Table 1 Participants demographic, social and health-related characteristics and loneliness prevalence for each age group
19–34 years | 35–49 years | 50–65 years | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n (%) | Lonely, n (%) | n (%) | Lonely, n (%) | n (%) | Lonely, n (%) | |
Demographic factors | ||||||
Gender | ||||||
Male | 2528 (51.1) | 887 (40.6) | 3790 (50.0) | 1462 (45.4) | 5606 (50.1) | 2641 (52.0) |
Female | 3615 (48.9) | 1155 (38.9) | 4628 (50.0) | 1646 (41.2) | 6152 (49.9) | 2518 (44.4) |
Education | ||||||
Low | 579 (12.6) | 351 (63.1) | 1431 (21.4) | 778 (57.9) | 3868 (36.9) | 2016 (53.6) |
Intermediate | 2547 (47.9) | 975 (40.4) | 3319 (41.1) | 1309 (41.7) | 4096 (36.7) | 1906 (47.7) |
High | 2297 (39.5) | 692 (31.5) | 2930 (36.5) | 987 (36.1) | 3017 (26.3) | 1173 (41.1) |
Ethnicity | ||||||
Dutch origin | 5218 (78.7) | 1592 (35.1) | 6987 (76.9) | 2394 (38.4) | 10,021 (81.7) | 4949 (46.0) |
Non-Dutch origin | 925 (21.3) | 450 (58.2) | 1431 (23.1) | 714 (60.1) | 1737 (18.3) | 910 (58.0) |
Employment Status | ||||||
Unemployed | 1140 (24.8) | 604 (54.9) | 992 (14.9) | 627 (70.2) | 3402 (33.3) | 1892 (57.7) |
Employed | 4281 (75.2) | 1414 (34.7) | 6669 (85.1) | 2441 (38.4) | 7551 (66.7) | 3193 (43.3) |
Financial imbalance | ||||||
No | 4486 (81.6) | 1441 (33.6) | 6305 (80.0) | 2203 (37.0) | 9056 (80.1) | 3766 (42.6) |
Yes | 915 (18.4) | 571 (67.0) | 1358 (20.0) | 864 (67.3) | 1925 (19.9) | 1336 (70.7) |
Marital status | ||||||
Married/living together | 3126 (44.6) | 881 (33.4) | 6681 (77.2) | 2188 (38.5) | 9246 (76.5) | 3673 (42.7) |
Never been married | 2888 (53.9) | 1103 (44.6) | 982 (13.4) | 527 (62.1) | 738 (7.6) | 435 (65.6) |
Divorced | 76 (1.4) | 38 (53.1) | 679 (8.9) | 359 (55.9) | 1284 (12.3) | 795 (68.4) |
Widowed | 7 (0.2) | 5 (74.4) | 45 (0.5) | 21 (59.1) | 419 (3.6) | 223 (57.5) |
Social factors | ||||||
Living arrangement | ||||||
Living alone | 776 (15.4) | 352 (57.0) | 895 (12.9) | 507 (63.4) | 1683 (16.9) | 1042 (68.1) |
2 or more persons | 5324 (84.6) | 1668 (36.5) | 7431 (87.1) | 2556 (39.9) | 9820 (83.1) | 3982 (43.7) |
Volunteer work | ||||||
No | 4133 (75.8) | 1586 (40.9) | 5367 (69.8) | 2289 (45.7) | 8018 (72.6) | 3883 (49.8) |
Yes | 1314 (24.2) | 444 (35.8) | 2329 (30.2) | 801 (37.5) | 2994 (27.4) | 1237 (43.8) |
Informal caregiver | ||||||
No | 5041 (93.8) | 1879 (39.5) | 6601 (86.5) | 2630 (43.1) | 8053 (75.0) | 3860 (49.6) |
Yes | 383 (6.2) | 140 (41.2) | 1061 (13.5) | 440 (43.0) | 2817 (25.0) | 1185 (43.2) |
Family contact | ||||||
More than twice a month | 5198 (94.5) | 1871 (38.4) | 7241 (93.5) | 2678 (41.1) | 10,062 (91.0) | 4423 (45.3) |
Less than twice a month | 246 (5.5) | 159 (63.6) | 451 (6.5) | 324 (76.5) | 954 (9.0) | 694 (76.9) |
Friends contact | ||||||
More than twice a month | 5139 (94.4) | 1784 (37.2) | 6800 (88.0) | 2394 (38.4) | 9382 (85.1) | 3845 (42.5) |
Less than twice a month | 304 (5.6) | 245 (82.7) | 895 (12.0) | 701 (78.6) | 1630 (14.9) | 1272 (80.0) |
Neighbours contact | ||||||
More than twice a month | 3816 (67.4) | 1183 (33.1) | 104 (78.5) | 2127 (37.6) | 8785 (79.0) | 3640 (42.6) |
Less than twice a month | 1626 (32.6) | 846 (53.4) | 1583 (21.5) | 958 (63.8) | 2204 (21.0) | 1461 (68.6) |
Societal exclusion | ||||||
(Very) Often | 545 (10.1) | 1613 (34.8) | 665 (8.9) | 2553 (39.0) | 1029 (9.5) | 4949 (43.7) |
Sometimes, seldom, never | 5264 (89.9) | 424 (85.1) | 7413 (91.1) | 542 (87.0) | 10,375 (90.5) | 877 (90.6) |
Health-related factors | ||||||
General health | ||||||
Poor | 797 (13.0) | 442 (64.2) | 1593 (20.3) | 935 (68.2) | 3580 (31.7) | 2201 (38.9) |
Good | 5339 (87.0) | 1597 (36.2) | 6805 (79.7) | 2166 (37.1) | 8134 (68.3) | 2940 (68.5) |
Limitations in daily activities | ||||||
No | 4894 (81.5) | 1418 (35.5) | 6127 (74,0) | 1969 (37.2) | 6916 (58.7) | 2535 (39.6) |
Yes | 1131 (18,5) | 587 (58.4) | 2136 (26,0) | 1080 (60.6) | 4572 (41.3) | 2518 (60.7) |
Psychological Distress | ||||||
No/low risk | 3522 (57.5) | 715 (24.8) | 5068 (60,1) | 1281 (29,8) | 6735 (57.2) | 2101 (33.4) |
Moderate/high risk | 2539 (42.5) | 1327 (60.6) | 3246 (39,9) | 1809 (64.0) | 4899 (42.8) | 3029 (68.0) |
Caregiver’s burden | ||||||
No burden | 337 (5.5) | 109 (37.0) | 902 (11.3) | 345 (394) | 2426 (21.7) | 946 (40.3) |
(Extreme) high/overburden | 46 (0.7) | 31 (74.1) | 159 (2.2) | 95 (61.8) | 391 (3.3) | 239 (62.5) |
Chronic disease | ||||||
No | 4941 (81.5) | 1500 (36.7) | 6018 (71.9) | 1997 (39.2) | 6665 (56.5) | 2489 (40.3) |
Yes | 1188 (18.5) | 538 (53.2) | 2374 (28.1) | 1103 (53.7) | 5029 (43.5) | 2641 (58.3) |
Psychological wellbeing (M + S.D.) | 3.69 ± 1.0 | 3.19 ± 1.1 | 3.62 ± 1.1 | 3.18 ± 1.1 | 3.55 ± 1.1 | 3.10 ± 1.2 |
Emotional wellbeing (M + S.D.) | 3.87 ± 1.0 | 3.36 ± 1.1 | 3.84 ± 1.0 | 3.40 ± 1.1 | 3.81 ± 1.1 | 3.34 ± 1.2 |
Social wellbeing (M + S.D.) | 2.82 ± 1.2 | 2.35 ± 1.1 | 2.79 ± 1.2 | 2.39 ± 1.1 | 2.79 ± 1.2 | 2.36 ± 1.2 |