Cited by 1,757Health disparities and outcomesAging and Gerontology ResearchAging, Health, and Disability

Perceived social isolation makes me sad: 5-year cross-lagged analyses of loneliness and depressive symptomatology in the chicago health, aging, and social relations study

Open access
Cacioppo, John T., Hawkley, Louise C., Thisted, Ronald A.·2010·Psychology and Aging

Abstract

We present evidence from a 5-year longitudinal study for the prospective associations between loneliness and depressive symptoms in a population-based, ethnically diverse sample of 229 men and women who were 50-68 years old at study onset. Cross-lagged panel models were used in which the criterion variables were loneliness and depressive symptoms, considered simultaneously. We used variations on this model to evaluate the possible effects of gender, ethnicity, education, physical functioning, medications, social network size, neuroticism, stressful life events, perceived stress, and social support on the observed associations between loneliness and depressive symptoms. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that loneliness predicted subsequent changes in depressive symptomatology, but not vice versa, and that this temporal association was not attributable to demographic variables, objective social isolation, dispositional negativity, stress, or social support. The importance of distinguishing between loneliness and depressive symptoms and the implications for loneliness and depressive symptomatology in older adults are discussed.

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Crossref · 10.1037/a0017216

Cites

75 of 75 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Loneliness predicts future occurrence of depression and anxiety.

    “longitudinal studies have found loneliness to predict future occurrence of depression and anxiety [6, 7]”

    From Psychological correlates of perceived loneliness in college students before and during the COVID-19 stay-at-home period: a longitudinal study (2023) · cites this paper as [6]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) reports that loneliness predicts increases in depressive symptoms in the following year. The paper does not establish the future occurrence of diagnosed depression, and the passages found do not report anxiety as an outcome. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Individuals who worry more, who are more socially isolated, and receive less social support are more likely to develop mental health problems.

    “They are further in line with studies showing those individuals who worry more [39], who are more socially isolated [40], and receive less social support [41, 42] are more likely to develop mental health problems.”

    From Students under lockdown: Comparisons of students’ social networks and mental health before and during the COVID-19 crisis in Switzerland (2020) · cites this paper as [40]

    For citation [40], the Results report that loneliness—perceived social isolation—predicted later depressive symptoms. The paper distinguishes this from objective social isolation: social network size had no significant lagged effect on depressive symptoms. The claim does not make that distinction and describes mental health problems more broadly than the depressive symptoms studied. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Loneliness studies do not clearly establish whether loneliness causes mental illness or vice versa.

    “However, such studies do not clearly establish whether loneliness results in mental illness or vice versa.”

    From The effects of social deprivation on adolescent development and mental health (2020) · cites this paper as [30]

    The Introduction (page unavailable) says earlier longitudinal studies could not formally test whether loneliness and depressive symptoms predict each other; the Discussion (page unavailable) says experimental evidence would give greater confidence about causation. But the paper studied depressive symptoms, not mental illness broadly, and explicitly says clinical depression was not measured. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Lonely people may be particularly susceptible to disengaging from treatment early.

    “Given that loneliness is a significant and independent risk factor for complex psychopathology, including depression and suicidal ideation [8,9,11,12,34-36], lonely people may be particularly susceptible to disengaging from treatment early.”

    From The Effectiveness of a Smartphone Intervention Targeting Suicidal Ideation in Young Adults: Randomized Controlled Trial Examining the Influence of Loneliness (2023) · cites this paper as [36]

    The Discussion (page not provided) reports that loneliness independently predicts later depressive symptoms. The introductory section (page not provided) says loneliness is associated with suicidal ideation and behavior, but does not establish it as an independent risk factor for those outcomes. The treatment-disengagement statement follows the citations and is the citing authors’ inference, not a finding attributed to this paper. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Loneliness has been shown to correlate with negative health outcomes including increased morbidity and mortality.

    “loneliness has been shown to correlate with negative health outcomes including increased morbidity and mortality (Cacioppo et al., 2010)”

    From Living through lockdown: A qualitative exploration of individuals' experiences in the UK. (2022) · cites this paper as Cacioppo et al., 2010

    The introductory section (page unavailable) reports associations between loneliness and poorer physical health, Alzheimer's disease progression, and other adverse health outcomes. It does not report an association with mortality, so the mortality portion of the claim is unsupported by our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 76 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Bell RG Alcoholism and loneliness. Journal of Social Therapy 1956 2 171 181
  2. Hobson CJ Kamen J Szostek J Nethercut CM Tiedmann JW Wojnarowicz S Stressful life events: A revision and update of the social readjustment rating scale. International Journal of Stress Management 1998 5 1 1 23

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Authors
Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L. C., & Thisted, R. A.
Affiliations
University of Chicago (US)
Venue
Psychology and Aging
Published
2010
Volume
25
Issue
2
Pages
453-463
ISSN
  • 0882-7974 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1498
OpenAlex
W2098003297
Cited by
1,757
References
76
Citations by year
2026: 95 · 2025: 161 · 2024: 134 · 2023: 175 · 2022: 193 · 2021: 207 · 2020: 178 · 2019: 146 · 2018: 113 · 2017: 80 · 2016: 65 · 2015: 66 · 2014: 57 · 2013: 35 · 2012: 24
FWCI
27.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Psychology and Aging (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute on Aging (PO1 AG18911; RO1 AG034052-01)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Aging, Health, and Disability
Keywords
loneliness, depressive symptoms, social isolation, older adults, prospective associations, social support, perceived stress, life events, neuroticism, social network size, physical function, ethnicity, gender differences
MeSH terms
Activities of Daily Living, Age Factors, Aged, Black or African American, Depressive Disorder, Female, Health Surveys, Hispanic or Latino, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Life Change Events, Loneliness, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Models, Psychological, Risk Factors, Sex Factors, Social Isolation, Social Support, White People

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