Longitudinal association between social isolation, loneliness and well-being among community-dwelling older adults in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: Lack of social connection - whether objective or subjective - is recognized as a global health concern. Addressing social disconnection requires a deeper understanding of how people experience it. Previous studies have largely examined the effects of social isolation and loneliness separately. To date, little is known about how these two dimensions of social disconnection co-occur. This study sought to identify the prevalence of sub-types of social disconnection, and to examine their longitudinal relationship with emotional well-being among older adults.

METHODS: Data from the 2022 and 2023 National Health and Aging Trends Study was utilized. The sample included 4,567 community-dwelling older adults. Multivariate linear regression modeling was applied to examine longitudinal effects of aspects of social disconnection on well-being.

RESULTS: We observed that about one-third of older adults experienced either subjective (15%) or objective (15%) social disconnection, or both (6%), while the majority (64%) reported completely connected. In addition, we observed that older adults who were feeling lonely were at greater risk for experiencing worsening in well-being over time than those who were completely connected.

CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the need for developing targeted resources, such as increasing opportunities for new social interactions or supports to enhance the quality of interpersonal connection among existing relationships.