Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Mar 4;12(5):584.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare12050584.

"Meaning in Life" Mediates the Relationship between Loneliness and Depressive Symptoms among Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Chanhee Kim  1 , Jiyoung Chun  2
Affiliations

"Meaning in Life" Mediates the Relationship between Loneliness and Depressive Symptoms among Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Chanhee Kim et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: Loneliness was found to be a commonly experienced feeling among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and is considered to be a high-risk factor for depressive symptoms. Maintaining meaning in life has been found to be a protective resource for mental health among older adults. The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effects of an individual's meaning in life in the relationship between loneliness and depressive symptoms among older Korean adults.

Methods: The data were obtained from a sample of 213 community-dwelling older adults aged over 65. The instruments were the UCLA Loneliness Scale, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and the Meaning in Life Questionnaire.

Results: Loneliness was positively associated with depressive symptoms and negatively associated with the presence of and search for meaning among older adults. The presence of meaning mediated the relationship between loneliness and depressive symptoms but the search for meaning did not. The search for meaning mediated the relationship between loneliness and depressive symptoms through the presence of meaning.

Conclusions: Our study findings suggest that efforts to reduce loneliness and improve meaning in life should be undertaken to prevent depressive symptoms among older adults.

Keywords: depression; loneliness; meaning in life; older adults.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Hypothesized model of the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mediation model with standardized path coefficients. Note: For simplicity, controlling variables and factor loadings are not displayed for the latent variables. *** <0.001, * <0.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. WHO Ageing and Health. [(accessed on 12 April 2023)]. Available online: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health.
    1. KOSTAT (Korea National Statistics Office) Proportion of Elderly People Living Alone. [(accessed on 30 January 2024)];2023 Available online: https://kosis.kr/statHtml/statHtml.do?orgId=101&tblId=DT_1BPA002&vw_cd=M....
    1. Kim H.J., Kim C.J., Ahn J.A., Juon H.S. Prevalence and correlates of depression among South Korean older adults living in relative poverty. Arch. Psychiatr. Nurs. 2022;38:1–5. doi: 10.1016/j.apnu.2022.01.002. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Park B., Park J., Jun J.K. Cognitive impairment, depression, comorbidity of the two and associated factors among the early sixties in a rural Korean community. PLoS ONE. 2013;8:79460. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0079460. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yaka E., Keskinoglu P., Ucku R., Yener G.G., Tunca Z. Prevalence and risk factors of depression among community dwelling elderly. Arch. Gerontol. Geriatr. 2014;59:150–154. doi: 10.1016/j.archger.2014.03.014. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources