In this episode, we discuss the cognitive and psychological effects of loneliness with Ellen Lee, MD. We cover definitions, epidemiology, various assessment methods (including digital technology), relationships with age, sex/gender, race/ethnicity, and culture, overall physical, cognitive, and mental health effects, and interventions to reduce loneliness.
A pdf of the transcript for this episode will be available soon.
If you’d like to receive APA-approved CE credit for listening to this episode, click here.
About Ellen
Ellen E. Lee, MD is Assistant Professor and Division Chief of Geriatric Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego and Staff Psychiatrist at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. She is Board-certified in Psychiatry and Geriatric Psychiatry. She completed her medical degree at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, research fellowship at National Institutes of Health, residency in general psychiatry at University of Maryland / Sheppard Pratt Hospital, and clinical fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at UC San Diego. Dr. Lee’s research focuses on biological and psychosocial aging in persons with schizophrenia and healthy aging populations, examining relationships between aging, sleep disturbances, cognition, loneliness, and metabolic health. Her research is funded by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, American Psychiatric Association, Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute, and Desert-Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center.
References
Akhter‐Khan, S. C., Tao, Q., Ang, T. F. A., Itchapurapu, I. S., Alosco, M. L., Mez, J., … & Qiu, W. Q. (2021). Associations of loneliness with risk of Alzheimer’s disease dementia in the Framingham Heart Study. Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 17(10), 1619-1627.
Badal, V. D., Lee, E. E., Daly, R., Parrish, E. M., Kim, H. C., Jeste, D. V., & Depp, C. A. (2022). Dynamics of Loneliness Among Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Pilot Study of Ecological Momentary Assessment With Network Analysis. Frontiers in Digital Health, 4, 3.
Barreto, M., Victor, C., Hammond, C., Eccles, A., Richins, M. T., & Qualter, P. (2021). Loneliness around the world: Age, gender, and cultural differences in loneliness. Personality and Individual Differences, 169, 110066.
Berg-Weger, M., & Morley, J. E. (2020). Loneliness in old age: an unaddressed health problem. The journal of nutrition, health & aging, 24, 243-245.
Beutel, M. E., Klein, E. M., Brähler, E., Reiner, I., Jünger, C., Michal, M., … & Tibubos, A. N. (2017). Loneliness in the general population: prevalence, determinants and relations to mental health. BMC psychiatry, 17(1), 1-7.
Boss, L., Kang, D. H., & Branson, S. (2015). Loneliness and cognitive function in the older adult: a systematic review. International psychogeriatrics, 27(4), 541-553.
Badal, V. D., Nebeker, C., Shinkawa, K., Yamada, Y., Rentscher, K. E., Kim, H. C., & Lee, E. E. (2021). Do Words matter? Detecting social isolation and loneliness in older adults using natural language processing. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 1932.
Badal, V. D., Graham, S. A., Depp, C. A., Shinkawa, K., Yamada, Y., Palinkas, L. A., … & Lee, E. E. (2021). Prediction of loneliness in older adults using natural language processing: exploring sex differences in speech. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 29(8), 853-866.
Cacioppo, J. T., & Cacioppo, S. (2014). Older adults reporting social isolation or loneliness show poorer cognitive function 4 years later. Evidence-based nursing, 17(2), 59-60.
Cacioppo, J. T., Cacioppo, S., & Boomsma, D. I. (2014). Evolutionary mechanisms for loneliness. Cognition & emotion, 28(1), 3-21.
Cacioppo, S., Grippo, A. J., London, S., Goossens, L., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2015). Loneliness: Clinical import and interventions. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(2), 238-249.
Dahlberg, L., McKee, K. J., Frank, A., & Naseer, M. (2022). A systematic review of longitudinal risk factors for loneliness in older adults. Aging & Mental Health, 26(2), 225-249.
Davidson, E. J., Taylor, C. T., Ayers, C. R., Quach, N. E., Tu, X. M., & Lee, E. E. (2022). The relationship between loneliness and positive affect in older adults. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 30(6), 678-685.
Donovan, N. J., Wu, Q., Rentz, D. M., Sperling, R. A., Marshall, G. A., & Glymour, M. M. (2017). Loneliness, depression and cognitive function in older US adults. International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 32(5), 564-573.
Erzen, E., & Çikrikci, Ö. (2018). The effect of loneliness on depression: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 64(5), 427-435.
Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2010). Loneliness matters: A theoretical and empirical review of consequences and mechanisms. Annals of behavioral medicine, 40(2), 218-227.
Jeste, D. V., & Lee, E. E. (2020). Loneliness versus wisdom amid two concurrent pandemics of loneliness. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 28(12), 1245-1247.
Jeste, D. V., Di Somma, S., Lee, E. E., Nguyen, T. T., Scalcione, M., Biaggi, A., … & Brenner, D. (2021). Study of loneliness and wisdom in 482 middle-aged and oldest-old adults: a comparison between people in Cilento, Italy and San Diego, USA. Aging & mental health, 25(11), 2149-2159.
Jeste, D. V., Lee, E. E., & Cacioppo, S. (2020). Battling the modern behavioral epidemic of loneliness: suggestions for research and interventions. JAMA psychiatry, 77(6), 553-554.
Kemperman, A., van den Berg, P., Weijs-Perrée, M., & Uijtdewillegen, K. (2019). Loneliness of older adults: Social network and the living environment. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(3), 406.
Kidambi, N., & Lee, E. E. (2020). Insight into Potential Mechanisms linking Loneliness and Cognitive Decline: Commentary on “Health factors as potential mediator the longitudinal effect of loneliness on general cognitive ability”. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 28(12), 1284-1286.
Lara, E., Caballero, F. F., Rico‐Uribe, L. A., Olaya, B., Haro, J. M., Ayuso‐Mateos, J. L., & Miret, M. (2019). Are loneliness and social isolation associated with cognitive decline? International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 34(11), 1613-1622.
Lee, E. E., Depp, C., Palmer, B. W., Glorioso, D., Daly, R., Liu, J., … & Jeste, D. V. (2019). High prevalence and adverse health effects of loneliness in community-dwelling adults across the lifespan: role of wisdom as a protective factor. International psychogeriatrics, 31(10), 1447-1462.
Luchetti, M., Lee, J. H., Aschwanden, D., Sesker, A., Strickhouser, J. E., Terracciano, A., & Sutin, A. R. (2020). The trajectory of loneliness in response to COVID-19. American Psychologist, 75(7), 897-908.
Masi, C. M., Chen, H. Y., Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2011). A meta-analysis of interventions to reduce loneliness. Personality and social psychology review, 15(3), 219-266.
McGinty, E. E., Presskreischer, R., Han, H., & Barry, C. L. (2020). Psychological distress and loneliness reported by US adults in 2018 and April 2020. Jama, 324(1), 93-94.
Morlett Paredes, A., Lee, E. E., Chik, L., Gupta, S., Palmer, B. W., Palinkas, L. A., … & Jeste, D. V. (2021). Qualitative study of loneliness in a senior housing community: the importance of wisdom and other coping strategies. Aging & mental health, 25(3), 559-566.
Mushtaq, R., Shoib, S., Shah, T., & Mushtaq, S. (2014). Relationship between loneliness, psychiatric disorders and physical health? A review on the psychological aspects of loneliness. Journal of clinical and diagnostic research: JCDR, 8(9), WE01.
Nguyen, T. T., Lee, E. E., Daly, R. E., Wu, T. C., Tang, Y., Tu, X., … & Palmer, B. W. (2020). Predictors of loneliness by age decade: study of psychological and environmental factors in 2,843 community-dwelling Americans aged 20-69 years. The Journal of clinical psychiatry, 81(6), 15111.
O’luanaigh, C., O’connell, H., Chin, A. V., Hamilton, F., Coen, R., Walsh, C., … & Lawlor, B. A. (2012). Loneliness and cognition in older people: The Dublin Healthy Ageing study. Aging & mental health, 16(3), 347-352.
Russell, D. W., Cutrona, C. E., McRae, C., & Gomez, M. (2012). Is loneliness the same as being alone?. The Journal of psychology, 146(1-2), 7-22.
Shankar, A., Hamer, M., McMunn, A., & Steptoe, A. (2013). Social isolation and loneliness: relationships with cognitive function during 4 years of follow-up in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Psychosomatic medicine, 75(2), 161-170.
Sutin, A. R., Stephan, Y., Luchetti, M., & Terracciano, A. (2020). Loneliness and risk of dementia. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 75(7), 1414-1422.
Wilson, R. S., Krueger, K. R., Arnold, S. E., Schneider, J. A., Kelly, J. F., Barnes, L. L., … & Bennett, D. A. (2007). Loneliness and risk of Alzheimer disease. Archives of general psychiatry, 64(2), 234-240.
Zhong, B. L., Chen, S. L., Tu, X., & Conwell, Y. (2017). Loneliness and cognitive function in older adults: Findings from the Chinese longitudinal healthy longevity survey. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 72(1), 120-128.
