Meditation program mitigates loneliness and promotes wellbeing, life satisfaction and contentment among retired older adults: a two-year follow-up study in four South Asian cities

References

• Black, S., Cooper, R., Martin, K., Brage, S., Kuh, D., & Stafford, M. (2015). Physical activity and mental well-being in a cohort aged 60–64 years. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 49(2), 172–180. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2015.03.009
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cacioppo, J., & Cacioppo, S. (2014). Social relationships and health: The toxic effects of perceived social isolation. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 8(2), 58–72. doi:10.1111/spc3.12087
   PubMedGoogle Scholar
• Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L. C., Ernst, J. M., Burleson, M. H., Berntson, G. G., Nouriani, B., & Spiegel, D. (2006). Loneliness with a nomological net: An evolutionary perspective. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(6), 1054–1085. doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2005.11.007
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cacioppo, S., & Cacioppo, J. (2012). Decoding the invisible forces of social connections. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 51, 1–7. doi:10.3389/fnint.2012.00051
   Google Scholar
• Cacioppo, S., Grippo, A., London, S., Goossens, L., & Cacioppo, J. (2015). Loneliness: Clinical import and interventions. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(2), 238–249. doi:10.1177/1745691615570616
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Carmody, J., & Baer, R. (2009). How long does a mindfulness-based stress reduction program need to be? A review of class contact hours and effect sizes for psychological distress. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 65, 627-638. doi:10.1002/ jclp.20555.
   Google Scholar
• Cohen-Mansfield, J., & Perach, R. (2015). Interventions for alleviating loneliness among older persons: A critical review. American Journal of Health Promotion, 29(3), e109–e125.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Creswell, J. D., Irwin, M. R., Burklund, L. J., Lieberman, M. D., Arevalo, J. M. G., Ma, J., … Cole, S. W. (2012). Mindfulness-based stress reduction training reduces loneliness and pro-inflammatory gene expression in older adults: A small randomized controlled trial. Brain, Behaviour and Immunology, 26(7), 1095–1101. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2012.07.006
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• De Jong Gierveld, J., & Van Tilburg, T. (2006). A six-item scale for overall, emotional and social loneliness: Confirmative tests on new survey data. Research on Aging, 28(5), 582–598.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• De Jong Gierveld, J., & Van Tilburg, T. (2010). The De Jong Gierveld short scales for emotional and social loneliness: Tested on data from 7 countries in the UN generations and gender surveys. European Journal of Ageing, 7(2), 121–130.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• De Jong Gierveld, J., Van Tilburg, T., & Dykstra, P. (2006). Loneliness and social isolation. In A. Vangelisti & D. Perlman (Eds.), Cambridge handbook of personal relationships (pp. 485–500). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
   Google Scholar
• de Sousa, E., Santos, W., Lopes, G., da Costaa, T., & Cristinoc, E. (2015). Satisfaction with life scale: Evidence of validity and reliability in the Brazilian context. Social Inquiry into Wellbeing, 1, 41–50.
   Google Scholar
• Dharmawardene, M., Givens, J., Wachholtz, A., Makowski, S., & Tjia, J. (2016). A systematic review and meta-analysis of meditative interventions for informal caregivers and health professionals. BMJ Support and Palliative Care, 6(2), 160–169.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49(1), 71–75.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Djukanovic, I., Sorjonen, K., & Petersona, U. (2015). Association between depressive symptoms and age, sex, loneliness and treatment among older people in Sweden. Aging and Mental Health, 19, 560–568.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Donkin, L., Christensen, H., Naismith, S. L., Neal, B., Hickie, I. B., & Glozier, N. (2011). A systematic review of the impact of adherence on the effectiveness of e-therapies. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 13(3), e52.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Elovainio, M., Hakulinen, C., Pulkki-Råback, L., Virtanen, M., Josefsson, K., Jokela, M., … Kivimäki, M. (2017). Contribution of risk factors to excess mortality in isolated and lonely individuals: An analysis of data from the UK Biobank cohort study. The Lancet Public Health, 2(6), e260–e266.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Epstein, D. (2016). The role of home practice engagement in a mindfulness-based intervention (PhD thesis). Duke University, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Durham, NC.
   Google Scholar
• Goyal, M., Singh, S., Sibinga, E., Gould, N., Rowland-Seymour, A., Sharma, R., … Haythornthwaite, J. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being. JAMA Internal Medicine, 174(3), 357–368.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T., Baker, M., Harris, T., & Stephenson, D. (2015). Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: A meta-analytic review. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10(2), 227–237.
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Lavallee, L., Hatch, P., Michalos, A., & McKinley, T. (2007). Development of the contentment with life assessment scale (CLAS): Using daily life experiences to verify levels of self-reported life satisfaction. Social Indicators Research, 83(2), 201–244. doi:10.1007/s11205-006-9054-6
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• LeRoy, A., Murdock, K., Jaremka, L., Loya, A., & Fagundes, C. (2017). Loneliness predicts self-reported cold symptoms after a viral challenge. Health Psychology, 36(5), 512. doi:10.1037/hea0000467
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• López-Ortega, M., Torres-Castro, S., & Rosas-Carrasco, O. (2016). Psychometric properties of the satisfaction with life scale (SWLS): Secondary analysis of the Mexican health and aging study. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 14(1), 170–176. doi:10.1186/s12955-016-0573-9
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Masi, C., Chen, H., Hawkley, L., & Cacioppo, J. (2011). A meta-analysis of interventions to reduce loneliness. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15(3), 219–266. doi:10.1177/1088868310377394
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Nummela, O., Seppänen, M., & Uutela, A. (2011). The effect of loneliness and change in loneliness on self-rated health (SRH): A longitudinal study among aging people. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 53(2), 163–167. doi:10.1016/j.archger.2010.10.023
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• O'Luanaigh, C., O'Connell, H., Chin, A., Hamilton, F., Coen, R., Walsh, C., … & Lawlor B.  (2012). Loneliness and cognition in older people. Aging & Mental Health, 16, 347–352. doi:10.1080/13607863.2011.628977
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Ong, A. D., Uchino, B. N., & Wethington, E. (2016). Loneliness and health in older adults: A mini-review and synthesis. Gerontology, 62(4), 443–449. doi:10.1159/000441651
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Parsons, C., Crane, C., Parsons, L., Fjorback, L., & Kuyken, W. (2017). Home practice in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction: A systematic review and metaanalysis of participants’ mindfulness practice and its association with outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 95, 29–41. doi:10.1016/j.brat.2017.05.004
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Perlman, D., & Peplau, L. (1981). Toward a social psychology of loneliness. In R. Gilmour & S. Duck (Eds.), Personal relationships 3: Personal relationships in disorder (pp. 31–43). London: Academic.
   Google Scholar
• Rojiani, R., Santoyo, J., Rahrig, H., Roth, H., & Britton, W. (2017). Women benefit more than men in response to college-based meditation training. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1–11. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00551
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Sauer, S., Walach, H., Schmidt, S., Hinterberger, T., Lynch, S., Büssing, A., & Kohls, N. (2013). Assessment of mindfulness: Review on state of the art. Mindfulness, 4(1), 3–17. doi:10.1007/s12671-012-0122-5
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Smith, K., & Victor, C. (2018). Typologies of loneliness, living alone and social isolation, and their associations with physical and mental health. Ageing & Society, 39(8), 1709–1730. doi:10.1017/S0144686X18000132
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Sperduti, M., Makowski, D., Blondé, P., & Piolino, P. (2017). Meditation and successful aging: Can meditative practices counteract age-related cognitive decline? Gériatrie et Psychologie Neuropsychiatrie du Viellissement, 15, 205–213. doi:10.1684/pnv.2017.0672
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Tennant, R., Hiller, L., Fishwick, R., Platt, S., Joseph, S., Weich, S., … Stewart-Brown, S. (2007). The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (WEMWBS): Development and UK validation. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 5(1), 63–76. doi:10.1186/1477-7525-5-63
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Uysal-Bozkir, O., Fokkema, T., MacNeil-Vroomen, J., van Tilburg, T., & de Rooij, S. (2017). Translation and validation of the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale among older migrants living in the Netherlands. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 72(1), 109–119. doi:10.1093/geronb/gbv044
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Wolever, R. Q., Bobinet, K. J., McCabe, K., Mackenzie, E. R., Fekete, E., Kusnick, C. A., & Baime, M. (2012). Effective and viable mind-body stress reduction in the workplace: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 17(2), 246–258. doi:10.1037/a0027278
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Wong, N. M. L., Liu, H.-L., Lin, C., Huang, C.-M., Wai, Y.-Y., Lee, S.-H., & Lee, T. M. C. (2016). Loneliness in late-life depression: Structural and functional connectivity during affective processing. Psychological Medicine, 46(12), 2485–2499. doi:10.1017/S0033291716001033
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Woods-Giscombé, C., & Gaylord, S. (2014). The cultural relevance of mindfulness meditation as a health intervention for African Americans: Implications for reducing stress-related health disparities. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 32(3), 147–160. doi:10.1177/0898010113519010
   PubMedGoogle Scholar
• Zebhauser, A., Hofmann-Xu, L., Baumert, J., Häfner, S., Lacruz, M., Emeny, R., … Peters, A. (2014). How much does it hurt to be lonely? Mental and physical differences between older men and women in the KORA‐Age Study. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 29(3), 245–252. doi:10.1002/gps.3998
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Zhou, Z., Wang, P., & Fang, Y. (2017). Loneliness and the risk of dementia among older Chinese adults: Gender differences. Emotion Regulation and Interventions, 22(4), 519–525. doi:10.1080/13607863.2016.1277976
   Google Scholar