CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 277Health disparities and outcomesAging and Gerontology ResearchAging, Health, and Disability

Who are Lonely? Loneliness in Different Age Groups (18–81 Years Old), Using Two Measures of Loneliness

Nicolaisen, Magnhild, Thorsen, Kirsten·2014·The International Journal of Aging and Human Development
DOI 10.2190/ag.78.3.b
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

This study asks if the prevalence of loneliness in the population varies depending on the measures used, with special focus on loneliness among the elderly. The study compares loneliness in different age groups between 18 and 81 years old ( N = 14,743) using two measures of loneliness: the (indirect) six-item De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale and a single-item, direct question about loneliness. Data are from the Norwegian LOGG (Life Course, Generation, and Gender) study. We compare the findings on loneliness according to age, gender, health, and partner status. Overall, the two loneliness measures indicate a similar prevalence of loneliness, but attribute loneliness to somewhat different people. When using a direct measure, loneliness is more prevalent among women; when using the (indirect) De Jong Gierveld Scale, loneliness is more prevalent among men. Also, the association between age and loneliness differed when using the direct and the indirect measure.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.2190/ag.78.3.b

Cites

67 of 67 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Any potential gender differences may be affected by social stigma associated with self-reporting loneliness in male populations, with those of Western countries reportedly being less accepting of men disclosing loneliness.

    “any potential gender differences may be affected by social stigma which is associated with self-reporting loneliness in male populations (Borys and Perlman, 1985; Nicolaisen and Thorsen, 2014), with those of Western countries reportedly being less accepting of men disclosing loneliness.”

    From Loneliness as a predictor of suicidal ideation and behaviour: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies (2020) · cites this paper as Nicolaisen and Thorsen, 2014

  • An AARP national survey estimated that 25% of community-dwelling US respondents over age 70 were lonely, as measured by a score of 44 or higher on the 20-item UCLA Loneliness Scale.

    “comparative data from a survey conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP; n = 3,012) using a national representative sample estimated that 25% of community-dwelling US respondents over the age of 70 years were lonely [16], as measured by a score of 44 or higher on the 20-item UCLA Loneliness Scale.”

    From Loneliness and health in older adults: a mini-review and synthesis (2016) · cites this paper as [16]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Nicolaisen, M., & Thorsen, K.
Affiliations
  • Norwegian National Centre for Ageing and Health (NO)
  • Buskerud University College (NO)
Corresponding author
Nicolaisen, Magnhild
ORCID
Venue
The International Journal of Aging and Human Development
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2014-04
Volume
78
Issue
3
Pages
229-257
ISSN
  • 0091-4150 (ISSN-L)
  • 1541-3535
DOI
10.2190/ag.78.3.b
OpenAlex
W2147713072
Cited by
277
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 22 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 44 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 50 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 18 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6
FWCI
8.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
  • The International Journal of Aging and Human Development (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
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, age differences, De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, measurement validity, older adults, gender differences, partner status
MeSH terms
Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Individuality, Interpersonal Relations, Loneliness, Male, Middle Aged, Norway, Psychological Techniques, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sex Factors, Socioeconomic Factors, Reproducibility of Results, Geriatric Assessment, Prevalence, Health Status Disparities

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review