Loneliness is correlated with higher rates of depression and more poor mental and physical health days per month found a new study published in PLOS One.
Loneliness is defined as the subjective feeling of social disconnection or a lack of meaningful interpersonal relationships. Around 36% of Americans are affected by loneliness, including 61% of young adults and 51% of mothers and young children. Research shows that loneliness is linked to a 26% higher risk of premature mortality, making it comparable to smoking and obesity.
In the current study, researchers evaluated the link between loneliness and key health outcomes, including a diagnosis of depression, poor mental health days, and poor physical health days. They included 47, 318 individuals aged between 18 and 64 years old. Over 80% of participants reported some level of loneliness.
Ultimately, the researchers found that those reporting ‘always’ feeling lonely were significantly more likely to have depression than those who reported never feeling lonely. Whereas around half of those who always felt lonely experienced depression, the same was true for just under 10% of those who never felt lonely. Meanwhile, those who ‘always’ felt lonely had an average of 10.9 more poor mental health days and 5 more poor physical health days per month than those who reported ‘never’ feeling lonely.
The researchers further found that women consistently reported more poor mental health days than men across most levels of loneliness. They also found that Black individuals reporting loneliness were significantly less likely to report depression and had fewer poor mental health days than White peers. Adults aged 64 years and older experienced more days of poor physical health than younger adults across all categories of loneliness.
“Our findings underscore loneliness as a pressing public health issue with wide-reaching effects on mental and physical health,” wrote the researchers in their study.
“Addressing loneliness may not only improve individual well-being but also reduce societal healthcare burdens. Future studies should explore the long-term effectiveness of loneliness-reduction strategies and the contextual factors that moderate their impact,” they added.
Sources: EurekAlert, PLOS One