Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T11:41:29.327Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A comparison of different definitions of social isolation using Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 July 2019

Nancy E. G. Newall  and
Verena H. Menec
Nancy E. G. Newall*
Affiliation:
Psychology Department, Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba, Canada
Verena H. Menec
Affiliation:
Department of Community Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
*
*Corresponding author. Email: newalln@brandonu.ca
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

There are many definitions of social isolation which draw on structural indicators (e.g. living alone), functional indicators (e.g. social support) or both. This makes comparing prevalence rates across studies difficult and provides little guidance for practitioners and service providers to identify and target socially isolated clients. The purpose of the present study was to compare, within one large population-based data-set of Canadians aged 45–85, single-item and composite indicators of social isolation, by total sample and by socio-demographics (age, sex) and health. Data were from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) which assessed features of social network, social support and social participation. Two composite scales were created to compare prevalence rates based on structural only or both structural and functional indicators. Results indicated overall low prevalence rates of social isolation, regardless of the measure used. A composite scale using only structural features identified 5.8 per cent socially isolated adults aged 45–85. This compared with a structural and functional scale that identified 9.8 per cent socially isolated adults. The composite measures showed less variation across socio-demographics than single-item measures. Results shed light on different ways in which social isolation can be defined and how single-item and composite definitions impact our understanding of identifying socially isolated adults in a given population. Results add to discussion of measures that can be used by researchers, services providers and practitioners.

Keywords

social isolationlonelinesssocial supportsocial networksocial participationmeasurementCanadaCanadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA)
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 40 , Issue 12 , December 2020 , pp. 2671 - 2694
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andresen, E, Malmgren, J, Carter, W and Patrick, D (1994) Screening for depression in well older adults: evaluation of a short form of the CES-D. American Journal of Preventative Medicine 10, 77–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berkman, LF and Syme, FL (1979) Social networks, host resistance, and mortality: a nine-year follow-up study of Alameda County residents. American Journal of Epidemiology 185, 1070–1088.Google Scholar
Blozik, E, Wagner, JT, Gillmann, G, Iliffe, S, von Renteln-Kruse, W, Lubben, J, Beck, JC, Stuck, AE and Clough-Gorr, KM (2008) Social network assessment in community-dwelling older persons: results from a study of three European populations. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research 21, 150–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) (2008) Sampling and Computation of Response Rates and Sample Rates for the Tracking Participants and Comprehensive Participants. Available at https://www.clsa-elcv.ca/researchers/data-support-documentation.Google Scholar
Chappell, N and Badger, M (1989) Social isolation and well-being. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 44, S169–176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cloutier-Fisher, D and Kobayashi, KM (2009) Examining social isolation by gender and geography: conceptual and operational challenges using population health data in Canada. Gender, Place & Culture 16, 181–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Jong Gierveld, J (1987) Developing and testing a model of loneliness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 53, 119–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Jong Gierveld, J and Kamphuis, F (1985) The development of a Rasch-type loneliness scale. Applied Psychological Measurement 9, 289–299.Google Scholar
De Jong Gierveld, J and Van Tilburg, T (2006) A six-item scale for overall, emotional, and social loneliness. Research on Aging 28, 582–598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Jong Gierveld, J, Van Tilburg, T and Dykstra, P (2006) Loneliness and social isolation. In Vangelisti, A and Perlman, D (eds), Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 485–500.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eckhard, J (2018) Indicators of social isolation: a comparison based on survey data from Germany. Social Indicators Research 139, 963–988.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Employment and Social Development Canada (2016) Taking action to reduce social isolation among seniors in Edmonton (News release). Available at http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/taking-action-to-reduce-social-isolation-among-seniors-in-edmonton---government-of-canada-supports-seniors-576392611.html.Google Scholar
Harasemiw, O, Newall, N, Shoostra, S, Mackenzie, C and Menec, V (2018) From social integration to social isolation: the relationship between social network types and perceived availability of social support in a national sample of older Canadians. Research on Aging 40, 715–739.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herzog, AR, Ofstedal, MB and Wheeler, LM (2002) Social engagement and its relationship to health. Clinics in Geriatric Medicine 18, 593–609.Google Scholar
Holt-Lunstad, J, Smith, TB and Layton, JB (2010) Social relationships and mortality: a meta-analytic review. PLOS Medicine 7, 1–20.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kirkland, SA, Griffith, LE, Menec, V, Wister, A, Payette, H, Wolfson, C and Raina, PS (2015) Mining a unique Canadian resource: the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Canadian Journal on Aging/La Revue canadienne du vieillissement 34, 366–377.Google ScholarPubMed
Kobayashi, KM, Cloutier-Fisher, D and Roth, M (2009) Making meaningful connections: a profile of social isolation and health among older adults in small town and small city, British Columbia. Journal of Aging and Health 21, 374–397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Litwin, H (2004) Social networks, ethnicity, and public home-care utilisation. Ageing & Society 24, 921–939.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lubben, JE (1988) Assessing social networks among elderly populations. Family & Community Health 11, 42–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lubben, J, Blozik, E, Gillman, G, Iliffe, S, von Renteln Kruse, W, Beck, JC and Stuck, AE (2006) Performance of an abbreviated version of the Lubben Social Network Scale among three European community-dwelling older adult populations. Gerontologist 46, 503–513.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Masi, CM, Chen, H, Hawkley, LC and Cacioppo, JT (2010) A meta-analysis of interventions to reduce loneliness. Personality and Social Psychology Review 15, 219–266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Menec, V, Newall, N, Mackenzie, CS, Shooshtari, S and Nowicki, S (2019) Examining individual and geographic factors associated with social isolation and loneliness using Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) data. PLOS ONE 14, e0211143.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
National Seniors Council (2014) Report on the Social Isolation of Seniors 2013–2014. Available at https://www.canada.ca/en/national-seniors-council/programs/publications-reports.html.Google Scholar
National Seniors Council (2017) Who's at Risk and What Can Be Done About It? A Review of the Literature on the Social Isolation of Different Groups of Seniors. Available at https://www.canada.ca/en/national-seniors-council/programs/publications-reports.html.Google Scholar
Newall, NEG, Chipperfield, JG and Bailis, DS (2014) Predicting stability and change in loneliness in later life. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 31, 335–351.Google ScholarPubMed
Newall, N and Menec, V (2019) Loneliness and social isolation of older adults. Why it is important to examine these social aspects together. Journal of Personal and Social Relationships 36, 925–939.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicholson, N (2009) Social isolation in older adults: an evolutionary concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing 65, 1342–1352.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nicholson, N (2012) Social isolation in older adults: a review of social isolation: an important but underassessed condition in older adults. Journal of Primary Prevention 33, 137–152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Radloff, LS (1977) The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement 1, 385–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raina, PS, Wolfson, C and Kirkland, SA (2008) Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging Protocol. Available at https://www.clsa-elcv.ca/researchers.Google Scholar
Raina, P, Wolfson, C, Kirkland, SA, Griffith, LE, Oremus, M, Patterson, C, Tuokko, H, Hogan, D, Wister, A, Payette, H, Brazil, K and Shannon, H (2009) The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). Canadian Journal on Aging/La Revue canadienne du vieillissement 28, 221–229.Google Scholar
Shankar, A, McMunn, A, Banks, J and Steptoe, A (2011) Loneliness, social isolation, and behavioral and biological health indicators in older adults. Health Psychology 30, 377–385.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sherbourne, C and Stewart, A (1991) The MOS social support survey. Social Science & Medicine 32, 705–714.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shimada, K, Yamakazi, S, Nakano, K, Ngoma, AN, Takahashi, R and Yasumura, S (2014) Prevalence of social isolation in community dwelling elderly by differences in household composition and related factors: from a social network perspective in urban Japan. Journal of Aging and Health 26, 807–823.Google ScholarPubMed
Smith, KJ and Victor, C (2019) Typologies of loneliness, living alone and social isolation, and their associations with physical and mental health. Ageing & Society 39, 1709–1730.Google Scholar
Smith, TF and Hirdes, JP (2009) Predicting social isolation among geriatric psychiatry patients. International Psychogeriatrics 21, 50–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Statistics Canada (2017) Families, households, and marital status: key results from the 2016 Census. The Daily. Available at https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/170802/dq170802a-eng.htm.Google Scholar
Steptoe, A, Shankar, A, Demakakos, P and Wardle, J (2013) Social isolation, loneliness, and all-cause mortality in older men and women. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 110, 5797–5801.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valtorta, N and Hanratty, B (2012) Loneliness, isolation, and the health of older adults: do we need a new research agenda? Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 105, 518–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valtorta, NK, Kanaan, M, Gilbody, S and Hanratty, B (2016) Loneliness, social isolation, and social relationships: what are we measuring? A novel framework for classifying and comparing tools. BMJ Open 6, e010799.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Victor, CR, Scambler, SJ, Bond, J and Bowling, A (2000) Being alone in later life: loneliness, social isolation, and living alone. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology 10, 407–417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wenger, GC (1991) A network typology: from theory to practice. Journal of Aging Studies 5, 147–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar