| Popis: |
Loneliness in older adults has been shown in prior research to be predictive of increased morbidity and mortality and is a major public health problem among older adults in the US. Research has shown there to be a difference between subjective loneliness and objective loneliness (social isolation), in that older adults living alone are not necessarily lonely if they remain socially engaged. In addition, recent research shows that there is a difference in loneliness between cultures that are more family oriented and ones that are more individualistic, driving the theory that loneliness overall as a construct needs to be examined in culture-specific framework. We propose that loneliness in older Hispanics, despite their historically familial framework, will be more affected by friends rather than family. These hypotheses support prior cross-sectional research on an older Hispanic American population in which we wish to build upon with longitudinal analysis. Using four waves of the H-EPESE data (n=1682), we estimated discrete time hazard models to predict the onset of loneliness over a 10-year period. In fully adjusted models, we found that frequency of contact with friends was protective against developing loneliness (OR=0.53, 95% CI 0.38–0.75), while number of close family members was associated with increased likelihood of developing loneliness (OR=1.16, 95% CI 1.03–1.30). Our findings have important informal care implications with friends potentially having a greater role in the mental health of older Hispanics than previously thought. |
