Summary: A large international study has found that middle-aged Americans report higher levels of loneliness than older adults, a pattern seen in only one other country—the Netherlands. While loneliness generally increases with age globally, the U.S. stands out as an exception, with factors like unemployment, caregiving burdens, and lack of social support systems driving middle-aged isolation.
Researchers emphasize that public health efforts have largely overlooked this group, despite loneliness being linked to poor physical and mental health. The findings suggest a need for tailored interventions and mental health screenings that address the unique pressures facing middle-aged adults.
Key Facts:
- U.S. Exception: Middle-aged Americans report more loneliness than older adults.
- Drivers of Loneliness: Unemployment, caregiving stress, and poor health are key contributors.
- Policy Gap: Loneliness interventions often ignore middle-aged adults despite rising risk.
Source: Taylor and Francis Group
Middle-aged Americans demonstrated some of the highest levels of loneliness in a new study assessing tens of thousands of 50-to-90-year-olds across 29 countries.
The peer-reviewed research, published in Aging and Mental Health, shows loneliness generally increases with age – with only the United States and the Netherlands representing places where middle-aged people feel more lonely than older generations.
“There is a general perception that people get lonelier as they age, but the opposite is actually true in the U.S. where middle-aged people are lonelier than older generations,” says lead author Robin Richardson, PhD, a social and psychiatric epidemiologist and assistant professor at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.
“Advocacy and interventions to address the loneliness epidemic have historically focused on older adults and adolescents. Middle-aged adults represent a critical population that is being overlooked.”
Loneliness is a significant public health concern, responsible for a wide range of physiological, cognitive, mental and behavioral health outcomes that decrease quality of life and increase the risk of disease.
Using data from 64,324 older adults in countries across Europe, North America, and the Middle East, Richardson collaborated with experts from Columbia University; McGill University in Canada; and Universidad Mayor in Santiago, Chile.
They investigated prevalence of loneliness, linked with demographic and health factors, to investigate factors that contribute to loneliness throughout life.
The team found that while loneliness generally increased with age, the size of the increase was greater in some countries than others.
Adults in Bulgaria and Latvia reported the most substantial increase in loneliness as people age. They found that adults in Cyprus and Greece had the highest prevalence of loneliness among adults aged 50 – 90 years.
The U.S. had a substantially higher prevalence of loneliness among middle-aged adults, a pattern shared with only one other country, the Netherlands.
Why are Middle-Aged People Reporting Higher Loneliness Levels?
Being unmarried, not working, depression and poor health were major reasons why loneliness varied with age, but the importance of these contributors and the combination of factors were different in each country.
For example, in the U.S., not working was the top reason for a higher amount of loneliness among middle-aged adults, while in other countries it resulted in more loneliness among older adults.
Approximately one fifth of loneliness contributors remained unexplained across countries, and this unexplained 20% was concentrated among middle-aged adults.
The authors suggest this could be due to the unique social circumstances middle-aged adults face, such as highly constrained leisure time to socialize due to competing work, childcare, and aging parents’ caregiving demands.
Middle-aged adults have unique experiences that may differ substantially from other age groups and may contribute to loneliness.
The United States has less robust social safety nets than many of the other study countries and is exceptional in its high cost of care, which may make middle-aged adults especially vulnerable to loneliness, the authors say.
What can be Done to Mitigate Loneliness?
“Our work shows that loneliness varies remarkably across country and age, and accordingly loneliness is not an immutable consequence of age or environment. This finding suggests that loneliness may be very sensitive to changes to life circumstances,” says Richardson.
“Our findings show that loneliness is not just a late-life issue,” adds senior author Dr. Esteban Calvo, Dean of Social Sciences and Arts at Universidad Mayor in Chile.
“In fact, many middle-aged adults—often juggling work, caregiving, and isolation—are surprisingly vulnerable and need targeted interventions just as much as older adults.
“Globally, we must extend depression screenings to middle-aged groups, improve support for those not working or unmarried, and adapt these efforts to each country’s context—because a one-size-fits-all approach will not solve this worldwide problem.”
Given that loneliness varies across location and life circumstances, health policies and social programs to reduce loneliness should first confirm which age groups are at highest risk of loneliness in a particular setting, the authors add.
Limitations of the research include a low response rate among people from some countries. Additionally, the disclosure of sensitive health conditions such as loneliness and depression may have been underreported in some countries.
However, to mitigate this, data was harmonized to enable the same loneliness measurement approach, analysis, and variables across countries.
About this aging and loneliness research news
Author: Simon Wesson
Source: Taylor and Francis Group
Contact: Simon Wesson – Taylor and Francis Group
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Contributors to age inequalities in loneliness among older adults: a decomposition analysis of 29 countries” by Esteban Calvo et al. Aging & Mental Health
Abstract
Contributors to age inequalities in loneliness among older adults: a decomposition analysis of 29 countries
Objectives
Loneliness is highly prevalent and can have severe health consequences. While generally assumed to increase with age, some evidence suggests the relationship between age and loneliness may vary across country. In this study, we investigate the contribution of demographic and health factors to age-related inequalities in loneliness both within and across countries.
Method
We used population-based cross-sectional data from 64,324 older adults (age range: 50–90 years) across 29 countries. Loneliness was measured with the 3 item UCLA loneliness scale. We quantified the magnitude of age inequalities in loneliness using concentration indices, and we estimated the contribution of demographic and health factors to age inequalities in loneliness using a decomposition approach.
Results
Loneliness was generally more concentrated among the oldest adults in the sample, although in the US and the Netherlands it was more concentrated among younger adults. Top contributors to age inequalities in loneliness were being unmarried and not working; however, the amount that factors contributed to inequalities differed markedly by country.
Conclusion
Age inequalities in loneliness, and contributors to these inequalities, vary substantially across countries, suggesting that loneliness is not an inevitable consequence of age but may instead be shaped by environments within countries (e.g. social cohesion).
