Lost and unfulfilled relationships behind emotional loneliness in old age

Elisa Tiilikainen · Marjaana Seppänen

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Health disparities and outcomes Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues Aging and Gerontology Research

Abstract

ABSTRACT Using a qualitative approach, this article examines how the experiences of emotional loneliness are embedded in the everyday lives and relationships of older adults. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted in 2010 with older people who reported feeling lonely, often or all the time, during a cohort study in southern Finland. The research reveals the multifaceted nature of loneliness and its causes. Behind emotional loneliness, we identified lost and unfulfilled relationships, involving the loss or lack of a partner, the absence of a meaningful friendship, complex parenthood and troubling childhood experiences. Most of the interviewees have faced loneliness that only began in old age, but for some, loneliness has been present for nearly a lifetime.

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References

1969Attachment and Loss 1974Loneliness: the experience of emotional and social isolation 2010Perceived social isolation makes me sad: 5-year cross-lagged analyses of loneliness and depressive symptomatology in the Chicago Health, Aging, and Social Relations Study.2008Loneliness: human nature and the need for social connection 2012Loneliness, health, and mortality in old age: A national longitudinal study 2003Handbook of Communication and Social Interaction Skills 2001Sociological Practice: Linking Theory and Social Research 2005Predictors and subjective causes of loneliness in an aged population

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