Delaruelle Katrijn
Department of Sociology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Eur J Ageing. 2023 Aug 23;20(1):35. doi: 10.1007/s10433-023-00782-x.
This study aims to contribute to the growing interest in the consequences of migration for loneliness by investigating the role of generational status across various age groups in countries with differing integration policies and attitudes towards immigrants. Using data from rounds 5, 6 and 7 of the European Social Survey, I conducted logistic multilevel models on a sample of 121,835 respondents aged 18 years and older, residing in 26 countries. Loneliness was assessed based on a single-item item question from the Center for Epidemiologic Studies of Depression scale. The findings suggest that individuals with a migration background are more likely to experience loneliness than those without. Within this group, I found that first-generation immigrants who arrived after the age of 18 are more vulnerable to loneliness than those who arrived earlier, although the latter still reported more loneliness than second-generation immigrants. Furthermore, migration-related inequalities in loneliness were greater among the youngest age group (18-34 years) and in countries with a more positive public stance towards immigrants. In sum, this study highlights the persistent challenges that migration poses for loneliness across generations and age groups, and emphasizes the need to extend research in this area beyond older adults. Moreover, it suggests that promoting a welcoming culture towards immigrants may have unintended consequences for loneliness gaps, but further research is needed to explain this observation.
本研究旨在通过调查在对移民有着不同融合政策和态度的国家中，不同年龄组的代际地位所起的作用，来促进人们对移民对孤独感影响的日益增长的兴趣。利用欧洲社会调查第5、6和7轮的数据，我对居住在26个国家的121,835名18岁及以上的受访者样本进行了逻辑多水平模型分析。孤独感是根据抑郁流行病学研究中心量表中的一个单项问题来评估的。研究结果表明，有移民背景的人比没有移民背景的人更容易感到孤独。在这一群体中，我发现18岁以后到达的第一代移民比那些更早到达的人更容易感到孤独，尽管后者报告的孤独感仍然比第二代移民更多。此外，在最年轻的年龄组（18 - 34岁）以及对移民持更积极公众态度的国家中，与移民相关的孤独感不平等现象更为严重。总之，本研究突出了移民对各代人和各年龄组孤独感造成的持续挑战，并强调有必要将这一领域的研究扩展到老年人之外。此外，研究表明，促进对移民的欢迎文化可能会对孤独感差距产生意想不到的后果，但需要进一步研究来解释这一现象。
