New research suggests that people tend to be lonelier in early adulthood and later in life. Loneliness in adulthood would indeed follow a U-shaped pattern: it is higher among young adults and the elderly, and lower among middle-aged adults, reports a new study published this week. The study replicated this U-shaped pattern across nine datasets from studies in the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia, Israel and more. Only one of the data sets was from the United States, which Graham said shows how globally the loneliness epidemic is spreading. The study also identified several risk factors for loneliness accumulated throughout life, including social isolation, gender, education and physical impairment. “What was striking was the steady increase in loneliness among older people,” said researcher Eileen Graham.
Graham, E. K., Beck, E. D., Jackson, K., Yoneda, T., McGhee, C., Pieramici, L., Atherton, O. E., Luo, J., Willroth, E. C., Steptoe, A., Mroczek, D. K., & Ong, A. D. (2024). Do We Become More Lonely With Age? A Coordinated Data Analysis of Nine Longitudinal Studies. Psychological Science, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976241242037
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