Lauren Newmyer1, Ashton M Verdery2, Rachel Margolis3, Léa Pessin1. 1. Department of Sociology and Criminology, The Pennsylvania State University. 2. Department of Sociology and Criminology, The Pennsylvania State University, Oswald Tower, University Park, PA. 3. Department of Sociology, University of Western Ontario.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The topic of older adult loneliness commands increasing media and policy attention around the world. Are surveys of aging equipped to measure it? We assess the measurement of loneliness in large-scale aging studies in 31 countries by describing the available measures, testing correlations between them, and documenting their construct validity. METHODS: We use data from several "sister studies" of aging adults around the world. In each country, we document available loneliness measures, test for measurement reliability by examining correlations between different measures of loneliness, and assess how these correlations differ by gender and age group. We then evaluate construct validity by estimating correlations between loneliness measures and theoretically hypothesized constructs related to loneliness: living alone and not having a spouse. RESULTS: There is substantial heterogeneity in available measures of loneliness across countries. Within countries with multiple measures, the correlations between measures are high (range [0.384,0.777], median 0.636). Although we find several statistically significant differences in these correlations by gender and age, the differences are small (gender: range [-0.098,0.081], median -0.026; age group: range [-0.194,0.092], median -0.003). Correlations between loneliness measures and living alone and being without a spouse are all positive, almost universally statistically significant, and similar in magnitude across countries, supporting construct validity. DISCUSSION: This article establishes that even single item measures of loneliness contribute meaningful information in diverse settings. Similar to measurement of self-rated health, there are nuances to the measurement of older adult loneliness in different contexts, but it has reliable and consistent measurement properties within many countries.
OBJECTIVES: The topic of older adult loneliness commands increasing media and policy attention around the world. Are surveys of aging equipped to measure it? We assess the measurement of loneliness in large-scale aging studies in 31 countries by describing the available measures, testing correlations between them, and documenting their construct validity. METHODS: We use data from several "sister studies" of aging adults around the world. In each country, we document available loneliness measures, test for measurement reliability by examining correlations between different measures of loneliness, and assess how these correlations differ by gender and age group. We then evaluate construct validity by estimating correlations between loneliness measures and theoretically hypothesized constructs related to loneliness: living alone and not having a spouse. RESULTS: There is substantial heterogeneity in available measures of loneliness across countries. Within countries with multiple measures, the correlations between measures are high (range [0.384,0.777], median 0.636). Although we find several statistically significant differences in these correlations by gender and age, the differences are small (gender: range [-0.098,0.081], median -0.026; age group: range [-0.194,0.092], median -0.003). Correlations between loneliness measures and living alone and being without a spouse are all positive, almost universally statistically significant, and similar in magnitude across countries, supporting construct validity. DISCUSSION: This article establishes that even single item measures of loneliness contribute meaningful information in diverse settings. Similar to measurement of self-rated health, there are nuances to the measurement of older adult loneliness in different contexts, but it has reliable and consistent measurement properties within many countries.