Page 24 - IJPS-11-2

International Journal of
Population Studies Living alone and loneliness in older adults

characterized by urbanization, the erosion of filial piety, short, living alone is not equated with feeling lonely; it
smaller households, and changes in living arrangements, is only a structural risk factor for loneliness to the extent
loneliness has emerged as a public epidemic in older that it is associated with the functional factors related to
adults. Yang & Victor (2008) found that the number of loneliness.
people reporting loneliness increased from 15.6% in 1992 Notably, living alone and loneliness are distinct
to 29.6% in 2002 (Yang & Victor, 2008). Similarly, Luo constructs, but with an overlap. Older adults in specific
& Waite (2014) found a significant increase in loneliness subgroups of living alone/loneliness might have different
from 2002 to 2008 (Luo & Waite, 2014). Globally, the social and health consequences (Hao et al., 2016;
percentage of older adults who live alone is increasing, O’Súilleabháin et al., 2019). For instance, older adults
and fewer people are living with their extended family. who lived with their spouses and children and are never
For instance, 20 – 30% of adults aged 60 and older live or seldom lonely reported a higher level of self-rated
alone across most of Europe (United Nations, 2019); this health compared with those who lived alone and reported
percentage is close to 28% in the United States (Ausubel, occasionally feeling lonely (Hao et al., 2016). Notably,
2020). Similarly, the percentage of older adults in China Chinese co-resident older adults who reported feeling
living alone reached 21.38%, rising from 9.6% in 1990 to lonely had worse cognitive and physical functions and
12.5% in 2010 (Hu & Peng, 2015). higher mortality than those who were co-resident but not
Although living alone and experiencing loneliness lonely (Wei et al., 2022).
display an increasing trend, the two concepts are distinct. Furthermore, the urban–rural distinction is a
Most research shows that living alone is a significant risk prominent characteristic in China’s societal transition, and
factor for loneliness (Hutten et al., 2022; Routasalo et al., studies have demonstrated its varying impact on living
2006); however, these studies may have overlooked the alone and loneliness. Rural older adults are more likely
diversity and complexity of older adults’ circumstances. to live alone than urban older adults, based on a study
Living alone may not necessarily cause loneliness for the using the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey
following reasons. First, older adults who live alone have (CLHLS; Yin & Liu, 2017). Moreover, rural Chinese older
different profiles. On the one hand, living alone may be a adults were more likely to report loneliness than their
preferred alternative living arrangement for older adults who urban counterparts (Dong, 2017). However, the urban–
are healthy, relatively young, or economically advantaged, or rural differences in the correlates of loneliness have not
those who pursue a sense of autonomy and independence received enough academic attention. Thus, examining how
(Birditt et al., 2019; De Jong Gierveld et al., 2012). On the the profiles for the typologies of living alone and loneliness
other hand, living alone can be an inevitable arrangement might differ between older adults living in urban and rural
for older adults when they become single, divorced, or areas presents an important academic contribution.
widowed, or when they have no informal caregivers who
look after them (Gu et al., 2019). Moreover, there may be 1.1. Theoretical framework
degrees to living alone – older adults may not live with their One’s choice of a specific living arrangement (e.g.,
adult children in the same household but live geographically living alone) is affected by a myriad of factors such as
nearby, which is referred to (Sun et al., 2018).
personal preferences, demographic and socioeconomic
Second, the relationship between living alone and characteristics, their own and their family’s resources,
loneliness is based on older adults’ cultural context and and health status (Gu et al., 2019; Sereny, 2011). The case
resources. For example, individuals from countries in is similar for loneliness (Hutten et al., 2022; Pinquart
northern and western Europe, which highly emphasize & Sorensen, 2001). These factors are aligned with
independence, have lower rates of loneliness because the basic principles of Andersen’s (1995) behavioral
they expect less mutual dependence compared with those model. According to this model, health behaviors are
from the more familistic regions of southern and eastern determined by factors in three dimensions: predisposing
Europe (De Jong Gierveld et al., 2012). In Germany, factors, enabling factors, and need factors. This model has
approximately 70% of older adults living alone were not been used widely in examining health service and care
lonely, and social integration and the absence of depression use, and it has recently been extended to examine old-
could compensate for the risk of living alone or loneliness age service use and other related behaviors such as living
(Zebhauser et al., 2015). Similarly, a diverse social network arrangements (Zeng et al., 2021). For instance, Zeng et al.
and active social participation could help Chinese older (2021) used Andersen’s model as a theoretical framework
adults who are living alone to obtain resources and thus for analyzing the factors affecting the expected living
reduce their sense of loneliness (Yang et al., 2023). In arrangements of the oldest old in China. Meanwhile,

Volume 11 Issue 2 (2025) 18 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.4184