School of Nursing, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, USA.
School of Nursing, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA 15282, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 20;20(3):1914. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20031914.
Loneliness is linked to many physiological and psychological issues and disproportionately affects older adults. Interpersonal goals (compassion and self-image) are essential to interpersonal relationships; however, how they relate to loneliness in older adults is unknown. We investigated the impact of interpersonal goals on loneliness using the Ecosystem-Egosystem Theory of Social Motivation. This study, adopting a descriptive cross-sectional correlational design, used data from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study. Participants ( = 3212) included people aged >65 years (mean age: 75; female: 60.1%). We performed exploratory factor analysis with principal axis factoring and varimax rotation to examine the suitability of compassionate and self-image goals as separate factors. The complex samples general linear model was used to assess the relationship between loneliness and interpersonal goals. Interpersonal goals were significantly negatively associated with loneliness. Respondents with higher compassion and self-image goals reported lower loneliness levels. Our results contribute to understanding how interpersonal goals relate to loneliness in older adults. These initial findings warrant further investigation.
孤独与许多生理和心理问题有关，而且老年人受其影响的比例过高。人际目标（同情心和自我形象）对人际关系至关重要；然而，它们与老年人的孤独感之间的关系尚不清楚。我们采用社会动机的生态-自我系统理论，研究了人际目标对孤独感的影响。本研究采用描述性的横断面相关性设计，使用了 2016 年健康与退休研究的数据。参与者（n=3212）包括年龄>65 岁的人（平均年龄：75；女性：60.1%）。我们采用主成分因子分析和方差极大旋转进行探索性因子分析，以检验同情心和自我形象目标作为单独因素的适宜性。采用复杂样本一般线性模型评估孤独感与人际目标之间的关系。人际目标与孤独感呈显著负相关。具有较高同情心和自我形象目标的受访者报告的孤独感水平较低。我们的研究结果有助于理解人际目标与老年人孤独感之间的关系。这些初步发现值得进一步研究。
