Social Isolation in a Population-Based Sample of Emerging Adults: Who Is on Their Own?

Abstract

Purpose:

This study aimed to identify the associations between social isolation, social contextual factors, and behavioral and psychological health during emerging adulthood.

Methods:

Participants (n = 1,568) were drawn from EAT 2018 (mean age = 22.1 ± 2.0). Logistic regressions tested the associations between social isolation, contextual factors, and behavioral and psychological health.

Results:

Approximately 16% of the sample reported social isolation. Emerging adults with socially marginalized identities (e.g., racial/ethnic, socioeconomic), who were unemployed, and/or lived alone had higher odds of experiencing social isolation. Social isolation was associated with more risky health behaviors and lower self-esteem.

Discussion:

Emerging adults who were socially disadvantaged (e.g., unemployed) had greater risk of social isolation. Findings suggest that social isolation is more strongly linked with behavioral health than psychological health. Generally, findings suggest that access to community resources and areas wherein social connections can be formed may to be important for behavioral health in emerging adulthood.

Keywords

social isolation emerging adults interpersonal relationships disparities

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adamczyk

(2016). An investigation of loneliness and perceived social support among single and partnered young adults. Current Psychology, 35, 674–689.

Arnett

J. J.

(2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55(5), 469–480.

Arnett

J. J.

(2007). Emerging adulthood: What is it, and what is it good for? Child Development Perspectives, 1(2), 68–73.

Branje

Laninga-Wijnen

Meeus

(2014). Associations among school and friendship identity in adolescence and romantic relationships and work in emerging adulthood. Emerging Adulthood, 2(1), 6–16.

Brondolo

Libretti

Rivera

Walsemann

K. M.

(2012). Racism and social capital: The implications for social and physical well-being. Journal of Social Issues, 68(2), 358–384.

Cacioppo

J. T.

Hawkley

L. C.

Cacioppo

J. T.

Hawkley

L. C.

(2003). Social isolation and health, with an emphasis on underlying mechanisms. Perspectives on Biology and Medicine, 46(3), S39–S52.

Calati

Ferrari

Brittner

Oasi

Olié

Carvalho

A. F.

Courtet

(2019). Suicidal thoughts and behaviors and social isolation: A narrative review of the literature. Journal of Affective Disorders, 245, 653–667.

Child

S. T.

Lawton

(2019). Loneliness and social isolation among young and late middle-age adults: Associations with personal networks and social participation associations with personal networks and social participation. Aging & Mental Health, 23(2), 196–204.

Doumen

Smits

Luyckx

Duriez

Vanhalst

Verschueren

Goossens

(2012). Identity and perceived peer relationship quality in emerging adulthood: The mediating role of attachment-related emotions. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 1417–1425.

10.

Erikson

E. H.

(1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. Norton.

11.

Erikson

E. H.

(1982). The life cycle completed: A review. Norton.

12.

Hazzard

V. M.

Loth

K. A.

Berge

J. M.

Larson

N. I.

Fulkerson

J. A.

Neumark-Sztainer

(2020). Does exposure to controlling parental feeding practices during adolescence predict disordered eating behaviors 8 years later? Pediatric Obesity, 15, e12709.

13.

Hopmeyer

Terino

Adamczyk

Hall

D. C.

CeCoste

Troop-Gordon

(2020). The lonely collegiate: An examination of the reasons for loneliness among emerging adults in college in the western United States and west-central Poland. Emerging Adulthood. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/2167696820966110

14.

Kahle

E. M.

Veliz

McCabe

S. E.

Boyd

C. J.

(2020). Functional and structural social support, substance use, and sexual orientation from a nationally representative sample of US adults. Addiction, 115, 546–558.

15.

Kandel

D. B.

Davies

(1982). Epidemiology of depressive mood in adolescents. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39(10), 1205–1212.

16.

Koepke

Denissen

J. J. A.

(2012). Dynamics of identity development and separation-individuation in parent-child relationships during adolescence and emerging adulthood—A conceptual integration. Developmental Review, 32(1), 67–88.

17.

Lapierre

Poulin

(2020). Friendship instability and depressive symptoms in emerging adulthood. Journal of American College Health. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2020.1801693

18.

Larson

N. I.

Wall

M. M.

Story

M. T.

Neumark-Sztainer

(2013). Home/family, peer, school, and neighborhood correlates of obesity in adolescents. Obesity (Silver Spring), 21(9), 1858–1869. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.20360.Home/family

19.

Little

(1986). Survey nonresponse adjustments for estimates of means. International Statistical Review, 54(2), 139–157.

20.

Matthews

Danese

Wertz

Odgers

C. L.

Ambler

Moffitt

T. E.

Arseneault

(2016). Social isolation, loneliness and depression in young adulthood: A behavioural genetic analysis. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 51(3), 339–348.

21.

Minnesota Compass. (n.d.). Population and projection by age and race: Twin Cities 7-county region, 2000-2050. https://www.mncompass.org/topics/demographics/race-ethnicity#7-14911-d

22.

Neumark-Sztainer

Story

Hannan

P. J.

Croll

(2002). Overweight status and eating patterns among adolescents: Where do youths stand in comparison with the healthy people 2010 objectives? American Journal of Public Health, 92(5), 844–851.

23.

Neumark-Sztainer

Wall

M. M.

Larson

Story

Fulkerson

J. A.

Eisenberg

M. E.

Hannan

P. J.

(2012). Secular trends in weight status and weight-related attitudes and behaviors in adolescents from 1999 to 2010. Preventive Medicine, 54(1), 77–81.

24.

Nicholson

N. R.

(2012). A review of social isolation: An important but underassessed condition in older adults. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 33, 137–152.

25.

Orfield

M. W.

(2015). Why are the twin cities so segregated? The University of Minnesota. https://www.law.umn.edu/sites/law.umn.edu/files/why-are-the-twin-cities-so-segregated-2-26-15.pdf

26.

Pelletier

J. E.

Laska

M. N.

(2012). Balancing healthy meals and busy lives: Associations between work, school and family responsibilities and perceived time constraints among young adults. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 44(6), 481–489.

27.

Pitman

Scharfe

(2010). Testing the function of attachment hierarchies during emergin adulthood. Personal Relationships, 17, 201–216.

28.

Rosenberg

(1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton University Press.

29.

Santini

Z. I.

Koyanagi

Tyrovolas

Mason

Josep

M. H.

(2015). The association between social relationships and depression: A systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 175(1), 53–65.

30.

Schwartz

S. J.

(2016). Turning point for a turning point: Advancing emerging adult theory and research. Emerging Adulthood, 4(5), 307–317.

31.

Sherwood

N. E.

Wall

Neumark-Sztainer

Story

(2009). Effect of socioeconomic status on weight change patterns in adolescents. Preventing Chronic Disease, 52(2), 201–206.

32.

Steptoe

Shankar

Demakakos

Wardle

(2013). Social isolation, loneliness, and all-cause mortality in older men and women. PNAS, 110(15), 5797–5801.

33.

Sussman

Arnett

J. J.

(2014). Emerging adulthood: Developmental period facilitative of the addictions. Evaluation & the Health Professions, 37(2), 147–155.

34.

Syed

Mitchell

L. L.

(2013). Race, ethnicity, and emerging adulthood: Retrospect and prospects. Emerging Adulthood, 1(2), 83–95.

35.

Umberson

Montez

J. K.

(2010). Social relationships and health: A flashpoint for health policy. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 51(S), S54–S66.

36.

Umemura

Lacinová

Macek

Kunnen

E. S.

(2017). Longitudinal changes in emerging adults’ attachment preferences for their mother, father, friends, and romantic partner: Focusing on the start and end of romantic relationships. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 41(1), 136–142.

37.

Vandervoort

(2000). Social isolation and gender. Current Psychology, 19(3), 229–236.

38.

Vinokur

A. D.

Schul

(2002). The web of coping resources and pathways to reemployment following a job loss. Journal of Occulational Health Psychology, 7(1), 68.

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.

0.00 MB

0.06 MB