HaGani Neta, Owen Katherine, Clare Philip J, Merom Dafna, Smith Ben J, Ding Ding
Prevention Research Collaboration, Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Charles Perkins Centre, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Commun Psychol. 2025 May 26;3(1):85. doi: 10.1038/s44271-025-00264-z.
Loneliness has long been associated with poor health outcomes. However, few studies have considered the dynamic nature of loneliness over time. This study aimed to identify longitudinal patterns of loneliness over 18 years and their associations with physical and mental health-related quality of life. Using data from the Australian Longitudinal Study of Women's Health, we conducted a Latent Class Analysis to identify long-term loneliness patterns. We used Multinomial logistic regression to examine baseline predictors of loneliness trajectories and linear regression to examine the association between loneliness trajectories and health-related quality of life. Baseline predictors, such as smoking, depression, anxiety, stress and low social support, were associated with higher odds of 'Increasing', 'Stable-medium' and 'Stable-high loneliness. Compared to 'Stable-low loneliness, 'Increasing' [B = -3.73 (95%CI = -5.42, -2.04)], 'Medium' [B = -3.12 (95%CI = -5.08, -1.15)] and 'High' loneliness [B = -5.67 (95%CI = -6.84, -4.49)] were associated with lower mental health-related quality of life. 'Increasing' loneliness was also associated with lower physical health-related quality of life [B = -1.06 (95%CI = -2.11, -0.02)]. Among health-related quality of life sub-scales, emotional role, social functioning and physical role were the most strongly associated with loneliness. Findings highlight the importance of addressing loneliness among women to promote their health and well-being.
长期以来，孤独一直与健康状况不佳相关。然而，很少有研究考虑到孤独随时间变化的动态特性。本研究旨在确定18年间孤独感的纵向模式及其与身心健康相关生活质量的关联。利用澳大利亚女性健康纵向研究的数据，我们进行了潜在类别分析以确定长期孤独模式。我们使用多项逻辑回归来检验孤独轨迹的基线预测因素，并使用线性回归来检验孤独轨迹与健康相关生活质量之间的关联。吸烟、抑郁、焦虑、压力和社会支持不足等基线预测因素与“孤独感增加”、“稳定-中度”和“稳定-高度孤独”的较高几率相关。与“稳定-低度孤独”相比，“孤独感增加”[B = -3.73(95%CI = -5.42, -2.04)]、“中度”[B = -3.12(95%CI = -5.08, -1.15)]和“高度”孤独[B = -5.67(95%CI = -6.84, -4.49)]与较低的心理健康相关生活质量相关。“孤独感增加”还与较低的身体健康相关生活质量相关[B = -1.06(95%CI = -2.11, -0.02)]。在健康相关生活质量子量表中，情感角色、社会功能和身体角色与孤独感的关联最为强烈。研究结果凸显了解决女性孤独问题以促进其健康和幸福的重要性。
