Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2024 Sep 1;79(9). doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbae115.
Social contact may alleviate loneliness, but little is known about within-person daily fluctuations in loneliness and social encounters. Older adults who feel lonely may engage in different modes of social contact (in-person, phone, digital). This study asked how different forms of contact are associated with loneliness throughout the day.
Participants were 313 community-dwelling older adults (aged 65-90). They completed ecological momentary assessments reporting on their social encounters (e.g., type of social partner, mode of contact) and their loneliness every 3 hr for 5-6 days. We differentiated close social ties from ties not identified as close (i.e., weak ties).
We examined within-person effects using multilevel models. Findings revealed that momentary loneliness predicted a greater likelihood of phone contact in the next 3 hr. However, only in-person contact was associated with lower levels of loneliness. Regarding close and weak ties, momentary loneliness was associated with more in-person and phone contact with close ties, yet fewer in-person contacts with weak ties. In-person contact with both close and weak ties predicted lower levels of loneliness.
Although older adults engage in both in-person and phone contact when they feel lonely, it appears that only in-person contact may reduce loneliness. Digital contact was not widely adopted as a response to momentary loneliness among these older adults. Findings underscore older adults' willingness to maintain regular contact with close ties. Interventions addressing older adults who are lonely may consider innovative approaches to increase in-person contact.
社会接触可以缓解孤独感，但人们对孤独感和社交接触的个体日内波动知之甚少。感到孤独的老年人可能会以不同的社交接触模式（面对面、电话、数字）进行社交。本研究探讨了不同形式的接触与一天中孤独感的关系。
参与者为 313 名居住在社区的老年人（年龄 65-90 岁）。他们每 3 小时完成一次生态瞬间评估，报告社交接触（例如社交伙伴的类型、接触模式）和孤独感，持续 5-6 天。我们将亲密的社会关系与非亲密关系（即弱关系）区分开来。
我们使用多层模型研究了个体内的影响。研究结果表明，当下的孤独感预测下一个 3 小时内电话联系的可能性更大。然而，只有面对面的接触与较低的孤独感相关。关于亲密关系和弱关系，当下的孤独感与更多的亲密关系和电话联系以及较少的弱关系面对面接触相关。亲密关系和弱关系的面对面接触均能预测较低的孤独感。
尽管感到孤独时老年人会进行面对面和电话接触，但似乎只有面对面接触才能减轻孤独感。数字接触在这些老年人中并没有被广泛采用来应对当下的孤独感。研究结果强调了老年人与亲密关系保持定期联系的意愿。针对孤独感较强的老年人的干预措施可能需要考虑创新方法来增加面对面接触。
