Psychological correlates of loneliness in the older adult.
Loneliness is the emotional response to the discrepancy between desired and available relationships. As people grow old, the likelihood of experiencing age-related losses increases. Such losses may impede the maintenance or acquisition of desired relationships, resulting in a higher incidence of loneliness. This pilot study examines how loneliness relates to age-related losses, hopelessness, self-transcendence, and spiritual well-being in a convenience sample of 107 adults aged 65 years or older. The collective utility of the independent variables in predicting loneliness was investigated by means of a regression decision tree with an automatic random subset crossvalidation procedure. This procedure explained 46% of the variance. Higher scores for age-related losses and hopelessness were associated with higher loneliness scores. Higher scores for self-transcendence and existential spiritual well-being were associated with lower loneliness scores.
Walton
C G
CG
College of Nursing, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock 72205.
Shultz
C M
CM
Beck
C M
CM
Walls
R C
RC
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008132:Loneliness / Q000523:psychology*; D009042:Motivation; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012649:Self Concept; D012944:Social Support