Loneliness in old age in Eastern and Western European societies: theoretical perspectives.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: de Jong Gierveld J
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5549113 | biostudies-other | 2012 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Project description:Prior research in non-U.S. samples has found a complex nonlinear relationship between loneliness and age. This research has shown that established predictors of loneliness - poor health, being unmarried, living alone, and having infrequent social interactions - help to explain age differences in loneliness. However, while some variables were found to be universal predictors of loneliness at all ages, others were relevant in specific age groups only. In this study, we describe age differences in frequency of loneliness from age 18 to 89+ years in the U.S., and examine age differences in predictors of loneliness from age-specificity and age-normative perspectives. We used cross-sectional nationally representative data from the General Social Survey (N = 2,477) and found a nonlinear relationship between age and loneliness that closely resembles prior research. However, we found no evidence for age-specific predictors of loneliness. Household income, household size, marital status, health, and frequency of socializing were "universal" predictors of loneliness; their associations with loneliness did not differ in strength with age. Our hypothesis that individuals who deviated from age-specific norms would experience more intense loneliness was not supported. Implications for research and loneliness interventions are discussed.
| S-EPMC8734589 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Contrary to common stereotypes, loneliness is not restricted to old age but can occur at any life stage. In this study, we used data from a large, nationally representative German study (N = 16,132) to describe and explain age differences in loneliness from late adolescence to oldest old age. The age distribution of loneliness followed a complex nonlinear trajectory, with elevated loneliness levels among young adults and among the oldest old. The late-life increase in loneliness could be explained by lower income levels, higher prevalence of functional limitations, and higher proportion of singles in this age group. Consistent with an age-normative perspective, the association of income, relationship status, household size, and work status with loneliness differed between different age groups. In contrast, indicators of the quantity of social relationships (social engagement, number of friends, contact frequency) were universally associated with loneliness regardless of age. Overall, these findings show that sources of loneliness in older adults are well understood. Future research should focus on understanding the specific sources of loneliness in middle-aged adults. (PsycINFO Database Record
| S-EPMC8015413 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This article focuses on the scientific study of quality of life in old age and summarises, on the one hand, what we know and, on the other, what further research is needed. It consists of three main parts, with an extended introduction charting the recent evolution of a European perspective on ageing. First of all, it emphasises the amorphous, multidimensional and complex nature of quality of life and the high level of inconsistency between scientists in their approach to this subject. Secondly, the article summarises the main areas of consensus about quality of life in old age-its dynamic multifaceted nature, the combination of life course and immediate influences, the similarities and differences in the factors determining quality of life between younger and older people, the most common associations with quality of life and the likely variations between groups, and the powerful role of subjective self-assessment. Thirdly, the main research priorities and gaps in knowledge are outlined, together with the key methodological issues which must be tackled if comparative, interdisciplinary research on quality of life is to develop further. The main sources for the article are two European Framework Programme projects-the one a small five-country comparison and the other a large multidimensional project which, among other things, has been developing recommendations for research on quality of life in old age and included an extensive literature review on this topic. The article also draws on the recently completed UK Growing Older Programme of research on extending quality of life.
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Project description:The house mouse (Mus musculus) represents the extreme of globalization of invasive mammals. However, the timing and basis of its origin and early phases of dispersal remain poorly documented. To track its synanthropisation and subsequent invasive spread during the develoment of complex human societies, we analyzed 829 Mus specimens from 43 archaeological contexts in Southwestern Asia and Southeastern Europe, between 40,000 and 3,000?cal. BP, combining geometric morphometrics numerical taxonomy, ancient mitochondrial DNA and direct radiocarbon dating. We found that large late hunter-gatherer sedentary settlements in the Levant, c. 14,500?cal. BP, promoted the commensal behaviour of the house mouse, which probably led the commensal pathway to cat domestication. House mouse invasive spread was then fostered through the emergence of agriculture throughout the Near East 12,000 years ago. Stowaway transport of house mice to Cyprus can be inferred as early as 10,800 years ago. However, the house mouse invasion of Europe did not happen until the development of proto urbanism and exchange networks - 6,500 years ago in Eastern Europe and 4000 years ago in Southern Europe - which in turn may have driven the first human mediated dispersal of cats in Europe.
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Project description:BackgroundSpirometry reference values are important for the interpretation of spirometry results. Reference values should be updated regularly, derived from a population as similar to the population for which they are to be used and span across all ages. Such spirometry reference equations are currently lacking for central European populations.ObjectiveTo develop spirometry reference equations for central European populations between 8 and 90 years of age.MaterialsWe used data collected between January 1993 and December 2010 from a central European population. The data was modelled using "Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape" (GAMLSS).ResultsThe spirometry reference equations were derived from 118'891 individuals consisting of 60'624 (51%) females and 58'267 (49%) males. Altogether, there were 18'211 (15.3%) children under the age of 18 years.ConclusionWe developed spirometry reference equations for a central European population between 8 and 90 years of age that can be implemented in a wide range of clinical settings.
| S-EPMC3540072 | biostudies-literature
Project description: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.
| S-EPMC7566959 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Sambaqui (shellmound) societies are among the most intriguing archaeological phenomena in pre-colonial South America, extending from approximately 8,000 to 1,000 years before present (yr BP) across 3,000 km on the Atlantic coast. However, little is known about their connection to early Holocene hunter-gatherers, how this may have contributed to different historical pathways and the processes through which late Holocene ceramists came to rule the coast shortly before European contact. To contribute to our understanding of the population history of indigenous societies on the eastern coast of South America, we produced genome-wide data from 34 ancient individuals as early as 10,000 yr BP from four different regions in Brazil. Early Holocene hunter-gatherers were found to lack shared genetic drift among themselves and with later populations from eastern South America, suggesting that they derived from a common radiation and did not contribute substantially to later coastal groups. Our analyses show genetic heterogeneity among contemporaneous Sambaqui groups from the southeastern and southern Brazilian coast, contrary to the similarity expressed in the archaeological record. The complex history of intercultural contact between inland horticulturists and coastal populations becomes genetically evident during the final horizon of Sambaqui societies, from around 2,200 yr BP, corroborating evidence of cultural change.
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Project description:This article calls for greater attention to immigration attitudes of members of national parliaments (MPs) who absent harmonized immigration policy at the EU level remain the chief decision-makers and are thus responsible for swift government reaction to large influx of immigrants as witnessed in summer 2015 and spring 2020. Against this background, attitudes of MPs toward non-EU immigrants can be highly informative for understanding the foundation and direction of future immigration policy reforms. Although knowledge of MPs immigration attitudes is seemingly important, studies interested in this topic remain scarce. To test the relative importance of identity and economic aspects of MPs' immigration attitudes, this study adopts few well-established theoretical approaches from citizen-level research. Our data come from an MP survey that was administered in 11 Western and Eastern European countries in late 2014 as part of the European National Elites and the Crisis project. Our results suggest that social identity (religiosity) along with political ideology rather than economic concerns drive MPs' immigration attitudes. In addition, we find that in Eastern Europe immigration is only a light force behind political competition unlike in Western Europe, while economic left in Eastern Europe is more anti-immigrant than in Western Europe. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1057/s41295-021-00254-5.
| S-EPMC8418682 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PurposeTo determine how ESTRO can collaborate with Radiation Oncology National Societies (NS) according to its mission and values, and to define the new roadmap to strengthen the NS network role in the forthcoming years.Materials and methodsThe ESTRO NS committee launched a survey addressed to all European National Societies, available online from June 5th to October 30th 2018. Questions were divided into three main sections: (1) general information about NS; (2) relevant activities (to understand the landscape of each NS context of action); (3) relevant needs (to understand how ESTRO can support the NS). Eighty-nine European NS were invited to participate. Respondents were asked to rank ESTRO milestones in order of importance, indicating the level of priority to their society.ResultsA total of 58 out of 89 NS (65.2%) from 31 European countries completed the questionnaire. The majority of NS ranked "Optimal patient care to cure cancer and to reduce treatment-related toxicity" as the highest level of priority. This aligns well with the ESTRO vision 2030 "Optimal health for all together." NS also indicated a high need for more consensus guidelines and exchange of best practices, access to high quality accredited education, implementation of the ESTRO School Core Curriculum at the national level, and defining quality indicators and standard in Radiation Oncology, improved communication and increased channelling of information.ConclusionThe results of this survey will be used to strengthen the relations between ESTRO and European NS to promote and develop initiatives to improve cancer care.
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Project description:BackgroundCommon bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important food legume for direct human consumption around the world, as it represents a valuable source of components with nutritional and health benefits.ResultsWe conducted a study to define and explain the genetic relatedness and diversification level of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) germplasm from Portugal to Ukraine, along a western-to-eastern line of southern European countries, including Poland. This was based on the P. vulgaris genetic structure, and was designed to better describe its distribution and domestication pathways in Europe. Using the multi-crop passport descriptors that include geographic origin and different phaseolin types (corresponding to the Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools), 782 accessions were obtained from nine gene banks and 12 geographic origins. We selected 33 genome/ gene-related/ gene-pool-related nuclear simple sequence repeat markers that covered the genetic diversity across the P. vulgaris genome. The overall polymorphic information content was 0.800. Without specifying geographic origin, global structure cluster analysis generated 10 genetic clusters. Among the PvSHP1 markers, the most informative for gene pool assignment of the European P. vulgaris germplasm was PvSHP1-B. Results of AMOVA show that 89% of the molecular variability is shared within the 782 accessions, with 4% molecular variability among the different geographic origins along this western-to-eastern line of southern Europe (including Poland).ConclusionsThis study shows that the diversification line of the European P. vulgaris germplasm followed from the western areas of southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Slovenia) to the more eastern areas of southern Europe. This progression defines three geographically separated subgroups, as the northern (Poland, Ukraine, Romania), southern (Albania, Bulgaria), and central (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Hungary) areas of eastern Europe.
| S-EPMC6813049 | biostudies-literature