ArticleThe Gerontologist2022
The Impact of Changing Social Support on Older Persons' Onset of Loneliness During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Kingdom.
Article in The Gerontologist, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Assessing a facilitated social network intervention for health outcomes in lonely and socially isolated people: the pragmatic, cluster-randomized PALS trial.Frontiers in public health · 2026Trial
- Caregiving responsibilities, living alone, and mental health among older women during a time of collective stress.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- The Mediating Role of Health Empowerment in the Relationship Between Social Support and Loneliness Among Nursing Home Residents: A Correlational Study.Journal of advanced nursing · 2025Article
- Four-Year Loneliness Trajectory and Its Predictors in Older Adults.The Gerontologist · 2025Article
- Migrant-Local Differences in the Relationship Between Oral Health, Social Support, and Loneliness Among Older Adults in Weifang, China: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2025Article
- Understanding resilience: Lifestyle-based behavioral predictors of mental health and well-being in community-dwelling older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- The Role of Functional Deficits, Depression, and Cognitive Symptoms in the Perceived Loneliness of Older Adults in Mexico City.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Article
- Does urban greenness reduce loneliness and social isolation among Canadians? A cross-sectional study of middle-aged and older adults of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA).Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2024Article
- The Migrant-Local Difference in the Relationship Between Social Support, Sleep Disturbance, and Loneliness Among Older Adults in China: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the self-care and health condition of the older adults. CUIDAMOS+75. A mixed methods study protocol.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Navigating Uncertainty: Experiences of Older Adults in Wuhan during the 76-Day COVID-19 Lockdown.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Has COVID-19 Been the Great Leveler? The Changing Use of Intergenerational Digital Communications Amongst Older People in England During the Pandemic.Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · 2023Article
- Understanding the psychological experiences of loneliness in later life: qualitative protocol to inform technology development.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Resilience mediates the influence of hope, optimism, social support, and stress on anxiety severity among Chinese patients with cervical spondylosis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesSocial distancing measures aimed at controlling the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are likely to have increased social isolation among those older than 70 instructed to shield at home. This study examines the incidence of loneliness by gender over the first 10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic among persons aged 70 and older in the United Kingdom, and the impact of changing social networks and perceived social support on the new occurrence of loneliness. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
methodsParticipants (N = 1,235) aged 70 and older with no reports of loneliness before the pandemic who participated in 7 rounds of the Understanding Society: COVID-19 Study (April 2020-January 2021) and the main Understanding Society Study conducted during 2019. Cox regression analyzed the time to a new occurrence of loneliness.
resultsAmong older people who hardly ever/never felt lonely before the pandemic, 33.7% reported some degree of loneliness between April 2020 and January 2021. Living in a single-person household, having received more social support before the pandemic, changes in support receipt during the pandemic, and a deteriorating relationship with one's partner during the pandemic increased the risk of experiencing loneliness. Older women were more likely than older men to report loneliness, even when living with a partner. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: During the 3 COVID-19-related lockdowns in the United Kingdom, changes in older people's social networks and support resulted in a significant onset of loneliness. Findings highlight the risks of shielding older persons from COVID-19 in terms of their mental well-being and the importance of strengthening intergenerational support.
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