ReviewNature reviews psychology2023
Loneliness across time and space.
Review in Nature reviews psychology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Prevalence of Loneliness and Social Isolation Among People Living With HIV: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical nursing · 2026Pooled it
- Social Isolation and Loneliness in People Living With Chronic Kidney Disease and Kidney Failure: A Mixed Method Systematic Review.Journal of renal care · 2026Pooled it
- [Internet-based self-help for loneliness-a systematic review].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2024Pooled it
- Application of an egocentric social network approach to examine changes in social connections following treatment for anxiety and depression: A novel measurement tool for clinical trials research?Social science & medicine (1982) · 2024Trial
- Caring for the lonely: an ethical case for social prescribing against loneliness.Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2026Article
- Have Australians become more lonely and socially isolated? A longitudinal analysis of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia study.International journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Measuring loneliness at a national scale: The measuring loneliness in England (INTERACT) study's approach and initial findings.BMC global and public health · 2026Article
- Swedish Well-Being: The rising importance of age among demographic, personality, and social relationship factors.SSM - population health · 2026Article
- Geographic Variation in Loneliness and Social Isolation in Australia: Socio-Demographic and Healthcare Utilisation Determinants.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Associations between loneliness severity and depression and suicidal ideation among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.Aging & mental health · 2026Article
- Prevalence and risk factors of loneliness among older adults in China: a nationally representative study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Asymmetric loneliness response to social connectedness around individual set points.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Uncovering mechanisms of historical change in midlife loneliness across the United States and Europe: a focus on physical activity, health conditions, and wealth.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Psychometric validation, factor structure, and measurement invariance of the Arabic brief existential loneliness scale.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- The moderating effect of age on loneliness and subjective remaining life expectancy among Chinese adults.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Alone together online: a mixed-methods analysis of loneliness, recognition, and peer response in a public digital community.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Serial mediation pathways linking attachment security to loneliness: the role of self-disclosure quality and perceived social support among college students.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Physical activity and loneliness interrelations with retirement status, health, and personality factors: a theory-based study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Can't help falling in love… with a bot? A mixed-methods analysis of public discourses of AI intimacy and companionship on YouTube.Frontiers in sociology · 2026Article
- The less lonely and the more satisfied you are, the merrier is … the heart!European heart journal. Quality of care & clinical outcomes · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
People feel lonely when their social needs are not met by the quantity and quality of their social relationships. Most research has focused on individual-level predictors of loneliness. However, macro-level factors related to historical time and geographic space might influence loneliness through their effects on individual-level predictors. In this Review, we summarize empirical findings on differences in the prevalence of loneliness across historical time and geographical space and discuss four groups of macro-level factors that might account for these differences: values and norms, family and social lives, technology and digitalization, and living conditions and availability of individual resources. Regarding historical time, media reports convey that loneliness is on the rise, but the empirical evidence is mixed, at least before the COVID-19 pandemic. Regarding geographical space, national differences in loneliness are linked to differences in cultural values (such as individualism) but might also be due to differences in the sociodemographic composition of the population. Research on within-country differences in loneliness is scarce but suggests an influence of neighbourhood characteristics. We conclude that a more nuanced understanding of the effects of macro-level factors on loneliness is necessary because of their relevance for public policy and propose specific directions for future research.
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Registered trials
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.