Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40169238›Full record

ArticleJournal of epidemiology and community health2025

Five-year changes in loneliness and mental health among adults 41-85 years: the Doetinchem Cohort Study.

Tijmen Maas, Gerrie-Cor Herber, W M Monique Verschuren, H Susan J Picavet

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Article in Journal of epidemiology and community health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Tijmen MaasCentre for Nutrition, Prevention and Health Services, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands.
Gerrie-Cor HerberCentre for Nutrition, Prevention and Health Services, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands.
W M Monique VerschurenNational Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands.
H Susan J PicavetCentre for Nutrition, Prevention and Health Services, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands susan.picavet@rivm.nl.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6895-165X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundBoth 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.

methodsWe 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.

resultsOver 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).

conclusionThe 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.

Indexed as

LonelinessMental HealthAdultAgedAged, 80 and overCohort StudiesCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedNetherlandsCOHORT STUDIESEPIDEMIOLOGYGERONTOLOGYHEALTHSOCIAL SCIENCES

Identifiers

PMID40169238
PMCPMC12322481

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.