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Loneliness as a Biographical Disruption-Theoretical Implications for Understanding Changes in Loneliness.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:While a great deal is known about the risk factors that increase vulnerability to loneliness in later life, little research has explored stability and change in levels of loneliness. METHODS:Narrative interviews were conducted with 11 participants who were identified as being lonely during Wave 1 of the Maintaining Function and Well-being in Later Life Study Wales (CFAS Wales). The interviews were used to explore stability and change in levels of loneliness from the perspective of older people themselves. The interviews focused on participant's perspectives of the events that triggered loneliness, stability, and change in levels of loneliness over time as well as participant's responses to loneliness. RESULTS:The findings show that participants experienced losses and loneliness as biographical disruption. How participants and their wider social network responded to these losses had implications for the individual's trajectory through loneliness. DISCUSSION:Drawing on a biographical lens, the study reframed the events that triggered loneliness as disruptive events. This article discusses the utility of biographical disruption in understanding stability and change in loneliness. The findings suggest how drawing on valued identities may help lonely adults transition out of loneliness.

SUBMITTER: Morgan DJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7566959 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Loneliness as a Biographical Disruption-Theoretical Implications for Understanding Changes in Loneliness.

Morgan Deborah J DJ Burholt Vanessa V

The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences 20201001 9

<h4>Objectives</h4>While a great deal is known about the risk factors that increase vulnerability to loneliness in later life, little research has explored stability and change in levels of loneliness.<h4>Methods</h4>Narrative interviews were conducted with 11 participants who were identified as being lonely during Wave 1 of the Maintaining Function and Well-being in Later Life Study Wales (CFAS Wales). The interviews were used to explore stability and change in levels of loneliness from the per ...[more]

PMID: 32812040

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Project description:Increasingly, individuals experiencing loneliness are seeking support on online forums-some of which focus specifically on discussions around loneliness (loneliness forums); loneliness may influence how these individuals communicate in other online forums not focused on loneliness (non-loneliness forums). In order to provide effective and appropriate online interventions around loneliness, it is important to understand how users who publish posts in a loneliness forum communicate in the loneliness forum and non-loneliness forums they belong to. In this paper, using language features, the following analyses are conducted: (1) Posts published on an online loneliness forum on Reddit, /r/Lonely are compared to posts (published by the same users and around the same time period) on two Reddit online forums i.e. an advice seeking forum, /r/AskReddit and a forum focused on discussions around depression (depression forum), /r/depression. (2) Interventions related to loneliness may vary depending on if an individual is lonely and depressed or lonely but not depressed; language use differences in posts published in /r/Lonely by the following set of users are identified: (a) users who post in both /r/Lonely and a depression forum and (b) users who post in /r/Lonely but not in the depression forum. The findings from this work gain new insights, for example: (i) /r/Lonely users tend to seek advice/ask questions related to relationships in the advice seeking forum, /r/AskReddit and (ii) users who are members of the loneliness forum but not the depression forum tend to publish posts (on the loneliness forum) on topic themes related to work/job, however, those who are members of the loneliness and depression forums tend to use more words associated with anger, negation, death, and post on topic themes related to affection relative to relationships in their loneliness forum posts. Some of the findings from this work also align with prior work e.g. users who express loneliness in online forums tend to make more reference to self. These findings aid in gaining insights into how users communicate on these forums and their support needs, thereby informing loneliness interventions.

Project description:BackgroundLoneliness and unemployment are each detrimental to health and well-being. Recent evidence suggests a potential bidirectional relationship between loneliness and unemployment in working age individuals. As most existing research focuses on the outcomes of unemployment, this paper seeks to understand the impact of loneliness on unemployment, potential interaction with physical health, and assess bidirectionality in the working age population.MethodsThis study utilised data from waves 9 (2017-19) and 10 (2018-2020) of the Understanding Society UK Household Longitudinal Study. Nearest-neighbour probit propensity score matching with at least one match was used to infer causality by mimicking randomisation. Analysis was conducted in three steps: propensity score estimation; matching; and stratification. Propensity scores were estimated controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, education, marital status, household composition, number of own children in household and region. Findings were confirmed in panel data random effect models, and heterogeneous treatment effects assessed by the matching-smoothing method.ResultsExperience of loneliness in at least one wave increased the probability of being unemployed in wave 10 by 17.5 [95%CI: 14.8, 20.2] percentage points. Subgroup analysis revealed a greater effect from sustained than transitory loneliness. Further exploratory analysis identified a positive average treatment effect, of smaller magnitude, for unemployment on loneliness suggesting bidirectionality in the relationship. The impact of loneliness on unemployment was further exacerbated by interaction with physical health.ConclusionsThis is the first study to directly consider the potentially bidirectional relationship between loneliness and unemployment through analysis of longitudinal data from a representative sample of the working age population. Findings reinforce the need for greater recognition of wider societal impacts of loneliness. Given the persisting and potentially scarring effects of both loneliness and unemployment on health and the economy, prevention of both experiences is key. Decreased loneliness could mitigate unemployment, and employment abate loneliness, which may in turn relate positively to other factors including health and quality of life. Thus, particular attention should be paid to loneliness with additional support from employers and government to improve health and well-being.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Integrated disease management, disability and inclusion (DMDI) for NTDs is increasingly prioritised. There is limited evidence on the effectiveness of integrated DMDI from the perspective of affected individuals and how this varies by differing axes of inequality such as age, gender, and disability. We used narrative methods to consider how individuals' unique positions of power and privilege shaped their illness experience, to elucidate what practical and feasible steps could support integrated DMDI in Liberia and beyond. METHODS:We purposively selected 27 participants affected by the clinical manifestations of lymphatic filariasis, leprosy, Buruli Ulcer, and onchocerciasis from three counties in Liberia to take part in illness narrative interviews. Participants were selected to ensure maximum variation in age, gender and clinical manifestation. Narrative analysis was grounded within feminist intersectional theory. FINDINGS:For all participants, chronic illness, morbidity and disability associated with NTDs represented a key moment of 'biographical disruption' triggering the commencement of a restitution narrative. Complex health seeking pathways, aetiologies and medical syncretism meant that adoption of the 'sick role' was initially acceptable, but when the reality of permanency of condition was identified, a transition to periods of chaos and significant psycho-social difficulty occurred. An intersectional lens emphasises how biographical disruption is mediated by intersecting social processes. Gender, generation, and disability were all dominant axes of social inequity shaping experience. SIGNIFICANCE:This is one of the first studies to use narrative approaches to interrogate experience of chronic disabling conditions within LMICs and is the only study to apply such an analysis to NTDs. The emotive power of narrative should be utilised to influence the value base of policy makers to ensure that DMDI strategies respond holistically to the needs of the most marginalised, thus contributing to more equitable people-centred care.

Dataset Information

Loneliness as a Biographical Disruption-Theoretical Implications for Understanding Changes in Loneliness.

Publications

Loneliness as a Biographical Disruption-Theoretical Implications for Understanding Changes in Loneliness.

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