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Comparative Study
. 2021 Apr;51(6):991-1000.
doi: 10.1017/S0033291719003933. Epub 2020 Mar 9.

Generational differences in loneliness and its psychological and sociodemographic predictors: an exploratory and confirmatory machine learning study

Drew Altschul  1   2   3 , Matthew Iveson  1   2 , Ian J Deary  1   3
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Generational differences in loneliness and its psychological and sociodemographic predictors: an exploratory and confirmatory machine learning study

Drew Altschul et al. Psychol Med. 2021 Apr.

Abstract

Background: Loneliness is a growing public health issue in the developed world. Among older adults, loneliness is a particular challenge, as the older segment of the population is growing and loneliness is comorbid with many mental as well as physical health issues. Comorbidity and common cause factors make identifying the antecedents of loneliness difficult, however, contemporary machine learning techniques are positioned to tackle this problem.

Methods: This study analyzed four cohorts of older individuals, split into two age groups - 45-69 and 70-79 - to examine which common psychological and sociodemographic are associated with loneliness at different ages. Gradient boosted modeling, a machine learning technique, and regression models were used to identify and replicate associations with loneliness.

Results: In all cohorts, higher emotional stability was associated with lower loneliness. In the older group, social circumstances such as living alone were also associated with higher loneliness. In the younger group, extraversion's association with lower loneliness was the only other confirmed relationship.

Conclusions: Different individual and social factors might underlie loneliness differences in distinct age groups. Machine learning methods have the potential to unveil novel associations between psychological and social variables, particularly interactions, and mental health outcomes.

Keywords: Aging; geriatric psychiatry; loneliness; machine learning; personality.

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Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Histogram of loneliness across all four analytic samples. The y-axes differ between the older and younger samples because loneliness was measured using a different number of items between age groups, though the same items were used within age groups. 36DS, Thirty-six Day Sample; LBC1936, Lothian Birth Cohort of 1936; HAGIS, Healthy Ageing in Scotland; ELSA, English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Emotional stability v. loneliness scores, stratified by whether one lives alone, plotted in all four cohorts. Emotional stability is presented on the scale the data were collected at in each sample, which differs due to the Likert scaling and number of items used: Emotional stability in 36DS ranges from 4 to 20, in LBC1936 ranges from 0 to 50, in HAGIS ranges from 10 to 50, and in ELSA ranges from 1 to 5. 36DS, Thirty-six Day Sample; LBC1936, Lothian Birth Cohort of 1936; HAGIS, Healthy Ageing in Scotland; ELSA, English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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