ISSN 0439-755X
CN 11-1911/B
主办:中国心理学会
   中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

心理学报 ›› 2018, Vol. 50 ›› Issue (9): 1061-1070.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2018.01061

• 研究报告 • 上一篇    

老年人孤独感及其影响因素的潜在转变分析 *

吴国婷1, 张敏强1,2(), 倪雨菡1, 杨亚威1, 漆成明1, 吴健星3   

  1. 1 华南师范大学心理学院
    2 广东省心理学会, 广州 510631
    3 广州白云心理医院, 广州 510442
  • 收稿日期:2017-06-01 发布日期:2018-07-27 出版日期:2018-09-15
  • 基金资助:
    获华南师范大学研究生创新计划项目资助(2016wkxm91)

Changes in loneliness among elderly people and its effect factors: A latent transition analysis

WU Guoting1, ZHANG Minqiang1,2(), NI Yuhan1, YANG Yawei1, QI Chengming1, WU Jianxing3   

  1. 1 School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
    2 Guangdong Psychological Association, Guangzhou 510631, China
    3 Baiyun Mental Hospital, Guangzhou 510442, China
  • Received:2017-06-01 Online:2018-07-27 Published:2018-09-15

摘要:

采用潜在转变分析探讨老年人孤独感的类别转变及其影响因素。研究数据来源于美国Health and Retirement Study (HRS)项目组, 追踪5442名老年人4年, 两次测量其孤独感。潜在类别分析结果表明, 老年人孤独感存在4个潜在类别:低孤独感组、社交孤独组、情感孤独组和高孤独感组。潜在转变分析结果表明, 低孤独感组和高孤独感组稳定性较强, 其他两组转变程度较大。其中, 社交孤独组倾向于向低孤独感组转变, 情感孤独组倾向于向高孤独感组转变。进一步分析发现, 男性老年人更可能陷入情感孤独; 高水平社会支持、积极老化态度和生活态度取向等可能在一定程度上降低老年人的孤独感水平。结论是, 老年人孤独感可分4类, 不同类别间随时间推移发生转变, 且转变方向受各种影响因素影响。

关键词: 老年人, 孤独感, 潜在转变分析

Abstract:

The high prevalence of loneliness and various accompanying adverse consequences (e.g., depression, higher blood pressure, insomnia, immune stress responses and worse cognition) are becoming serious public concerns. To provide insights on prevention and intervention programs, this study examines the properties and development of loneliness behaviors in elderly people. Taking a longitudinal perspective enables researchers to understand who is expected to transition to a higher risk status in the future, which will help to predict symptoms so that tailored interventions can be designed to protect the elderly from loneliness.
Two-wave longitudinal data over 4 years were derived from the American Health and Retirement Study (HRS). A total of 3238 women and 2205 men in their 50s were recruited. Latent class and latent transition models were used to identify meaningful subgroups of the elderly with different symptoms (i.e., lack of companionship, being left out, isolation from others, lack of belonging, and withdrawn from society) to describe transitions between those classes over the study period and to examine the effects of covariates on the latent transition model. Six covariates, including gender, marital status, attitudes toward aging, life orientation, social support and daily activities, were examined as potential predictors of loneliness.
Four loneliness subgroups were identified: Mild Loneliness (Class 1), Social Loneliness (Class 2), Emotional Loneliness (Class 3), and Severe Loneliness (Class 4). Mild Loneliness status was the most prevalent, barely showing any lonely behavior, while relatively serious loneliness occurred in Social Loneliness, Emotional Loneliness and Severe Loneliness. Specifically, individuals in Social Loneliness lacked social intercourse relation, individuals in Emotional Loneliness lacked a close relationship, and individuals in Severe Loneliness had a high probability of exhibiting all the above mentioned symptoms. Elderly people in Mild Loneliness and Severe Loneliness were highly stable, while Social Loneliness and Emotional Loneliness tended to change to other statuses rather than remaining in the original status. Particularly, the participants in Social Loneliness demonstrated a prominent trend to transition to a less problematic status (Social Loneliness to Mild Loneliness), and the participants in Emotional Loneliness tended to change to a more problematic status (Emotional Loneliness to Severe Loneliness). All participants in the four subgroups showed a strong willingness to communicate with others. Results of multinomial logistic regression revealed that elderly males were more likely to be in the Emotional Loneliness group. In addition, more social support as well as a positive attitude toward aging and optimistic life orientation were more likely to keep elderly people from entering more severe loneliness statuses, indicating an ameliorated trend of loneliness that was expected.
This study demonstrated a transition pattern in elderly people loneliness with an individual-centered approach. Differential treatment effects were found across baseline loneliness classes, suggesting the benefits of tailoring intervention programs to yield good outcomes in elderly people.

Key words: elderly people, loneliness, latent transition analysis

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