title: The association between depression and emotional and social loneliness in older persons and the influence of social support, cognitive functioning and personality: A cross-sectional study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We investigated the association between old age depression and emotional and social loneliness.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was performed using data from the Netherlands Study of Depression in Older Persons (NESDO). A total of 341 participants diagnosed with a depressive disorder, and 125 non-depressed participants were included. Depression diagnosis was confirmed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Emotional and social loneliness were assessed using the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale. Socio-demographic variables, social support variables, depression characteristics (Inventory of Depressive Symptoms), cognitive functioning (Mini Mental State Examination) and personality factors (the NEO- Five Factor Inventory and the Pearlin Mastery Scale) were considered as possible explanatory factors or confounders. (Multiple) logistic regression analyses were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Depression was strongly associated with emotional loneliness, but not with social loneliness. A higher sense of neuroticism and lower sense of mastery were the most important explanatory factors. Also, we found several other explanatory and confounding factors in the association of depression and emotional loneliness; a lower sense of extraversion and higher severity of depression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We performed a cross-sectional observational study. Therefore we cannot add evidence in regard to causation; whether depression leads to loneliness or vice versa.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Depression in older persons is strongly associated with emotional loneliness but not with social loneliness. Several personality traits and the severity of depression are important in regard to the association of depression and emotional loneliness. It is important to develop interventions in which both can be treated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Pro Persona, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: lpeerenboom@gmail.com.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peerenboom
authors.affiliation: Departement of Psychiatry, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Collard
authors.affiliation: Department of Old-age Psychiatry, GGNet, Apeldoon/Zutphen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Naarding
authors.affiliation: GGZinGeest/VU University Medical Center/Department Psychiatry, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Comijs
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001008:Anxiety Disorders; D003071:Cognition; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008132:Loneliness / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D000075384:Neuroticism; D010551:Personality; D010554:Personality Disorders; D010555:Personality Inventory; D010556:Personality Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012944:Social Support
keywords: Depression; Loneliness; Older persons; Personality