This study explored whether a sense of control over social life mediated the associations between using remote contact (phone calls, letters/emails, social media) and loneliness for socially isolated older adults. We used path analysis with the 2014 and 2016 Health and Retirement Study datasets (N = 3767). Results showed that more frequent phone calls and letters/emails were associated with lower levels of loneliness through sense of control. However, sense of control did not mediate the association between social media and loneliness. Findings suggest that promoting sense of control over social life by remote contact, particularly phone calls and letters/emails, may be effective in alleviating loneliness for isolated older adults.
AndrewN.MeeksS. (2018). Fulfilled preferences, perceived control, life satisfaction, and loneliness in elderly long-term care residents. Aging and Mental Health, 22(2), 183–189. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2016.1244804
Ben-ZurH. (2018). The association of mastery with loneliness: An integrative review. Journal of Individual Differences, 39(4), 238–248. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000269
5.
BiscontiT. L.BergemanC. S. (1999). Perceived social control as a mediator of the relationships among social support, psychological well-being, and perceived health. The Gerontologist, 39(1), 94–103. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/39.1.94
6.
BurholtV.WindleG.GottM.MorganD. J. (2020). Technology-mediated communication in familial relationships: Moderated-mediation models of isolation and loneliness. The Gerontologist, 60(7), 1202–1212. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaa040
7.
ChoiS. (2019). The roles of media capabilities of smartphone-based SNS in developing social capital. Behaviour and Information Technology, 38(6), 609–620. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2018.1546903
8.
de Jong GierveldJ.HavensB. (2004). Cross-national comparisons of social isolation and loneliness: Introduction and Overview. Canadian Journal on Aging, 23(2), 109–113. https://doi.org/10.1353/cja.2004.0021
9.
FinlayJ. M.KlerJ. S.O’SheaB. Q.EastmanM. R.VinsonY. R.KobayashiL. C. (2021). Coping during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study of older adults across the United States. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 643807. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.643807
10.
FokkemaT.KnipscheerK. (2007). Escape loneliness by going digital: A quantitative and qualitative evaluation of a Dutch experiment in using ECT to overcome loneliness among older adults. Aging and Mental Health, 11(5), 496–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607860701366129
11.
GeserH. (2005). Towards a sociological theory of the mobile phone. In ZerdickA.PicotA.ScrapeK.BuglemanJ.-C.SilverstoneR.FeldmanV.WernickC.WolffC. (Eds.), E-merging media: Communication and the media economy of the future (pp. 235–260). Springer Verlag.
12.
GreenM. J.WhitleyE.NiedzwiedzC. L.ShawR. J.KatikireddiS. V. (2021). Social contact and inequalities in depressive symptoms and loneliness among older adults: A mediation analysis of the English longitudinal study of ageing. SSM - Population Health, 13, 100726. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100726
13.
HawtonA.GreenC.DickensA. P.RichardsS. H.TaylorR. S.EdwardsR.GreavesC. J.CampbellJ. L. (2011). The impact of social isolation on the health status and health-related quality of life of older people. Quality of Life Research, 20(1), 57–67. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-010-9717-2
14.
Health and Retirement Study Psychosocial and Lifestyle Questionnaire Public Use Dataset. (2016). Produced and distributed by the university of Michigan with funding from the national Institute on aging (grant number NIA U01AG009740). (2014–2016).
15.
HongJ. H.LachmanM. E.CharlesS. T.ChenY.WilsonC. L.NakamuraJ. S.VanderWeeleT. J.KimE. S. (2021). The positive influence of sense of control on physical, behavioral, and psychosocial health in older adults: An outcome-wide approach. Preventive Medicine, 149, 106612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106612
16.
HuL.BentlerP. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/1070551990954011
17.
HughesM. E.WaiteL. J.HawkleyL. C.CacioppoJ. T. (2004). A short scale for measuring loneliness in large surveys: Results from two population-based studies. Research on Aging, 26(6), 655–672. https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027504268574
18.
HülürG.MacdonaldB. (2020). Rethinking social relationships in old age: Digitalization and the social lives of older adults. American Psychologist, 75(4), 554–566. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000604
19.
InfurnaF. J.GerstorfD.RamN.SchuppJ.WagnerG. G. (2011). Long-term antecedents and outcomes of perceived control. Psychology and Aging, 26(3), 559–575. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022890
20.
JarrahiM. H.SawyerS. (2013). Social technologies, informal knowledge practices, and the enterprise. Journal of Organizational Computing & Electronic Commerce, 23(1–2), 110–137. https://doi.org/10.1080/10919392.2013.748613
21.
KanayamaT. (2003). Ethnographic research on the experience of Japanese elderly people online. New Media and Society, 5(2), 267–288. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444803005002007
22.
KrauseN. (1987). Understanding the stress process: Linking social support with locus of control beliefs. Journal of Gerontology, 42(6), 589–593. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronj/42.6.589
LiK.TangF. (2022). The role of solitary activity in moderating the association between social isolation and perceived loneliness among U.S. older adults. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 65(3), 252–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2021.1958115
25.
LuoY.HawkleyL. C.WaiteL. J.CacioppoJ. T. (2012). Loneliness, health, and mortality in old age: A national longitudinal study. Social Science and Medicine, 74(6), 907–914. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.11.028
26.
MadellD. E.MuncerS. J. (2007). Control over social interactions: An important reason for young people’s use of the Internet and mobile phones for communication?CyberPsychology and Behavior, 10(1), 137–140. https://doi.org/10.1089/cpb.2006.9980
27.
MaltzE. (2000). Is all communication created equal? An investigation into the effects of communication mode on perceived information quality. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 17(2), 110–127. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-5885.1720110
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2020). Social isolation and loneliness in older adults: Opportunities for the health care system (p. 25663). National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25663
30.
NewallN. E.ChipperfieldJ. G.CliftonR. A.PerryR. P.SwiftA. U.RuthigJ. C. (2009). Causal beliefs, social participation, and loneliness among older adults: A longitudinal study. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 26(2–3), 273–290. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407509106718
31.
NewallN. E. G.ChipperfieldJ. G.BailisD. S. (2014). Predicting stability and change in loneliness in later life. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 31(3), 335–351. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407513494951
32.
NicolaisenM.ThorsenK. (2012). Impairments, mastery, and loneliness: A prospective study of loneliness among older adults. Norsk Epidemiologi, 22(2), 143–150. https://doi.org/10.5324/nje.v22i2.1560
33.
OngA. D.UchinoB. N.WethingtonE. (2016). Loneliness and health in older adults: A mini-review and synthesis. Gerontology, 62(4), 443–449. https://doi.org/10.1159/000441651
34.
PerissinottoC. M.Stijacic CenzerI.CovinskyK. E. (2012). Loneliness in older persons: A predictor of functional decline and death. Archives of Internal Medicine, 172(14), 1078–1083. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2012.1993
35.
PerlmanD.PeplauL. A. (1981). Toward a social psychology of loneliness. In GilmourR.DuckS. (Eds.), Personal relationships in disorder (pp. 31–56). Academic Press.
36.
PetersenJ.ThielkeS.AustinD.KayeJ. (2016). Phone behaviour and its relationship to loneliness in older adults. Aging and Mental Health, 20(10), 1084–1091. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2015.1060947
37.
PinquartM.SorensenS. (2001). Influences on loneliness in older adults: A meta-analysis. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 23(4), 245–266. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15324834BASP2304_2
38.
RossC. E.MirowskyJ. (2013). The sense of personal control: Social structural causes and emotional consequences. In AneshenselC. S.PhelanJ. C.BiermanA. (Eds.), Handbook of the sociology of mental health (pp. 379–402). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4276-5_19
39.
ShankarA.McMunnA.BanksJ.SteptoeA. (2011). Loneliness, social isolation, and behavioral and biological health indicators in older adults. Health Psychology, 30(4), 377–385. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022826
40.
Shiovitz-EzraS.LeitschS. A. (2010). The role of social relationships in predicting loneliness: The national social life, health, and aging project. Social Work Research, 34(3), 157–167. https://doi.org/10.1093/swr/34.3.157
41.
SkaffM. M. (2006). The view from the driver’s seat: Sense of control in the baby boomers at midlife. In WhitbourneS. K.WillisS. L. (Eds.), The baby boomers grow up: Contemporary perspectives on midlife (pp. 185–204). Lawrence Erlbaum.
42.
SkalackaK.PajestkaG. (2021). Digital or in-person: The relationship between mode of interpersonal communication during the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health in older adults from 27 countries. Journal of Family Nursing, 27(4), 275–284. https://doi.org/10.1177/10748407211031980
43.
SmithJ.RyanL. H.FischerG.SonnegaA.WeirD. R. (2017). Psychosocial and lifestyle questionnaire 2006–2016: Documentation report core section LB. Ann Arbor: Survey Research Center, University of Michigan.
44.
StataCorp. (2017). Stata statistical software: Release 15. StataCorp LLC.
45.
TaylorH. O. (2020). Social isolation’s influence on loneliness among older adults. Clinical Social Work Journal, 48, 140–151. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-019-00737-9
46.
TheekeL. A. (2009). Predictors of loneliness in U.S. adults over age sixty-five. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 23(5), 387–396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2008.11.002
47.
ThompsonS. C. (2002). The role of personal control in adaptive functioning. In SnyderC. R.LopezS. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 202–213). Oxford University Press.
WardM. M. (2012). Sense of control and sociodemographic differences in self-reported health in older adults. Quality of Life Research, 21(9), 1509–1518. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-011-0068-4
50.
YuanS.HussainS. A.HalesK. D.CottenS. R. (2016). What do they like? Communication preferences and patterns of older adults in the United States: The role of technology. Educational Gerontology, 42(3), 163–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2015.1083392
51.
ZhangK.KimK.SilversteinN. M.SongQ.BurrJ. A. (2021). Social media communication and loneliness among older adults: The mediating roles of social support and social contact. The Gerontologist, 61(6), 888–896. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaa197
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
