Five-year changes in loneliness and mental health among adults 41-85 years: the Doetinchem Cohort Study.
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Open Access
Type
Journal Article
Article
Article
Language
en
Date
2025-07-10
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Title
Five-year changes in loneliness and mental health among adults 41-85 years: the Doetinchem Cohort Study.
Translated Title
Published in
J Epidemiol Community Health 2025;79(8):625-630
Abstract
Both loneliness and mental health represent important public health themes with stable or even worsening population figures. The association between loneliness and mental health is cross-sectionally well-established, but longitudinal studies are scarce. The aim of this study is to explore the individual changes in loneliness and mental health and the relation between these changes.
We used data from wave 5 (years: 2007-2012, n: 4016) and wave 6 (years: 2013-2017, n: 3437) of the Doetinchem Cohort Study, consisting of participants aged 41-86 years. Loneliness was measured using the De Jong-Gierveld 6-item Loneliness Scale and mental health was measured with the 5-item Mental Health Inventory. We assessed changes in loneliness and mental health over a 5-year period. Generalised estimating equations and linear regression were performed to determine the longitudinal association. Associations were adjusted for various sociodemographic, lifestyle and health factors.
Over a 5-year period, 23.4% experienced a change in loneliness and 9.7% in mental health.Higher levels of loneliness were significantly associated with poor mental health both cross-sectionally and over time (β:-3.56, 95% CI: -3.79 to -3.32). Increasing feelings of loneliness were associated with worsening mental health, and decreasing feelings of loneliness were associated with improving mental health (β:-2.35, 95% CI: -2.61 to -2.08).
The high rate of individual changes in loneliness, combined with the association between changes in loneliness and changes in mental health, shows a possible potential in improving poor mental health by designing public health interventions aimed at reducing feelings of loneliness.
We used data from wave 5 (years: 2007-2012, n: 4016) and wave 6 (years: 2013-2017, n: 3437) of the Doetinchem Cohort Study, consisting of participants aged 41-86 years. Loneliness was measured using the De Jong-Gierveld 6-item Loneliness Scale and mental health was measured with the 5-item Mental Health Inventory. We assessed changes in loneliness and mental health over a 5-year period. Generalised estimating equations and linear regression were performed to determine the longitudinal association. Associations were adjusted for various sociodemographic, lifestyle and health factors.
Over a 5-year period, 23.4% experienced a change in loneliness and 9.7% in mental health.Higher levels of loneliness were significantly associated with poor mental health both cross-sectionally and over time (β:-3.56, 95% CI: -3.79 to -3.32). Increasing feelings of loneliness were associated with worsening mental health, and decreasing feelings of loneliness were associated with improving mental health (β:-2.35, 95% CI: -2.61 to -2.08).
The high rate of individual changes in loneliness, combined with the association between changes in loneliness and changes in mental health, shows a possible potential in improving poor mental health by designing public health interventions aimed at reducing feelings of loneliness.