IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/qualqt/v55y2021i6d10.1007_s11135-021-01097-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Estimating the impact of social isolation on subjective health in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Emiliano Sironi

    (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
    Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)

  • Amelie Nadine Wolff

    (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)

Abstract

We investigate the relationship between social isolation and subjective health, considering that this relationship is potentially affected by endogeneity due to the presence of self-reported measures. Thus, if an increase in social isolation may impact the perception on health, alternative paths of causality may also be hypothesized. Using data from round 7 of the European Social Survey, we estimate an instrumental variable model in which isolation is explained as being a member of an ethnic minority and having experienced some serious family conflicts in the past. Our results confirm that changes in social isolation influence subjective general health. In particular, greater isolation produces a strong and significant deterioration of the perceived health status. With respect to the literature on social isolation and health, we try to advance it by supporting a path of causality running from social isolation to subjective health.

Suggested Citation

  • Emiliano Sironi & Amelie Nadine Wolff, 2021. "Estimating the impact of social isolation on subjective health in Europe," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 55(6), pages 2087-2102, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:qualqt:v:55:y:2021:i:6:d:10.1007_s11135-021-01097-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s11135-021-01097-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11135-021-01097-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11135-021-01097-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Klas Gustafsson & Gunnar Aronsson & Staffan Marklund & Anders Wikman & Birgitta Floderus, 2013. "Does Social Isolation and Low Societal Participation Predict Disability Pension? A Population Based Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(11), pages 1-1, November.
    2. Johnston, David W. & Propper, Carol & Shields, Michael A., 2009. "Comparing subjective and objective measures of health: Evidence from hypertension for the income/health gradient," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 540-552, May.
    3. Julianne Holt-Lunstad & Timothy B Smith & J Bradley Layton, 2010. "Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(7), pages 1-1, July.
    4. Butler, J S, 1987. "Measurement Error in Self-reported Health Variables," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(4), pages 644-650, November.
    5. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    6. Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014. "A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
    7. Christopher F Baum & Mark E. Schaffer & Steven Stillman, 2003. "Instrumental variables and GMM: Estimation and testing," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 3(1), pages 1-31, March.
    8. Klas Gustafsson & Staffan Marklund & Gunnar Aronsson & Anders Wikman & Birgitta Floderus, 2015. "Interaction Effects of Social Isolation and Peripheral Work Position on Risk of Disability Pension: A Prospective Study of Swedish Women and Men," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-15, June.
    9. Winkleby, M.A. & Jatulis, D.E. & Frank, E. & Fortmann, S.P., 1992. "Socioeconomic status and health: How education, income, and occupation contribute to risk factors for cardiovascular disease," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 82(6), pages 816-820.
    10. Takis Venetoklis, 2019. "Do interactions cancel associations of subjective well-being with individual-level socioeconomic characteristics? An exploratory analysis using the European Social Survey," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(6), pages 3033-3061, November.
    11. Luo, Ye & Hawkley, Louise C. & Waite, Linda J. & Cacioppo, John T., 2012. "Loneliness, health, and mortality in old age: A national longitudinal study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(6), pages 907-914.
    12. Russell Ecob, 1996. "A Multilevel Modelling Approach to Examining the Effects of Area of Residence on Health and Functioning," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 159(1), pages 61-75, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Svenja Damberg & Lena Frömbling, 2022. "“Furry tales”: pet ownership’s influence on subjective well-being during Covid-19 times," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 56(5), pages 3645-3664, October.
    2. Hideo Ishii-Adajar, 2022. "Evaluating the Potential Socioeconomic Impact of a Proposed Sugarcane Factory on the Village of Mueang Phia, Thailand," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 67(2), pages 254-281, October.

    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. Marjan Petreski, 2013. "Overhaul of a Doctrine," Eastern European Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(5), pages 46-68, September.
    2. Hans Oh & Jordan E DeVylder & Ai Koyanagi, 2022. "Psychotic experiences as a health indicator: A provisional framework," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 68(2), pages 244-252, March.
    3. Christopher F Baum & Mark E. Schaffer & Steven Stillman, 2007. "Enhanced routines for instrumental variables/GMM estimation and testing," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 667, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 05 Sep 2007.
    4. Romanos Priftis & Anastasia Theofilakou, 2021. "Growth effects of corporate balance sheet adjustments in the EU," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 773-801, February.
    5. Zenetti, German & Klapper, Daniel, 2016. "Advertising Effects Under Consumer Heterogeneity – The Moderating Role of Brand Experience, Advertising Recall and Attitude," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 352-372.
    6. Anthony Briant & Pierre-Philippe Combes & Miren Lafourcade, 2014. "Product Complexity, Quality of Institutions and the Protrade Effect of Immigrants," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 63-85, January.
    7. Claire Dujardin & Florence Goffette-Nagot, 2009. "Does public housing occupancy increase unemployment?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(6), pages 823-851, November.
    8. Hugo Benítez-Silva & Debra Dwyer & Wayne-Roy Gayle & Thomas Muench, 2008. "Expectations in micro data: rationality revisited," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 34(2), pages 381-416, March.
    9. Benitez-Silva, Hugo & Dwyer, Debra S., 2006. "Expectation formation of older married couples and the rational expectations hypothesis," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 191-218, April.
    10. Doko Tchatoka, Firmin & Dufour, Jean-Marie, 2020. "Exogeneity tests, incomplete models, weak identification and non-Gaussian distributions: Invariance and finite-sample distributional theory," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 218(2), pages 390-418.
    11. Woutersen, Tiemen & Hausman, Jerry A., 2019. "Increasing the power of specification tests," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 211(1), pages 166-175.
    12. Hugo Benítez-Silva & Debra S. Dwyer, 2003. "What to Expect when you are Expecting Rationality: Testing Rational Expectations using Micro Data," Working Papers wp037, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    13. Poumanyvong, Phetkeo & Kaneko, Shinji & Dhakal, Shobhakar, 2012. "Impacts of urbanization on national transport and road energy use: Evidence from low, middle and high income countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 268-277.
    14. Escarce, José J. & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2018. "Immigration and the Health of Older Natives in Western Europe," GLO Discussion Paper Series 228, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    15. Gergely Ganics & Atsushi Inoue & Barbara Rossi, 2021. "Confidence Intervals for Bias and Size Distortion in IV and Local Projections-IV Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 307-324, January.
    16. Escarce, José J. & Rocco, Lorenzo, 2021. "Effect of immigration on depression among older natives in Western Europe," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    17. Benítez-Silva, Hugo & Eren, Selçuk & Heiland, Frank & Jiménez-Martín, Sergi, 2015. "How well do individuals predict the selling prices of their homes?," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 12-25.
    18. Matthew Higgins & Andrew Young & Daniel Levy, 2009. "Federal, state, and local governments: evaluating their separate roles in US growth," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 493-507, June.
    19. Kendix, Michael & Walls, W.D., 2010. "Oil industry consolidation and refined product prices: Evidence from US wholesale gasoline terminals," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3498-3507, July.
    20. Sinha, Kompal & Davillas, Apostolos & Jones, Andrew M. & Sharma, Anurag, 2021. "Do socioeconomic health gradients persist over time and beyond income? A distributional analysis using UK biomarker data," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).

    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:spr:qualqt:v:55:y:2021:i:6:d:10.1007_s11135-021-01097-8. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.