The transition to living alone and psychological distress in later life

• Published in: Age and ageing 2013-05, Vol.42 (3), p.366-372
• Main Authors: Stone, Juliet, Evandrou, Maria, Falkingham, Jane
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of daily living; Age; Age Factors; Aged; Aging - psychology; Children; Demographic aspects; Depression in old age; Female; Geriatric depression; Health aspects; Humans; Life Change Events; Living alone; Living arrangements; Logistic Models; Loneliness - psychology; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Melancholy; Multivariate Analysis; Odds Ratio; Older people; Psychological aspects; Psychological distress; Quality of life; Research Papers; Residence Characteristics; Risk Factors; Social Support; Stress; Stress, Psychological - diagnosis; Stress, Psychological - epidemiology; Stress, Psychological - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; United Kingdom - epidemiology; Widowhood - psychology; Widows & widowers
• ISSN: 0002-0729; 1468-2834
• DOI: 10.1093/ageing/aft006

living alone in later life has been linked to psychological distress but less is known about the role of the transition into living alone and the role of social and material resources. a total of 21,535 person-years of data from 4,587 participants of the British Household Panel Survey aged 65+ are analysed. Participants provide a maximum 6 years' data (t0-t5), with trajectories of living arrangements classified as: consistently partnered/ with children/alone; transition from partnered to alone/with children to alone. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)-12 caseness (score >3) is investigated using multi-level logistic regression, controlling for sex, age, activities of daily living, social and material resources. after a transition from partnered at t0 to alone at t1, the odds for GHQ-12 caseness increased substantially, but by t3 returned to baseline levels. The odds for caseness at t0 were highest for those changing from living with a child at t0 to living alone at t1 but declined following the transition to living alone. None of the covariates explained these associations. Living consistently alone did confer increased odds for caseness. living alone in later life is not in itself a strong risk factor for psychological distress. The effects of transitions to living alone are dependent on the preceding living arrangement and are independent of social and material resources. This advocates a longitudinal approach, allowing identification of respondents' location along trajectories of living arrangements.