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European and Canadian Studies of Loneliness among Seniors*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Daniel Perlman
Daniel Perlman*
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to: / Les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à : Daniel Perlman, School of Social Work and Family Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2. (d.perlman@ubc.ca)
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Abstract

This article provides a commentary on a set of five other articles reporting European and Canadian studies of loneliness among seniors. It places those works involving Canadian, Dutch, Finnish, and Welsh samples in the larger context of research on loneliness; offers reflections on the methods and findings reported in the articles; and addresses the question, Is loneliness universal? Points of similarity in the articles are identified and possible ways of reconciling discrepant findings regarding age trends and gender differences are put forward. A discrepancy model of loneliness is used as a key framework for explaining several points, including why objective social isolation and loneliness don't always go together.

Résumé

L'auteur apporte ses commentaires sur cinq articles décrivant des études sur la solitude chez les personnes âgées effectuées en Europe et au Canada. Il examine ces travaux (qui portent sur des échantillons canadiens, hollandais, finlandais et gallois) sous l'angle élargi de la recherche sur la solitude; il analyse les méthodes et conclusions présentées dans les articles et répond à la question : La solitude est-elle universelle? Il note les similitudes entre les divers articles et propose des façons de rapprocher les conclusions divergentes liées à l'âge et aux différences entre les sexes. Il utilise comme cadre de référence un modèle fondé sur le décalage (discrepancy model) pour expliquer plusieurs points, notamment pourquoi l'isolement social objectif et la solitude ne vont pas toujours de pair.

Keywords

aginglonelinesssocial isolationagegendercross-cultural differencesseniorsvieillissementsolitudeisolement socialâgesexedifférences transculturellespersonnes âgées
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 23 , Special Issue/Numéro special 2: Social Isolation and Loneliness/Isolement social et solitude , Summer/Été 2004 , pp. 181 - 188
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2004

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Footnotes

*

Revisions of this paper were made while the author was at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS) and benefited from the reviewers' insightful, constructive comments and from expository suggestions made by Petronella Kievit-Tyson.

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