Among two samples of older adults, loneliness (measured by the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale) was related to poor psychological adjustment, generally, and to dissatisfaction with family and social relationships. It was also related, however, to fears, expectations, and personality characteristics likely to inhibit the restoration of personal support networks after a stressful life event such as widowhood. Finally, loneliness was associated with maladaptive behavior patterns such as failure to: a) plan for old age, b) engage in rehearsal for widowhood, c) engage in social comparison, or d) learn about available community health and social services.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
JonesW. H.CavertC.SniderR., and BruceT., Relational Stress: An Analysis of Situations and Events Associated with Loneliness, in Sage Series on Personal Relationships, DuckS. and PerlmanD. (eds.), Sage, Beverly Hills, CA, 1985.
2.
RussellD.PeplauL. A., and FergusonM., Developing a Measure of Loneliness, Journal of Personality Assessment, 42, pp. 190–194, 1978.
3.
PerlmanD.GersonA. C., and SpinnerB., Loneliness among Senior Citizens: An Empirical Report, Essence, 2, pp. 239–248, 1978.
4.
RussellD.PeplauL. A., and CutronaC. E., The Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: Concurrent and Discriminant Validity, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, pp. 472–480, 1980.
5.
JonesW. H.FreemonJ. A., and GoswickR. A., The Persistence of Loneliness: Self and Other Determinants, Journal of Personality, 49, pp. 27–48, 1981.
6.
JonesW. H.HobbsS. A., and HockenburyD., Loneliness and Social Skill Deficits, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, pp. 682–689, 1982.
7.
JonesW. H., Loneliness and Social Behavior, in Loneliness: A Sourcebook of Current Theory, Research and Therapy, PeplauL. A. and PerlmanD. (eds.), Wiley-Interscience, New York, NY, 1982.
8.
CheluneG. J.SultanF. E., and WilliamsC. L., Loneliness Self-Disclosure, and Interpersonal Effectiveness, Journal of Counseling Psychology, 27, pp. 462–468, 1980.
9.
SolanoC. H.BattenP. G., and ParishE. A., Loneliness and Patterns of Self-Disclosure, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 43, pp. 524–531, 1982.
10.
CottrellN. B. and EpleyS. W., Affiliation, Social Comparison, and Socially Mediated Stress Reduction, in Social Comparison Processes: Theoretical and Empirical Processes, SulsJ. M. and MillerR. L. (eds.), Wiley, New York, NY, 1977.
11.
SilvermanP. R., Widowhood and Preventive Intervention, The Family Coordinator, 21, pp. 95–102, 1972.
12.
HanssonR. O. and JonesW. H., Loneliness, Cooperation, and Conformity Among American Undergraduates, Journal of Social Psychology, 115, pp. 103–108, 1981.
13.
RemondetJ. H., Adjustment to Widowhood: The Role of Pre-Rehearsal and Preparation, unpublished master's thesis, University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, 1982.
14.
RemondetJ. H.HanssonR. O.RuleB., and WinfreyG., Rehearsal for Widowhood, paper presented at meetings of the American Psychological Association, 1984.
15.
RosenbergM., Society and the Adolescent Self-Image, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1965.
16.
BeckA. T., Depression: Causes and Treatment, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, PA, 1967.
17.
LawtonM. P.WhelihanW. M., and BelskyJ. K., Personality Tests and Their Uses with Older Adults, in Handbook of Mental Health and Aging, BirrenJ. E. and SloanR. B. (eds.), Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1980.
18.
LawtonM. P., The Philadelphia Geriatric Morale Scale: A Revision, Journal of Gerontology, 30, pp. 85–89, 1975.
19.
CoopersmithS., The Antecedents of Self-Esteem, Freeman, San Francisco, CA, 1967.
20.
TaylorJ. A., A Personality Scale of Manifest Anxiety, Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 48, pp. 285–290, 1953.
21.
JonesW. H. and RussellD. W., The Social Reticence Scale: An Objective Instrument to Measure Shyness, Journal of Personality Assessment, 46, pp. 629–631, 1982.
22.
RotterJ. B., Generalized Expectancies for Internal versus External Control of Reinforcement, Psychological Monographs, 80 (1 Whole No. 609), 1966.
23.
MorganT. J.HanssonR. O.IndartM. J.AustinD. M.CrutcherM.HamptonP. W.OppegardK. M., and O'DafferV., Old Age and Environmental Docility: The Roles of Health, Support, and Personality, The Journal of Gerontology, 39, pp. 240–242, 1984.
24.
HanssonR. O.JonesW. H., and CarpenterB. N., Relational Competence and Social Support, in Review of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 5, ShaverP. (ed.), Sage, Beverly Hills, CA, 1984.
