Emerging socioeconomic correlates of loneliness. Evidence from the Barcelona Health Survey 2021
Mangot-Sala, L. (Karolinska Institutet)
Bartoll, Xavier (Institut de Recerca Sant Pau)
Sánchez Ledesma, Esther (Institut de Recerca Sant Pau)
Cortés Albaladejo, Mònica (Institut de Recerca Sant Pau)
Liefbroer, A.C. (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
Pérez, Catherine (Institut de Recerca Sant Pau)
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Data:	2025
Resum:	Purpose: Recent evidence shows that loneliness is associated with socioeconomic factors. However, studies often focus on traditional socioeconomic indicators (income, occupation, educational level) only, disregarding other important socioeconomic determinants, such as job insecurity, housing conditions or material deprivation. Therefore, we analyse the association of a broad range of socioeconomic indicators with loneliness. Moreover, we investigate potential age and gender differences in this relationship. Methods: We used cross-sectional data from the Barcelona Health Survey 2021, representative of the population of Barcelona (Spain). Individuals over the age of 14 were selected (n = 3,337). The outcome was a loneliness score based on 4 items of the UCLA scale. Loneliness was regressed on a series of sociodemographic and emerging socioeconomic correlates. Linear regression models were fitted, and potential age and gender moderation effects were tested by means of two-way interactions. Results: Job insecurity and precarity-related factors, such as having a temporary job or working without a contract, material deprivation and financial difficulties, as well as poor housing conditions and facing housing insecurity were associated with increased loneliness levels. While the association between loneliness and precarity-related factors is stronger among younger individuals, material deprivation is associated with increased loneliness among older workers and women. Conclusion: Beyond sociodemographic individual characteristics, socioeconomic factors are strongly associated with loneliness levels in the population. Findings support the relevance of broadening the scope of socioeconomic indicators, assessing both material conditions as well as perceived insecurity.
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Matèria:	Correlates of loneliness ; Financial insecurity ; Housing conditions ; Loneliness ; Material deprivation ; Precarity
Publicat a:	Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, Vol. 60 Núm. 4 (april 2025) , p. 917-929, ISSN 1433-9285

DOI: 10.1007/s00127-024-02789-w
PMID: 39556241

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