Middle-aged Americans are lonelier than older adults

A new study found middle-aged Americans demonstrated higher levels of loneliness than older adults.

It’s a designation shared with only one of 29 counties in a study of more than 64,000 adults from across Europe, North America, and the Middle East.

The study showed loneliness generally increases with age, but that middle-aged people in United States and the Netherlands were the only of the study locations where this group felt lonelier than older generations.

“There is a general perception that people get lonelier as they age, but the opposite is actually true in the US where middle-aged people are lonelier than older generations,” says lead author Robin Richardson, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology at Rollins.

“Advocacy and interventions to address the loneliness epidemic have historically focused on older adults and adolescents. Middle-aged adults represent a critical population that is being overlooked.”

The team investigated prevalence of loneliness, linked with demographic and health factors, to investigate factors that contribute to loneliness throughout life. They found that while loneliness generally increased with age, the size of the increase was greater in some countries than others.

Being unmarried, not working, depression, and poor health were major reasons why loneliness varied with age, but the importance of these contributors and the combination of factors were different in each country.

In the US, not working was the top reason for a higher amount of loneliness among middle-aged adults, while in other countries it resulted in more loneliness among older adults.

Adults in Denmark report the overall lowest levels of loneliness, while those in Greece and Cyprus reported the overall highest levels.

“Our work shows that loneliness varies remarkably across country and age, and accordingly loneliness is not an immutable consequence of age or environment. This finding suggests that loneliness may be very sensitive to changes to life circumstances,” says Richardson.

“Our findings show that loneliness is not just a late-life issue,” adds senior author Esteban Calvo, dean of social sciences and arts at Universidad Mayor in Chile.

“In fact, many middle-aged adults—often juggling work, caregiving, and isolation—are surprisingly vulnerable and need targeted interventions just as much as older adults. Globally, we must extend depression screenings to middle-aged groups, improve support for those not working or unmarried, and adapt these efforts to each country’s context—because a one-size-fits-all approach will not solve this worldwide problem.”

The research appears in Aging and Mental Health.

Additional researchers from Emory University; Columbia University; McGill University in Canada; and Universidad Mayor in Santiago, Chile contributed to the work.

Source: Emory University

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