in Loneliness Experienced by Older Men and Women Living Alone and With Others at the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Maureen Wilson-Genderson, Allison R Heid, Francine Cartwright, Amy L Collins, Rachel Pruchno

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Research on aging. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed
4.0field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

23 citing papers in PubMed, 43 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. The role of household composition in social isolation and anxiety: evidence from adults in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Observational
  8. A Remotely Delivered, Personalized Music Therapy Pilot Intervention for Lonely Older Adults During the Covid-19 Pandemic.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2024
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Risk factors for loneliness: A literature review.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2023
    Review
  13. Evaluating Feasibility, Value and Characteristics of an Intergenerational Friendly Telephone Visit Program During the Covid-19 Pandemic.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2023
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. A Longitudinal Study on Loneliness during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Maureen Wilson-GendersonCollege of Public Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Allison R HeidIndependent Research Consultant, Ardmore, PA, USA.
Francine CartwrightNew Jersey Institute for Successful Aging, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, NJ, USA.
Amy L CollinsIndependent Research Consultant, Summit, NJ, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8431-3220
Rachel PruchnoNew Jersey Institute for Successful Aging, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, NJ, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-7440-4495
Rowan University · USTemple University · US

Funding

Effects of Hurricane Sandy on Functional Limitation Trajectories of Older PeopleR01AG046463 · NIA · ROWAN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL/OSTEOPATHIC MED · PI PRUCHNO, RACHEL A · 2014 to 2019
$2.9M
NIA NIH HHS R01 AG046463
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Building on theory suggesting that loneliness is distinct from living arrangements, social isolation, and perceived social support, we examined change in loneliness for older people at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzing 14-years of data with multilevel mixed-effects models, we found higher levels of loneliness among people living alone, people more socially isolated, and people with less perceived support. Gender affected changes in loneliness, controlling for social isolation, perceived support, living arrangements, age, education, income, health, and marital status. Women, whether living alone or with others, experienced increases in loneliness; women living alone reported the greatest increase in loneliness. Men living alone reported high levels of loneliness prior to the pandemic, but only a slight increase over time. These analyses, which demonstrate that loneliness changed at the onset of the pandemic as a function of gender and living arrangement identify older people most likely to benefit from intervention.

Indexed as

COVID-19LonelinessAgedFemaleHome EnvironmentHumansMalePandemicsSocial IsolationCOVID-19genderliving arrangementslonelinessperceived social supportsocial isolation

Identifiers

PMID34344251
PMCPMC9039590
OpenAlexW3190511005

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.