Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Straus, Elizabeth
• Norman, Sonya B.
• Tripp, Jessica C.
• Tsai, Jack
• Sippel, Lauren M.
• Jeste, Dilip V.
• Southwick, Steven M.
• Pietrzak, Robert H.

Titel

Behavioral Epidemic of Loneliness in Older U.S. Military Veterans: Results From the 2019-2020 National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study

Ist Teil von

• The American journal of geriatric psychiatry, 2022-03, Vol.30 (3), p.297-310

Ort / Verlag

England: Elsevier Inc

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• •What is the primary question addressed by this study?What is the prevalence and health burden associated with loneliness in a nationally representative sample of U.S. military veterans?•What is the main finding of this study?In this cross-sectional study (N = 4,069), 56.9% of veterans endorsed experiencing loneliness sometimes (37.2%) or often (19.7%), with loneliness demonstrating an incremental association with a range of psychiatric, physical health, and functional conditions. Relative to veterans who reported hardly ever feeling lonely, those who reported feeling lonely often or sometimes had a 12- and three-fold greater likelihood of suicidal ideation.•What is the meaning of the finding?Given the “dose-response” relationship between loneliness and health and functioning, loneliness may be an important transdiagnostic prevention and intervention target. This study aimed to characterize the current prevalence of loneliness, and the relation between loneliness severity and mental and physical health conditions, suicidality, and functional measures in a predominantly older sample of U.S. military veterans. This cross-sectional study used data from the National Health and Resilience in Veterans Study, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of U.S. veterans (N = 4,069; mean age = 62) from November 2019 through March 2020. Veterans were classified into one of 3 groups based on their current level of loneliness (hardly ever, sometimes, often) on an adapted version of the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale. A comprehensive range of mental and physical health, and functioning variables were assessed using valid and reliable self-report assessments. A total of 56.9% of veterans endorsed feeling lonely sometimes (37.2%) or often (19.7%). Loneliness severity was independently associated with a range of mental health (odds ratios [ORs] = 1.21–33.30), physical health (ORs = 1.21–6.80), and functional difficulties (d's = 0.09–0.59). Relative to hardly ever feeling lonely, feeling lonely often or sometimes was associated with a more than 12- and three-fold greater likelihood of current suicidal ideation (29.0% versus 7.3% versus 1.5%), even after adjustment for sociodemographic, military, and psychiatric risk factors. Loneliness is highly prevalent in U.S. military veterans, with more than half endorsing feeling lonely sometimes or often, and 1-of-5 reporting feeling lonely often. Loneliness severity was independently associated with a broad range of mental and physical health and functional measures, ias well as suicidal ideation. Results underscore the importance of loneliness as a transdiagnostic prevention and intervention target in the U.S. veteran population.