Comparisons of the discrepancy between loneliness and social isolation across Ireland and Sweden: findings from TILDA and SNAC-K

Purpose Loneliness may have different cultural meanings in different countries. This may manifest as differing levels of Social Asymmetry—the discrepancy between loneliness and social isolation. Since loneliness is thought to be low in Sweden relative to more southerly countries, we hypothesised tha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 2019-09, Vol.54 (9), p.1079-1088
Main Authors: Power, Joanna E. McHugh, Sjöberg, Linnea, Kee, Frank, Kenny, Rose Ann, Lawlor, Brian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Analysis
Asymmetry
Cognition
Cognitive functioning
Cohort Studies
Correlation analysis
Cross-cultural
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Dementia
Epidemiology
Female
Humans
Ireland
Loneliness
Loneliness - psychology
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Middle Aged
Multilevel Analysis
Multilevel modelling
Older people
Original Paper
Psychiatry
Robustness
Social isolation
Social Isolation - psychology
Sweden
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Summary:Purpose Loneliness may have different cultural meanings in different countries. This may manifest as differing levels of Social Asymmetry—the discrepancy between loneliness and social isolation. Since loneliness is thought to be low in Sweden relative to more southerly countries, we hypothesised that more number of individuals would also fall into the “discordant robust” category of Social Asymmetry, i.e. that more individuals in Sweden would have lower loneliness levels relative to social isolation than in Ireland. We also explored the clinical relevance of Social Asymmetry in both countries, by examining its association with cognitive functioning. Methods We derived Social Asymmetry metrics in two representative cohort studies: the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) and the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen (SNAC-K). Data pertaining to a dementia-free sample of 4565 Irish participants and 3042 Swedish participants, all aged over 60 years, were analysed using a multilevel modelling approach, with country as a higher-order variable. Results Contrary to the expected, more individuals in Ireland were “discordant robust” than in Sweden. We also found evidence for superior performance in global cognitive functioning among those in the “discordant robust” category relative to those in the discordant susceptible (i.e. those with higher levels of loneliness than social isolation) category, β  = 0.61, p  
ISSN:0933-7954
1433-9285
1433-9285
DOI:10.1007/s00127-019-01679-w