Exploring the demographic and situational characteristics of older British people experiencing loneliness as positive within the BBC loneliness experiment

Abstract

Objectives

The aim of this study is to increase the understanding of loneliness experienced as positive, by exploring the demographic and situational characteristics of older people who experience loneliness as positive.

Method

Two binary logistic regressions were conducted using data from those aged 60+ from the BBC Loneliness Experiment (N = 5250).

Results

The first binary logistic regression compared participants who experience loneliness always as positive (N = 219) to those participants who never experience loneliness as positive (N = 3004). Spending time alone did not emerge as relevant to experiencing loneliness as positive, but enjoying time alone was important (OR = 1.561 (95% CI = 1.313 − 1.856)). The lonelier older people were, the less likely they experienced loneliness as positive (OR = 0.708 (95% CI =0.644 − 0.779)). Men were more likely to experience loneliness as positive compared to women (OR = 1.734 (95% CI = 1.269 − 2.370)). Lastly, the experience of loneliness as positive was likely to decrease when older people had more years of education (OR = 0.887 (95% CI = 0.853 − 0.921)) but increased with age (OR = 1.067 (95% CI = 1.037 − 1.098)). The results of the second binary logistic regression comparing participants who indicated loneliness purely as positive with those participants indicate to experience loneliness sometimes as positive (N = 2027), are in line with the first regression analyses.

Conclusion

The results are critically discussed by emphasizing the role of norms and cultures, gerotranscendence, and severity of loneliness, which might influence the experiences of loneliness. Further qualitative research is needed to elucidate the meanings of these positive experiences of loneliness.

Keywords:

• Loneliness
• mood disorders
• anxiety and trauma related disorders
• positive experiences
• logistic regression
• older adults
• Social Support
• psychosocial and cultural aspects
• mental health
• caregiving
• psychosocial and cultural aspects

Acknowledgements

We like to thank everybody who collaborated and participated within the large-scale survey entitled ‘The BBC Loneliness Experiment’.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

The data collection was funded by the Wellcome Trust [Funder reference:209625/Z/17/Z], who did not play any role in the study design, analysis, or interpretation of the data. The present study was made possible by funding from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), grant number: FWOTM865.