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Loneliness and Quality of Life Among Elderly People

Kalpana Singh and S. K. Srivastava

ABSTRACT

Old age is a critical phase in life as much as childhood or adolescent and hencerequires special consideration. Old age is considered as second childhood becauseboth the aged and the child have to depend on others for many of their personalrequirement. After the age of 60 there are so many things in life that conspire tomake one’s lonely. Loneliness can be defined as a situation in which the number ofexisting relationship is smaller than is considered desirable or admissible as wellas the situation where the intimacy one wishes for has not been realized. It can bedefined as a deficit between a person’s actual and desired quality and quantity ofsocial engagement while social isolation is the absence of sufficient opportunitiesfor integration with individuals and groups in the social environment. Death of aspouse or old friend, separation from children as they move on to have families oftheir own, the loss of a home or a long-time community. The purpose of the studyto see the correlation between loneliness and quality of life among elderly people.A sample of 50 elderly was taken, consist 25 males and 25 females. Correlation wasfound significant. Female scored high on loneliness and low in quality of life thenmale.

Key words: Old age, Elderly people, Loneliness and Quality of life.

INTRODUCTION

Loneliness is the feeling that emerges when social relationship are felt to be deficientand may arise from a perceived lack of companionship and refers to the experience ofnegative feeling due to inadequacy of existing relationship (De jong-Gierveld andHavens, 2004). Loneliness is defined as a subjective negative feeling related to theperson’s own experience of deficient social relations. Loneliness is a universalphenomenon embedded in the human experience closely associated with changing lifecircumstances.

Journal of Psychosocial ResearchVol. 9, No. 1, 2014, 11-18

Corresponding author. Email : [email protected], [email protected] 0973-5410 print/ ISSN 0976-3937 online©2014 Prints Publications Pvt. Ltd.

12 Kalpana Singh and S. K. Srivastava

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Loneliness may be regarded as a ‘geriatric giants’, leading to impaired quality oflife, greater need for institutional care and increased mortality. Loneliness looms largein old age. Partners, friends, and relatives literally die on you. Your social circle keepsgetting smaller with years. And the clammy fingers of death play a fearsome tune onyour spine. Failing health, along with a decreased level of activity or social life canmake old age frightening.

Loneliness is defined as an individual’s subjective experience of a lack of satisfyinghuman relationships. In other words, it is a feeling that may be affected by the socialrelationship experienced by the individuals. Thus loneliness is a negative feeling causingdistress to an individual Savikko’s (2008).

WHO defines Quality of Life as individuals perception of their position in life in thecontext of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals,expectations, standards and concerns. It is a broad ranging concept affected in a complexway by the person’s physical health, psychological state, level of independence, socialrelationships, personal beliefs and their relationship to salient features of their environment.

Quality of life is also related to a range of objective and subjective factors, includingthe range and quality of social networks and the experience of loneliness. While theremay be a widely-held stereotype associating old age with social isolation and withloneliness (Forbes, 1996), international research evidence indicates that the majority ofolder people are neither lonely nor socially isolated (Victor et al., 2002).

Loneliness often is regarded as the psychological embodiment of social isolation,reflecting the individual’s experienced dissatisfaction with the frequency and closenessof their social contacts or the discrepancy between the relationships they have and therelationships they would like to have. Loneliness itself has been linked with decreasedquality of life, increased risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality, elevated bloodpressure and cortisol, heightened inflammatory responses to stress and modifications intranscriptional pathways linked with gluco corticoid and inflammatory process.

According to Weiss (1973) loneliness can be divided into experience of emotional isolationor of social isolation. Emotional isolation represents the subjective response to the absence ofa close and intimate attachment figure, e.g. the lack of a loved one or a spouse. Emotionalloneliness is a subjective feeling and it can only be quantified by the individual experiencingit (Andersson 1998). In studies with a subjective perspective of loneliness, the results mayreveal the intensity (very lonely – not at all lonely) of loneliness or only the participants’experience of being lonely (feels loneliness – does not feel loneliness).

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Singh and Kiran (2013) examined the relationship of loneliness of elderly female withtheir quality of life and other demographic issues through review of related researches.

Loneliness and Quality of Life Among Elderly People 13

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Findings revealed that loneliness is a particularly relevant issue in relation to elderlywidows, whose rates of mortality illness and depression exceed those of their marriedcounterparts, every woman who loses a husband through death experiences a painfulperiod of bereavement, often accompanied by severe loneliness, obsessive thoughts ofthe deceased, restlessness, insomnia, somatic complaints, and even hallucinations ofthe deceased, and poor mental wellbeing. Older women report more loneliness thanmale peers. Loneliness is an area of concern related to the well being of older womenbecause it is a cause of emotional distress and is linked to a variety of health problemsin older individuals. Life changes, including widowhood and relocation, are associatedwith increased vulnerability to loneliness. Gender, social, and cultural factors influencethe experience of loneliness in older women. Cognitive and interactions theoreticalapproaches to loneliness have utility for nursing practice and research with older womenwho experience loneliness.

Perissinotto, Stijacic, Covinsky( 2012) conducted a longitudinal cohort study of 1604participants in the psychosocial module of the Health and Retirement Study, a nationallyrepresentative study of older persons. Baseline assessment was in 2002 and follow-upassessments occurred every 2 years until 2008. Subjects were asked if they (1) feel leftout, (2) feel isolated, or (3) lack companionship. Subjects were categorized as not lonelyif they responded hardly ever to all 3 questions and lonely if they responded some ofthe time or often to any of the 3 questions. The primary outcomes were time to deathover 6 years and functional decline over 6 years on the following 4 measures: difficultyon an increased number of activities of daily living (ADL), difficulty in an increasednumber of upper extremity tasks, decline in mobility, or increased difficulty in stairclimbing. Multivariate analyses adjusted for demographic variables, socioeconomicstatus, living situation, depression, and various medical conditions. Results revealedthat fifty-nine percent were women; 81% were white, 11%, black, and 6%, Hispanic;and 18% lived alone. Among the elderly participants, 43% reported feeling lonely.Loneliness was associated with all outcome measures. Lonely subjects were more likelyto experience decline in ADL (24.8% vs 12.5%; adjusted risk ratio [RR], 1.59; 95% CI,1.23-2.07); develop difficulties with upper extremity tasks (41.5% vs 28.3%; adjustedRR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.08-1.52); experience decline in mobility (38.1% vs 29.4%; adjustedRR, 1.18; 95% CI, 0.99-1.41); or experience difficulty in climbing (40.8% vs 27.9%; adjustedRR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.10-1.57). Loneliness was associated with an increased risk of death(22.8% vs 14.2%; adjusted HR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.11-1.88).

Thomopoulo (2010) found that Males had better quality of life and less feelings ofloneliness than females. Specifically, elderly women seem to suffer from loneliness incomparison to the elderly males. It was also found that old (60 - 74 years old) had betterquality of life, higher scores at subscales of Quality of Life Index (Ferrans, 1998) and


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lower loneliness than oldest old (75 and above years old). Marital condition has also agreat effect on quality of life and loneliness of elderly, married elderly had betterquality of life and lower loneliness than divorced and widows/ers. Married with amarital disruption (divorce) had an unsatisfied quality of life. But the great fall ofquality of life was when the disruption was considered from one partner‘s death.

Singh, Mishra (2009) Conducted a study to investigate the relationships amongdepression, loneliness and sociability in elderly people. This study was carried out on55 elderly people (both men and women). The tools used were Beck DepressionInventory, UCLA Loneliness Scale and Sociability Scale by Eysenck. Results revealeda significant relationship between depression and loneliness. Most of the elderly peoplewere found to be average in the dimension of sociability and preferred remainingengaged in social interactions.

Borys, Perlman (1985) Earlier studies on gender differences in loneliness appear tohave produced contradictory results. However, when 39 existing data sets wereclassified according to whether they used the UCLA scale (N = 28) or a self-labelingmeasure (N = II) of loneliness, the results revealed a clear pattern. Statistically significantsex differences are not usually found with the UCLA scale, but, when they are found,males typically have higher loneliness scores. In terms of self-labeling, women morefrequently than men admit being lonely. Sex role factors may help explain these seeminglycontradictory results. Of the various possible explanations of the gender differences inself-labeled loneliness, most assume that social influence processes play a crucial role.To test this viewpoint, an experiment was conducted. Subjects (N = 117) were presentedwith a case history of a lonely person, which varied only the target person’s sex. Thesubjects were more rejecting of a lonely male than of a lonely female. These resultssupport the view that women are more apt to acknowledge their loneliness than menbecause the negative consequences of admitting loneliness are less for women.

Objectives

1. To examine the correlation between loneliness and quality of life among elderlypeople.

2. To assess correlation between loneliness and quality of life among males andfemales elderly people.

HYPOTHESIS

1. Females would be prone to loneliness and decrease quality of life then males.

2. There would be significant correlation between loneliness and quality of life ofelderly peoples.


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METHODOLOGY

Sample

To achieve the purpose of the study, elderly people were taken as a sample. 50 elderlypeople ages 65 to 85 year were chosen consisting 25 male and 25 female. They wereinterviewed and approached individually. The data was collected from Allahabad city.

Tools

To measure the loneliness and quality of life of elderly people WHO Quality of lifescale and UCLA Loneliness scale developed by Russell (1996) was used.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Table 1

Showing correlation between loneliness and quality of lifeamong elderly people

Variables (males and females) Correlation

Loneliness and quality of life .437**

**p<.01

Table 2

Showing correlation between loneliness and quality of lifeamong females.

Variables (Females) Quality of life

Loneliness .415**

Table 3

Showing correlation between loneliness and quality of lifeamong males.

Variables (Males) Quality of life

Loneliness .709**

**p<.01

Table 1 indicate the correlation of loneliness and quality of life among elderlypeople is .437 that is significant at 0.01 level. Table 2 shows that correlation betweenloneliness and quality of life among females is .415, significant at 0.05 level and Table 3indicate the correlation among loneliness and quality of life of males is .709 which issignificant at 0.01 level.


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The study reveals that there is significant relationship between loneliness andquality of life among elderly people. Further, females feel more loneliness then males.Males were good in quality of life and scored low scores in loneliness while femaleseems to have poor quality of life and and high level of loneliness. Thomopoulo (2010)found that Males had better quality of life and less feelings of loneliness than females.Specifically, elderly women seem to suffer from loneliness in comparison to the elderlymales. It was also found that aged (60 - 74 years old) had better quality of life, higherscores at subscales of Quality of Life Index (Ferrans, 1998) and lower loneliness thanoldest old (75 and above years old).

It was also found that widow female had lower quality of life and high lonelinessthen married females. Marital condition has also a great effect on quality of life andloneliness of elderly, married elderly had better quality of life and lower lonelinessthan divorced and widows/ers. Married with a marital disruption (divorce) had anunsatisfied quality of life. But the great fall of quality of life was when the disruptionwas considered from one partner‘s death. In the time of industrialization andglobalization generally children get settled at different place and after getting marriagegirls goes to their in laws houses and son takes their spouse with them and left theirparent alone the problem increases when parents loss their spouse.

Human beings have a fundamental desire for positive and long lasting relationships(Baumeister and Leary, 1995), which influences self and identity regulation processesand health status. If the desire cannot be fulfilled, or if there are deficits in belongingness,it will motivate people to seek sources of renewed affiliation (DeWall and Pond, 2011).

Suffering from loneliness means some important parts in people’s lives are missing,something has to be found to replace the missing parts. In their daily lives, olderpeople experience a range of both positive and negative interpersonal encounters thathave the potential to affect their emotional well-being (Rook, 2001). While socialnetworks within families may be beneficial for older people, they may also be a sourceof distress (Whelan and Whelan, 1988). Within family and non-family social networks,the dynamics of the social relationships of older people are complex, and while someolder people regard living alone as a way of maintaining their independence and self-esteem, loneliness may result from the social isolation that stems from lack of interactionwith family and friends (Brenner and Shelley, 1998).

CONCLUSION

In the present research work “loneliness and quality of life among elderly people”researcher wants to find out the relationship between loneliness and quality of life.This study is find out the relation between loneliness and decrease quality of life, but


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a little relation was found, further it was found that females were high on lonelinessand low in quality of life then males. Widow feels greater loneliness and suffers frompoor quality of life then married women.

The Government putting its efforts for the welfare of the elderly, its N.G.O whichhas in the last few decades began to actively work for the welfare of the elderly people.In the light of current pressures on statutory and voluntary sector services, familiesand communities may need to play a greater role in supporting the lives of olderpeople.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Since loneliness is often used to describe other phenomena, future research can bedone to understand the difference between emotional and social loneliness. It wouldalso be interesting to see that what happens to loneliness and quality of life whenolder people move to Old Age Homes. Exploring and identifying the direct link betweenloneliness and social isolation. The future research can be made to see the difference ofloneliness among widow and unmarried elderly males and females.

REFERENCES

Anderson, C. A. (1999). Attributional style, depression, and loneliness: A cross-cultural comparisonof American and Chinese students. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 482-499.

Baumeister, R. F., Twenge, J. M. and Nuss, C. K. (2002). Effects of social exclusion on cognitiveprocesses: Anticipated aloneness reduces intelligent thought. Journal of Personality and SocialPsychology, 83, 817-827.

Bhawana Singh, V. Kiran,(2013). Loneliness among elderly women, International Journal of Humanitiesand Social Science Invention, 2( 2), 10-14 .

Borys, S. and Daniel Perlman (1985). Gender Differences in Loneliness. Personality and Social PsychologyBulletin 11:63-74.

DeWall, C.N. and Pond, R.S., (2011). Loneliness and smoking: The costs of the desire to reconnect. Selfand Identity, 10(3), 375-385.

De Jong-Gierveld, J. and Havens, B. (2004), Cross-national comparisons of social isolation andloneliness: introduction and overview’, Canadian Journal on Aging – Revue Canadienne duVieillissement.

Ferrans C and Powers M. Quality of Life Index: development and psychometric properties. Adv NursSci 1: 15-24, 1985.

Forbes, A., (1996). Education and debate, caring for older people: loneliness’ British Medical Journal313, 352-354.


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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Kalpana Singh, Ph.D student of Psychology — Department of Psychology, Gurukul Kangri University,Haridwar.

S. K. Srivastava, Professor of Psychology — Department of Psychology, Gurukul Kangri University,Haridwar.

Perissinotto, C. M., Stijacic Cenzer, I. and Covinsky, K. E. (2012). Loneliness in older persons: apredictor of functional decline and death. Archives of Internal Medicine, 172(14), 1078-1083.doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2012.1993.

Singh, A. and Misra, N. (2009). Loneliness, depression and sociability in old age, Industrial PsychiatricJournal.,18(1): 51–55. 23: 109–113.

Singh, Bhawana and Kiran.(2013). Loneliness among elderly women, International Journal of Humanitiesand Social Science Invention.,2(2) PP.10-14

Shelley Borys and Daniel Perlman (1985), Gender differences in loneliness Personality and SocialPsychology Bulltein, 11( 1) 63-74.

Savikko, N. 2008. Loneliness of older people and elements of an intervention for alleviation.AnnalesUniversitatis Turkuensis. Nro 808. Turun yliopisto. Hoitotieteen . Doctoral thesis.

Rook, K. 1984. Research on social support, loneliness and social isolation towards an integratedreview of personality. In Donaldson, J. & Watson, R. 1996. Loneliness in elderly people: animportant area for nursing research. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 24 (5), 953.

Russell, D. W. (1996), ‘UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3): reliability, validity, and factor structure’,Journal of Personality Assessment, 66: 20–4.

Thomopoulou I., Thomopoulou D. and Koutsouki, D. (2010). The differences at quality of life andloneliness between elderly people. Biology of exercise. 6.2.

Victor, C. R., Scambler, S. J., Shah, S., Cook, D. G., Harris, T., Rink, E. and de Wilde, S. (2002), ‘Hasloneliness amongst older people increased? An investigation into variations between cohorts’,Ageing and Society, 22: 585–597.

Weiss, R. S. (1973). Loneliness: The experience of emotional and social isolation. Cambridge, MA:MIT Press.

Whelan, C. T. and Whelan, B. J. The Transition to Retirement. The Economic and Social ResearchInstitute. Dublin. 1988.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited withoutpermission.

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