One of every three adults is lonely: study

A new study led by Professor William Lauder in the School of Nursing and Midwifery and Professor Kerry Mummery an Affiliate staff member at the Social Dimension for Health Institute have found that a third of adults are lonely, with people in their forties suffering the highest levels.

The study, by a team of UK and Australian researchers, found that 35 per cent of the 1,289 people who took part in 30-minute telephone interviews were lonely.

People with strong religious beliefs were less likely to be lonely, while the unemployed reported higher levels of loneliness than people who were retired.

Women were more likely to have strong religious beliefs and the researchers believe that this was reflected in the lower levels of loneliness reported by women than men.

The lowest levels of loneliness were recorded in people aged 50 and over, with loneliness levels starting to rise at 20 and peaking between 40 and 49.

"Understanding what makes people lonely is very important as loneliness can significantly increase the risk of health conditions, such as heart disease and depression" said Professor Lauder.

"One of the most interesting findings of this study is that it challenges the belief that retirement is linked to diminished social contacts and that people get lonelier as they get older." An income gradient between loneliness and household income was also found with people with low incomes being more likely to be lonely.

The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing and co-authored by Professor Kerry Mummery based in the Centre for Social Science Research at Central Queensland University and nursing lecturer Siobhan Sharkey from the University of Stirling.

"Tackling loneliness is very important as it is a very common and potentially health-threatening phenomenon," Professor Lauder said.

"Previous research has indicated that health wise it carries a similar level of risk to obesity. Soon to be published research by the same research group will identify a potential pre-disease pathway between loneliness and poor health."

"We hope that this study will provide health professionals and others with further insight into the causes of loneliness and support efforts to reduce health issues caused by the problem."