Institute of Communication and Health (ICH), Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), Via G. Buffi 13, 6900, Lugano, Switzerland.
Faculty of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Gemelli 1, 20123, Milan, Italy.
BMC Geriatr. 2020 Nov 16;20(1):472. doi: 10.1186/s12877-020-01864-6.
International research shows that social isolation is harmful for health, especially for the elderly. Its objective and subjective dimensions are important to distinguish as each stands in a different relation with health. The first aim of the present study is the validation of three scales measuring objective and subjective isolation in an Italian elderly population. The second aim is to analyze subjective and objective social isolation and to appraise their association with health among seniors.
This cross-sectional survey collected data from 306 over 65 s participants. Questionnaires were administered face-to-face by one author and encompassed: social disconnectedness scale; perceived isolation scale; abbreviated Lubben Social Network Scale; measures of general and mental health, and depression.
The three scales measuring social isolation demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties and validity. Objective and subjective social isolation were not directly associated with physical health, whereas subjective isolation is strongly linked to worse mental health and depression. Higher level of subjective isolation was associated with lower level of physical health through the mediation of mental health. Subjective isolation served as a mediator in the relation between objective isolation and health. Moderation analysis demonstrated that low values of objective isolation predicted high values of mental health but only when subjective isolation was low. None of these relations were moderated by socio-demographic variables.
Subjective and objective isolation are clearly two separate dimensions and the scales validated in this paper showed to be potentially culturally invariant. Researchers should work to find instruments able to depict the complexity of the construct of social isolation.
国际研究表明，社交孤立对健康有害，尤其是对老年人。其客观和主观维度很重要，因为它们与健康的关系不同。本研究的首要目的是验证三个在意大利老年人群体中测量客观和主观孤立的量表。第二个目的是分析主观和客观社会孤立，并评估它们与老年人健康之间的关系。
这项横断面研究收集了 306 名 65 岁以上参与者的数据。由一位作者进行面对面问卷调查，包括社交脱节量表、感知孤立量表、简化卢本社会网络量表、一般和心理健康以及抑郁量表。
三个测量社会孤立的量表具有可接受的心理测量学特性和有效性。客观和主观社会孤立与身体健康没有直接关联，而主观孤立与较差的心理健康和抑郁密切相关。通过心理健康的中介作用，主观孤立与身体健康呈负相关。主观孤立在客观孤立与健康之间的关系中起中介作用。调节分析表明，客观孤立水平较低预测心理健康水平较高，但仅在主观孤立水平较低时才会出现这种情况。这些关系均不受社会人口学变量的调节。
主观和客观孤立显然是两个不同的维度，本文验证的量表显示出潜在的文化不变性。研究人员应努力寻找能够描绘社会孤立这一复杂概念的工具。
