IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i3p1914-d1042084.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Relationships between Interpersonal Goals and Loneliness in Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study

Author

Listed:
  • Francesca C. Ezeokonkwo

    (School of Nursing, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, USA)

  • Kathleen L. Sekula

    (School of Nursing, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, USA)

  • Jeffrey E. Stokes

    (Department of Gerontology, McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA 02125, USA)

  • Laurie A. Theeke

    (School of Nursing, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20006, USA)

  • Rick Zoucha

    (School of Nursing, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, USA)

  • Meredith Troutman-Jordan

    (School of Nursing, University of North Carolina Charlotte, Charlotte, NC 28223, USA)

  • Dinesh Sharma

    (Department of Mathematics and Statistics, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, USA)

Abstract

Loneliness is linked to many physiological and psychological issues and disproportionately affects older adults. Interpersonal goals (compassion and self-image) are essential to interpersonal relationships; however, how they relate to loneliness in older adults is unknown. We investigated the impact of interpersonal goals on loneliness using the Ecosystem–Egosystem Theory of Social Motivation. This study, adopting a descriptive cross-sectional correlational design, used data from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study. Participants ( n = 3212) included people aged >65 years (mean age: 75; female: 60.1%). We performed exploratory factor analysis with principal axis factoring and varimax rotation to examine the suitability of compassionate and self-image goals as separate factors. The complex samples general linear model was used to assess the relationship between loneliness and interpersonal goals. Interpersonal goals were significantly negatively associated with loneliness. Respondents with higher compassion and self-image goals reported lower loneliness levels. Our results contribute to understanding how interpersonal goals relate to loneliness in older adults. These initial findings warrant further investigation.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesca C. Ezeokonkwo & Kathleen L. Sekula & Jeffrey E. Stokes & Laurie A. Theeke & Rick Zoucha & Meredith Troutman-Jordan & Dinesh Sharma, 2023. "Relationships between Interpersonal Goals and Loneliness in Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-11, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:1914-:d:1042084
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/1914/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/1914/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Astrid Kemperman & Pauline van den Berg & Minou Weijs-Perrée & Kevin Uijtdewillegen, 2019. "Loneliness of Older Adults: Social Network and the Living Environment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-16, January.
    2. Gerst-Emerson, K. & Jayawardhana, J., 2015. "Loneliness as a public health issue: The impact of loneliness on health care utilization among older adults," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(5), pages 1013-1019.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shi Chen & Yi Sun & Bo Kyong Seo, 2022. "The Effects of Public Open Space on Older People’s Well-Being: From Neighborhood Social Cohesion to Place Dependence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-16, December.
    2. David Cantarero-Prieto & Marta Pascual-Sáez & Carla Blázquez-Fernández, 2021. "Does Social Isolation Affect Medical Doctor Visits? New Evidence Among European Older Adults," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(2), pages 787-804, April.
    3. Jin Liu & Scott Rozelle & Qing Xu & Ning Yu & Tianshu Zhou, 2019. "Social Engagement and Elderly Health in China: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey (CHARLS)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-16, January.
    4. Run-Ping Che & Mei-Chun Cheung, 2022. "Community-Dwelling Older Adults’ Intended Use of Different Types of Long-Term Care in China and Its Associated Factors Based on the Andersen Behavioral Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-16, September.
    5. Mehrzad B. Baktash, 2024. "Does Performance Pay Increase the Risk of Worker Loneliness?," Research Papers in Economics 2024-12, University of Trier, Department of Economics.
    6. Alastair Langtry, 2022. "Keeping up with "The Joneses": reference dependent choice with social comparisons," Papers 2203.10305, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2022.
    7. Helen Chinedu Nnadi & Peter Jazzy Ezeh, 2023. "Psycho-Social Experiences and Healthcare Delivery for Older Adults in Nigeria," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, April.
    8. Lauren Newmyer & Ashton M. Verdery & Haowei Wang & Rachel Margolis, 2022. "Population Aging, Demographic Metabolism, and the Rising Tide of Late Middle Age to Older Adult Loneliness Around the World," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 48(3), pages 829-862, September.
    9. Simone A. Tomaz & Pete Coffee & Gemma C. Ryde & Bridgitte Swales & Kacey C. Neely & Jenni Connelly & Andrew Kirkland & Louise McCabe & Karen Watchman & Federico Andreis & Jack G. Martin & Ilaria Pina , 2021. "Loneliness, Wellbeing, and Social Activity in Scottish Older Adults Resulting from Social Distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-26, April.
    10. Josefine Atzendorf & Stefan Gruber, 2022. "Depression and loneliness of older adults in Europe and Israel after the first wave of covid-19," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 849-861, December.
    11. Iria Dobarrio-Sanz & Crístofer Ruiz-González & Cayetano Fernández-Sola & Pablo Roman & José Granero-Molina & Jose Manuel Hernández-Padilla, 2021. "Healthcare Professionals’ Perceptions of Loneliness amongst Older Adults: A Qualitative Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-14, November.
    12. Nie, Jia & Wang, Jilong & Yin, Lipeng & Wang, Wei & Zhang, GuoHua & Wang, Pengcheng, 2024. "Mother phubbing and adolescent loneliness: A three-way moderation model involving attachment anxiety and need to belong," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    13. Lavinia Maria Pop & Magdalena Iorga & Raluca Iurcov, 2022. "Body-Esteem, Self-Esteem and Loneliness among Social Media Young Users," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-14, April.
    14. Jiao Zhang & Lingzhong Xu & Jiajia Li & Long Sun & Gan Ding & Wenzhe Qin & Qian Wang & Jing Zhu & Zihang Yu & Su Xie, 2018. "Loneliness and Health Service Utilization among the Rural Elderly in Shandong, China: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-11, July.
    15. Louise Mansfield & Christina Victor & Catherine Meads & Norma Daykin & Alan Tomlinson & Jack Lane & Karen Gray & Alex Golding, 2021. "A Conceptual Review of Loneliness in Adults: Qualitative Evidence Synthesis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-19, November.
    16. Jakub Dostál, 2020. "Revealed value of volunteering: A volunteer centre network," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(2), pages 319-345, June.
    17. Majmudar, Ishani Kartik & Mihalopoulos, Cathy & Abimanyi-Ochom, Julie & Mohebbi, Mohammadreza & Engel, Lidia, 2024. "The association between loneliness with health service use and quality of life among informal carers in Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    18. David Cantarero-Prieto & Marta Pascual-Sáez & Carla Blázquez-Fernández, 2018. "Does social isolation affect medical doctor visits? New evidence among European older adults," Working Papers. Collection B: Regional and sectoral economics 1805, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    19. Vicente Rodriguez-Rodriguez & Fermina Rojo-Perez & Carmen Perez de Arenaza Escribano & María-Ángeles Molina-Martínez & Gloria Fernandez-Mayoralas & Diego Sánchez-González & Jose-Manuel Rojo-Abuin & Ca, 2022. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Nursing Homes: Study Design and Population Description," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-17, December.
    20. Sonya L. Jakubec & Marg Olfert & Liza L. S. Choi & Nicole Dawe & Dwayne Sheehan, 2019. "Understanding Belonging and Community Connection for Seniors Living in the Suburbs," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(2), pages 43-52.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:1914-:d:1042084. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.