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PSYCHOLOGY OF EMOTIONS,
MOTIVATIONS AND ACTIONS
PSYCHOLOGY OF LONELINESS
NEW RESEARCH
LÁZÁR RUDOLF
EDITOR
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Preface vii
Chapter 1 The Veteran's Loneliness: Emergence, Facets,
and Implications for Intervention 1
Jacob Y. Stein
Chapter 2 Loneliness and Preference for Solitude
among Older Adults 37
Aya Toyoshima
Chapter 3 Loneliness and Suicide 67
Rebecca L. Kauten, Jessica M. LaCroix,
Amber M. Fox and
Marjan Ghahramanlou-Holloway
Chapter 4 Social, Interpersonal and Emotional
Antecedents of Loneliness 95
Leehu Zysberg
Chapter 5 Loneliness Among Romanian Immigrants
Living in Portugal 123
Félix Neto and Maria da Conceição Pinto
Index 141
PREFACE
Chapter 1
ABSTRACT
Veterans' loneliness may persist decades after the war and may be
detrimental, particularly when deployment has been traumatic. Indeed,
mitigating loneliness via social support may be essential for alleviating
war-induced posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Nevertheless, rarely
has veterans' loneliness been empirically investigated, and its unique
features have never been systematically delineated. Since experiences of
* Corresponding Author address: Jacob Y. Stein, I-CORE Research Center for Mass Trauma,
Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel.
Email: cobisari@gmail.com.
2 Jacob Y. Stein
INTRODUCTION
Millions of vets are and have been successful in all endeavors. They
are doctors, lawyers, business people and a thousand other professions.
Not all have PTSD; not all are the troubled, brooding, street corner
homeless guy, although they exist and need help desperately. No matter
how successful a vet might be materially, more often than not, vets are
often alone, mentally and spiritually each day and for the rest of their
lives.
Starmann had written his article as the 2015 Veterans Day was
approaching, so as to provide a glimpse at the solitary world of the veteran.
However, for those unfamiliar with the veteran experience, the solitary
world of veterans depicted by Starmann may seem striking, perplexing and
The Veteran's Loneliness 3
veteran may be of immense value also for those who care for the returning
veteran, first and foremost family and friends (Lyons, 2007). At the outset,
however, the nature and multifariousness of loneliness must be addressed,
for it is these that mandate the discernment of one type of loneliness from
other types.
anguish that manifest as combat stress injuries (Figley & Nash, 2007),
most conspicuous of which is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; e.g.,
Fulton et al., 2015). Nevertheless, phenomena that have been identified as
antonymic to loneliness (e.g., reconnection, reintegration, social support),
may play a pivotal role in the process of recovering from trauma (Herman,
1992) as well as in mitigating the development of PTSD (e.g., Brewin,
Andrews, & Valentine, 2000). Studies have found that perceived social
support was implicated in less loneliness and PTSD among veterans both
cross-sectionally and longitudinally throughout the course of 20 years after
the war (Karstoft, Armour, Elklit, & Solomon, 2013; Solomon, Bensimon,
Greene, Horesh, & Ein-Dor, 2015). Moreover, Solomon, Waysman and
Mikulincer (1990) found that in the case of post-war PTSD support may be
protective only if it indeed manages to alleviate loneliness.
Notwithstanding, it would seem that any information addressing the nature
and developmental course of veterans' loneliness may not to be found in
one organized source in the trauma literature, but rather must be
aggregated piecemeal from various sources.
found that among older veterans in the US, 44% reported feeling lonely at
least some of the time, and of these, over 10% reported feeling lonely most
of the time. Similarly, comparing veterans who sustained a psychiatric
breakdown in the heat of battle – a phenomenon known as combat stress
reaction (CSR) – with veterans who did not, Solomon et al. (2015) found
that the CSR casualties evinced steady high rates of loneliness throughout
20 years after their war experiences, whereas non-CSR veterans' loneliness
decresed throughout the years. Furthermore, Solomon and her colleagues
found that the baseline severity of PTSD symptomatology was cross-
sectionally positively associated with loneliness, suggesting that loneliness
may play a role in posttraumatic psychopathology. Indeed, "feelings of
detachment or estrangement from others" (but not loneliness) have been
incorporated in the recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association [APA],
2013, p. 272) as possible constituents of PTSD.
Regardless of the above indications that war-induced trauma may
result in loneliness, and despite the fact that loneliness has been recognized
as a clinically pertinent issue (S. Cacioppo et al., 2015); it remains the case
that systematic loneliness-focused investigations with traumatized
populations are scant. Indeed, most of the aforementioned literature, with
the exception of the few studies cited above, consists of anthologies and
monographs rather than peer-reviewed studies. Moreover, if this literature
has referred to veterans' loneliness, it has done so mainly in passing or by
alluding to related terms from the vast loneliness nomenclature (e.g.,
isolation, estrangement, alienation). This paucity is indicated, for instance,
in the fact that none of the trauma encyclopedias that were published in the
past decade (Doctor & Shiromoto, 2010; Figley, 2012; Reyes, Elhai, &
Ford, 2008) have allocated an entry for loneliness. As part of this
investigative dearth, to date, there exists no systematic investigation as to
the manner in which veterans' post-war loneliness transpires, and no
delineation of the course in which it unfolds and manifests itself. Due to
this gap in the literature, attempts to explain why veterans' loneliness
lingers for decades after the war, as well as attempts to trace it to its
origins, remain largely speculative and tentative. Filling this gap, in the
8 Jacob Y. Stein
current chapter I trace the experience back to its origins. This explication
will facilitate a deeper understanding of veterans' motivations to reconnect
or otherwise further withdraw in various social contexts, as well as
promote the devising of apt clinical and supportive practices.
A primary goal in the initial phase of military training (i.e., boot camp)
is the socialization of new recruits by stripping them of their civilian
identity and instilling a military identity in its stead (Van Gennep, 1960).
The transition into military life therefore entails a transition from the
familiar, and perhaps typically caring, environment of one's family to the
foreign military regime of the military. Thus, of great significance in
adjusting to such transitions are the relationships in the soldier's family of
origin prior to enlistment. Families that foster social growth and
competence may in time facilitate closeness in the new social network of
the military unit (Shulman, Levy-Shiff, & Scharf, 2000). At this
preliminary point of transition, however, loneliness may become manifest
first and foremost in the form of homesickness, implicated in the need for a
familiar relational bond such as the family or friends left back home. This
homesickness may be one of the first challenges soldiers must face right at
the outset of their service (e.g., Flach, De Jager, & Van de Ven, 2000). It
may exacerbate at times of deployment when the geographical distance
The Veteran's Loneliness 11
times of actual threat. During war, the lack of unit cohesiveness may be a
catalyst for the mental breakdown on the battlefield (Dasberg, 1976;
Solomon, 1993), and may result in subsequent PTSD after the shooting
ends (Brailey, Vasterling, Proctor, Constans, & Friedman, 2007).
Acknowledging the intensity of the soldiers' bond may be crucial for
understanding the emergence and severity of the loneliness that veterans
experience upon homecoming.
Eventually, the war ends and the unit, which has since become family,
is dispersed. L.V makes note of this transition explicitly:
Then, one day it is over. We know we will never see most of this
“new” family again. We know that many of those who still have to stay
and endure the horrors, will never actually leave. . . . This is traumatic to
most, but not as much as finding out that when you do return, nobody has
a clue what you have been through, or even who you have now become.
You are alone, really alone.
The sense of being alone may then manifest itself as soon as the
veteran returns home. Homecoming has been extremely difficult in this
sense for veterans in the time when Homer wrote the Iliad and Odyssey
(Shay, 1994, 2002), as it has been after the World Wars (e.g., Shuetz,
1945), after Vietnam (e.g., Figley & Leventman, 1980), or following the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (e.g., Ahern et al., 2015; Caplan, 2011). Post-
war loneliness to a great extent revolves around the loss of shared
experiences. Upon homecoming, the world's population becomes
bifurcated in the veteran's eyes: civilians on the one side, and veterans on
the other (e.g., Ahern et al., 2015; Stein & Tuval-Mashiach, 2015a; Waller,
1944). The former do not share the war and post-war experiences and are
thus incapable of understanding the returning veteran, and the latter are
The Veteran's Loneliness 13
capable of listening and understanding but are usually not around to do so.
Linking the above notions together, Starmann (2015) notes the following:
Many vets experienced and saw and heard and did things
unimaginable to the average person. They also lived a daily camaraderie
that cannot be repeated in the civilian world. In fact, many vets spend the
rest of their lives seeking the same esprit de corps that simply is absent
from their civilian lives and jobs. They long to spend just 15 minutes
back with the best friends they ever had, friends that are scattered to
every corner of the earth, and some to the afterlife itself. Vets are haunted
by visions of horror and death, by guilt of somehow surviving and living
the good life, when some they knew are gone. They strangely wish
sometimes that they were back in those dreadful circumstances, not to
experience the dirt and horror and terror and noise and violence again, but
to be with the only people a vet really knows, other vets.
Veterans may practically miss being around those who have shared the
experiences that have made them who they are. For many, the end of the
war puts an end to their aspiration to feel ultimately connected. It leaves
them very much alone with their experiences in a civilian world oblivious
to the meaning of the experiences they have endured during their
deployments. Seeking a conceptual understanding of this form of isolation,
Stein and Tuval-Mashiach (2015a) suggest that the loneliness at hand may
be best characterized as loneliness of experiential isolation or in short,
experiential loneliness (p. 127). Conversely, Wood (1986) terms this facet
of loneliness failed intersubjectivity, denoting the person's unfulfilled
desire for interpersonal connection on the subjective level. The
psychological underpinnings of such phenomena are multifaceted.
Bearing subjective experiences alone undermines the human need for
shared inner realities. We all need to sense that others experience, feel,
think, evaluate, and altogether view the world as we do (Echterhoff,
Higgins and Levine, 2009). In part, this is what motivates people to tell
stories of those experiences. That said, typically, people assume that those
who have undergone the same experiences as them are most capable of
understanding how they felt in these experiences; and at times, that only
14 Jacob Y. Stein
A problem with the solitary world of the vet is that the vet has a hard
time explaining what he or she did to those who didn’t serve. Some vets
want to talk, but they have no outlet. . . . Part of this taciturn mentality is
that vets speak another language, a strange and archaic language of their
past. How do you talk to civilians about “fire for effect” or “grid 7310” or
“shake and bake” or “frag orders” or “10 days and a wake up” or a
thousand and one other terms that are mystifying to the real world? You
can't.
The second linguistic barrier, indeed the Janusian face of the extreme
nature of war, concerns the realization that for the veteran, civilian
language has also changed its meaning. As Waller notes, “the words which
mean so much to the civilian mean very little to the soldier” (Waller, 1944,
p. 32). Words such as “pain,” “loss,” “friendship,” “responsibility,”
“honor,” “loyalty,” “impossible,” and many others which are common
stock in civilian discourse may have all changed their meanings for
veterans who have encountered these in their most extreme forms. Such
communicative barriers may once again lead to silence and withdrawal, as
the veteran presupposes the emergence of misunderstanding a priori. These
withdrawals permeate and impede several relational domains, including
family, friends and society as a whole (Lyons, 2007). To exemplify, in
their investigation of reintegration problems among veterans retuning from
Iraq and Afghanistan Sayer et al. (2010) found that the leading challenges
for reintegration are all interpersonal (e.g., dealing with strangers, making
new friends, keeping up nonmilitary friendships, belonging in “civilian”
society). More to the point, at the top of the list for most veterans in the
study was the challenge of confiding or sharing personal thoughts and
feelings with others.
left. He is neither the same for himself nor for those who await his return”
(Schuetz, 1945, p.375).
Emphasizing the critical junctions wherein emotional transitions occur,
L.V brought his account to a close with a summarizing statement that
encapsulates all that has already been said, and reveals most explicitly the
unmet relational needs encompassed in the veteran's experientially lonely
state:
All of this adds to the solitary world of the vet. Some are better at
handling life afterwards than others. Some don’t seem affected at all, but
they are. They just hide it. Some never return to normal. But, what is
normal to a vet anymore?
DISCUSSION
The first conclusion to be drawn from the current chapter must be that
the alleviation of veterans' loneliness may necessitate either abandoning
these alternative approaches to loneliness reduction or otherwise adapting
them to its unique features. Altering one's perception of his or her self-
worth or likability, or otherwise simply seeking to meet new people or
learning how to better engage them will not do.
Rather, when seeking to increase social support, for instance, the
support needed may be that of a sincere attempt to understand veterans'
war and post-war experiences. Clinicians, family members and friends who
wish to understand the veteran could, for example, get better acquainted
with the war experience by reading descriptions of it by those who have
experienced it. In this respect, Litz, Lebowitz, Gray and Nash (2016) argue
that clinicians must get familiar with the military culture and the warrior
ethos, as well as the particular meaning that the war had for the veteran,
prior to their attempts to remedy the aftermath of veterans' traumatic
experiences. In a similar vein, support providers might wish to get
acquainted with veterans' perspectives concerning the aftermath of war. An
alternative or complementary route may be educating oneself by consulting
the more scientific literature (e.g., Lyons, 2007). Clinicians would do best
to facilitate and encourage such psycho-education. It is noteworthy,
however, that making an effort to understand the veteran's experience
would ideally be a societal endeavor rather than a task bestowed solely
upon veterans' families or friends. What is ultimately needed is the
cultivation of a society that is committed to listening to veterans' stories
and that would be caring enough to seek to understand their war and post-
war experiences (Caplan, 2011; Sherman, 2015). As Sherman (2015, p. 40)
asserts, “healing after war is a nation’s work.” In this respect, Starmann
(2015) brought the address to an end by stating the following:
From the other side of the equation, veterans themselves may also
work to minimize the aforementioned experiential gap. When addressing
social skills, veterans may benefit from learning to communicate their
experiences so as to breach their communicative barriers. In their attempts
to overcome linguistic barriers at times of disclosure, veterans may learn to
utilize several linguistic devices that might bring the experience to life and
vivify it so as to have their audiences connect to the experience on an
experiential level (Stein & Tuval-Mashiach, 2017). Furthermore,
addressing maladaptive social cognitions, veterans must learn to trust that
others will apprehend these disclosures to the best of their capacity. They
may also benefit from challenging the conviction that they and the civilian
population are inherently different.
Undeniably, when considering opportunities for positive social
interactions it may be argued that other veterans may be the most apt for
the task of reestablishing experiential-connection. This is because veterans
already share the war and post-war experiences. This may enable an
immediate connection both via veterans' mutual experientially isolated
states and the shared experiences lying in the infrastructure of these lonely
states. This realization has already inspired several veteran-to-veteran peer
support initiatives (e.g., Greden et al., 2010) aiming, among other things, at
reducing fear of stigma, increasing veterans' willingness to seek therapy for
PTSD and ultimately put an end to their insistence to cope alone. Forming
a collective story together may encourage veterans to feel less alone with
their own plight and everyday challenges, find once again the comradery
they had during their time of service, and ultimately drive them to seek
help (Caddick, Phoenix, & Smith, 2015; Hundt, Robinson, Arney, Stanley,
& Cully, 2015). Indeed, some veterans tell their stories particularly to
further this end (e.g., Johnson, 2010; Paulson & Krippner, 2004).
Notwithstanding, the investigation of these interventions is at its
preliminary stages. Thus, while several benefits of peer-support
interventions have been documented (e.g., the facilitation of support and
experiential belongingness), and while their employment has attracted
attention in governmental institutions such as the Department of Veteran
Affairs (VA; Chinman et al., 2008), their effectiveness in lowering PTSD
The Veteran's Loneliness 27
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In: Psychology of Loneliness ISBN: 978-1-53612-900-7
Editor: Lázár Rudolf © 2017 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 2
ABSTRACT
*
Corresponding author: Email: ayat@hus.osaka-u.ac.jp.
38 Aya Toyoshima
1. INTRODUCTION
(Berkman & Syme 1979; Dean, Matt, & Wood, 1992; Hawkley, Masi,
Berry, & Cacioppo, 2006; Krause 1987; Thoits & Hewitt, 2001).
Previous studies have found it difficult to distinguish concepts of
loneliness from those of social isolation, mainly because researchers have
varying definitions of these concepts. Moreover, in pathological terms,
loneliness and social isolation have been referred to as negative aspects of
the social relationships of older adults; in conceptual gerontology,
preventing these social diseases tends to be a priority, despite the lack of a
clear definition of the concepts (Victor, Cambler, & Bond, 2009).
Although loneliness relates to an individual’s subjective perception, a lack
of social relationships, similar to social isolation, can also cause this
emotion. This is a primary reason people tend to confuse the concepts of
loneliness and social isolation. Loneliness is a possible outcome when
individuals find themselves having a small number of relationships
(Gierveld & Havens, 2004); however, it is important to note that people
who are socially isolated do not always feel lonely, and that people can feel
lonely even when staying with others in groups or colonies. Consequently,
in this chapter, to avoid confusion with social isolation, the author
describes “loneliness” as a subjective perception featuring negative
emotion.
The cognitive discrepancy model of loneliness (Thibaut & Kelley,
1959) explains the psychological process through which an individual
develops a comparison level for his or her entire network of social
relationships. Such a comparison level can be thought of as representing
the quantity or quality of social contact desired by a person. Russell,
Cutrona, McRae, and Gomez (2012) examined relationships between
desired and actual social contact and loneliness, and found that people who
reported identical levels of desired and actual social contact showed the
lowest levels of loneliness. Further, they also found that loneliness
increases as the actual number of close friends exceeds the ideal number;
therefore, it is possible that people feel lonely when they have more social
contacts than they desire, despite the fact that they are not socially isolated.
Loneliness and Preference for Solitude among Older Adults 41
Loneliness has also been associated with suicidal ideation and behavior
(Barnow, Linden, & Freyberger, 2004; Goldsmith, Pellmar, Kleinman, &
Bunney, 2002; Waern, Rubenowitz, & Wilhelmson, 2003), and analysis of
psychological processes can explain why individual social perception has
such a strong effect on people’s decisions concerning their own lives.
Although it is distressing that feeling lonely can force people to kill
themselves, most people who feel lonely and/or loneliness do not commit
suicide. Further, such a risk of suicidal ideation is low when we only
experience loneliness in brief episodes during our daily lives; however,
such ideation becomes severe when people feel loneliness for long periods,
as it can develop into depressive symptoms (Cacioppo & Patrick, 2008).
Thus, experiencing severe levels of loneliness has the possibility to create
depressive feelings that develop into suicidal ideation. There is no direct
connection between feeling lonely in daily life and depressive symptoms
and suicide; however, there are individual differences between people in
terms of sensitivity to loneliness, personality, family structure, and
frequency of feeling lonely, meaning the same event could impact some
people more severely than others. Thus, considering that severe and long-
term loneliness can be a risk factor of depressive symptoms and suicide,
this shows that the loneliness people regularly feel in daily life generally
equates to severe loneliness. In other words, there are a number of levels
between the loneliness that occurs in daily social life and the severe
loneliness that enhances the risk of depression, suicide, and even dementia.
The above illustrates that studies have shown that feeling loneliness is
a risk factor for many health problems, including physical and mental
health issues. This is not surprising, because loneliness relates to
undesirable experiences and negative emotions. Innumerable studies have
reported on the negative impact of loneliness on our physical and mental
health, and these findings clearly show the importance of maintaining
subjective well-being in older adults. It is easy to imagine that older adults
face an increased risk of loneliness and require interventions to decrease
loneliness; thus, in aging societies, the problem of loneliness for older
adults represents a large obstacle to enhancing their health and subjective
well-being.
44 Aya Toyoshima
Being isolated from social groups and spending time alone can be
regarded as crisis states related to feeling lonely. As people age, time spent
alone increases and time spent engaging in social activities decreases. In
other words, in comparison to younger adults, older adults spend less time
with others (Carstensen, 2001; Cornwell, 2015; Larson, Zuzanek, &
Mannell, 1986) and less time engaging with their personal networks
(Cornwell, 2015; Horgas, Wilms, & Baltes, 1998).
The ratio of time spent alone tends to universally increase with age,
regardless of whether the person in question is living alone or with a
family, with one study showing that while younger adults spend 29% of
their time engaging in solitary activities, this increases to as much as 48%
among retired, older adults (Larson, 1990). Furthermore, it has also been
found that the variety of activities that older and younger adults engage in
differs. (Marcum, 2013). In later life, people tend to focus on relationships
with people they feel close to (spouse, children, close friends, etc.) and
neglect creating new relationships with others; moreover, they also have
relatively less diverse and more family-centric networks (Antonucci &
Akiyama, 1987). Socioemotional selectivity theory (Carstensen, 2006)
suggests that older adults invest a great deal in maintaining close
Loneliness and Preference for Solitude among Older Adults 45
level of loneliness appears to remain stable, while for the oldest elderly,
those aged over 80, higher levels of loneliness are commonly found
(Sörensen & Pinquart, 2002). In other words, the results of the meta-
analysis conducted by Sörensen and Pinquart (2002) suggest that
loneliness does not increase with age. Further, other studies have supported
this finding by suggesting that loneliness decreases from middle to older
age (Cacioppo et al., 2010). A possible reason for this is that the sources of
loneliness differ between life stages; for example, in early childhood, a
lack of peer friendship is the main source of loneliness, while romantic
relationships are valued more highly during younger adulthood (Qualter et
al., 2015). However, it should also be noted that sources of loneliness are
perceived differently depending on one’s age and culture (Rokach & Neto,
2005).
While studies in various countries have reported that the loneliness
scores for young- old, do not exceed those for children and younger adults
(Toyoshima & Sato, 2017; Yang & Victor, 2011), there are some issues in
regard to methodology and participants that impact these results;
nevertheless, all such studies agree that, with age, the number of social
activities decreases and the risk of loneliness increases. There are three
challenges to explaining this paradoxical phenomenon; that is, that older
adults tend to report lower levels of loneliness than expected. The first is
the methodological challenge. Many loneliness scales have been
developed. For example, the de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (Gierveld
& Tilburg, 2006) and the Social-Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults
(DiTomasso, Brannen, & Best, 2004) are widely used. Thus, the results of
previous studies have been affected by the researchers’ choice of scale.
This also causes a problem in regard to the validity and reliability of using
multi-generation data, which occurs when the researchers compare
loneliness between older adults and various other age groups (Penning,
Liu, & Chou, 2014). The second challenge is similar to the first, and relates
to the fact that triggers and sources of loneliness differ between age groups
(Qualter et al., 2015). Finally, the third challenge concerns the possibility
that for older adults the association between social activity and loneliness
is weaker than for younger adults. This means that the psychological
Loneliness and Preference for Solitude among Older Adults 47
the psycho-social aspect of aging have not been able to clearly identify the
negative effects in later life.
A factor of the aging paradox of loneliness is that loneliness has a
stronger association with the quality of social relationships than the
quantity of such relationships (Hawkley et al., 2003; Heinrich & Gullone,
2006). Further, the effect the quantity of social relationships and the
reduction of social networks have on loneliness is not direct (Hawkley,
Burleson, Berntson, & Cacioppo, 2003; Sörensen & Pinquart, 2002). As
mentioned earlier, loneliness is a subjective perception of social isolation
that is distinguished from objective social isolation (Cacioppo & Hawkley,
2009; Cornwell & Waite, 2015); however, social isolation is objective and
can be a trigger for loneliness. The negative impacts that objective triggers
that occur as a result of age have on loneliness and subjective well-being
have been found to be weaker than expected (Figure 1).
Life event
E.g., Bereavement of friends
Undesired retirement
Objective variables
Loneliness
Subjective variables
Subjective well-being
Note: The white arrow signifies that the negative effect of objective triggers on
loneliness is weaker than expected.
levels of loneliness than other types, and to develop social skills and
personalities that allow them to develop close relationships with others
after young adolescence. In particular, emotional loneliness is lower in the
secure type and higher in the avoidant type (type A: children who tend to
avoid interaction with caregivers and strangers). Thus, it can be claimed
that attachment style developed during childhood remains stable
throughout adolescence (Kirkpatrick & Hazan, 1994) and is related to
loneliness (Conger, Cui, Bryant, & Elder, 2000).
Mickelson, Kessler, and Shaver (1997) examined the difference age
makes in regard to attachment style, assessing the attachment styles of
participants using the Adult Attachment Interview (Main, Kaplan, &
Cassidy, 1985). By comparing the association between emotional
loneliness and attachment styles, they found that the prevalence of
avoidant type (dismissing of detached) decreased with age. Further,
Kafetsios and Sideridis (2006) also reported that the association between
loneliness and the tendency to be the avoidant type was weaker in older
adults than in younger adults. Therefore, the reasons older adults report
lower levels of loneliness than younger adults may relate to the scarcity of
the avoidant type among older adults and the weakness of association
between loneliness and attachment style in later life. Thus, there is a
possibility that attachment style relates to the aging paradox of loneliness,
although this cannot be confirmed because the studies mentioned above are
cross-sectional and do not specifically identify the effect of aging on
attachment style.
However, attachment theory cannot explain the developmental change
in loneliness after middle-age. Specifically, differences in attachment
styles and association with loneliness do not explain why older adults
report lower levels of loneliness than expected. For example, the
bereavement of parents, and other persons with whom a close attachment is
formed, tend to occur after middle-age. These life events undoubtedly
enhance emotional loneliness; however, levels of loneliness do not show a
related increase at this point. Attachment theory cannot provide an
explanation for this paradox. Moreover, attachment theory is unable to
explain the social loneliness that occurs as a result of a reduction in social
Loneliness and Preference for Solitude among Older Adults 51
networks and the loss of social relationships caused by negative life events
such as retirement. Instead, attachment theory focuses on relationships in
childhood and is suitable for providing an understanding of the types of
emotional loneliness that may exist in later life. Thus, to provide an
understanding of social loneliness in later life, other gerontological theories
that focus on related changes in social networks and social activities must
be considered.
later life, not the size of a person’s social network or the degree of social
activities they engage in. Further, older adults have been found to use SOC
strategies to restrain loneliness triggers, particularly those concerning
social loneliness; social loneliness relates to social networks and social
relationships, and older adults tend to experience changes in this aspect as
a result of negative life events.
Heckhausen and Schulz (1993, 1995) suggested that older adults select
goals, strive to attain those goals, and manage the consequences of failure
and loss as a result of age using two strategies: primary control strategies
and secondary control strategies. Primary control strategies refer to
individuals’ attempts to change the external world to fit their personal
needs and desires; an example would be the investment of time and effort
to maintain a close personal relationship. In contrast, secondary control
strategies target individuals’ inner world and involve their efforts to
influence their own motivations, emotions, and mental representations; an
example of such a strategy would be making efforts to care about the loss
of social relationships. Older adults are more likely to rely on secondary
control strategies because of the limitations they experience in terms of
creating new social relationships. Further, there is also the possibility that
older adults increase their use of secondary control strategies and their
recognition of the merits of solitude during their adaptation to the social
limitations that come with age. Thus, primary control strategies cause a
decrease in social activities, while secondary control strategies influence
the negative impact of decreasing social activities as a result of age
(Figure 2).
the level of competency in spending time alone (Burger, 1995); those who
have a high PS tend to choose to be alone, which suggests that they regard
the time they spend alone as positive. While SOC theory suggests that a
reason older adults do not report higher levels of loneliness than younger
adults is that they use primary control strategy to adapt to their decreasing
social relationships and activities, on the other hand, PS relates to
secondary control strategy and can be useful for measuring changes in an
individual’s inner perception.
An increase in loneliness is considered an undesirable state of being,
and spending time alone has been raised as one of the causes of this
increase. However, some studies have mentioned some positive aspects to
being alone, such as the fact that solitude increases creativity (Storr, 1988),
or that it is necessary to maintain privacy (Bates, 1964). Further, there are
cases where isolating oneself is used as a coping mechanism for heavy
stress (Heinrich & Gullone, 2006). The main problem relating to solitude is
that it entails a lack of social support, but several studies have found
positive aspects (Burger, 1995; Long & Averill, 2003); Leary, Herbst and
McCrary (2003) found that a group with high PS preferred activities that
could be conducted alone, as spending time alone functioned as a pause in
social activities for them.
Burger (1995) concluded that differences between individuals
regarding PS is an important factor in determining whether solitude is a
positive condition for particular persons. PS is a preference indicator that
shows whether one prefers the condition of being alone, and it can also be
considered as “competency spending time alone” (Long, Seburn, Averill,
& More, 2003). Those who have high PS choose independently to be
alone, they tend to regard time spent alone as positive. Long et al. (2003)
divided solitude into three factors: “Inner-directed” (characterized by self-
discovery and inner peace), “Outer-directed” (characterized by intimacy
and spirituality), and “Loneliness.” In particular, inner-directed solitude is
especially beneficial from an emotional standpoint, as it has been found to
be associated with low depression and high self-esteem.
54 Aya Toyoshima
Time spent alone can be divided into two classes: relational and non-
relational. Relational links to the positive aspects of solitude; specifically,
inner-directed and outer-directed factors. Meanwhile, non-relational links
to the negative aspects; that is, feeling isolated and lonely (Averill &
Sundararajan, 2014). A person with a high PS tends to be active when they
are alone and to feel positive when spending time alone, even though their
social activities are decreased. For such people, being alone allows them to
contemplate and increase their intellectual activities and creativity,
meaning PSS can positively influence one’s subjective well-being (Burger,
1995).
When older adults face a crisis, such as through a negative life event,
loneliness is enhanced, and some people adapt to such an event by
changing their inner perception. For example, older adults tend not to
desire a large-scale social network when they are prevented from going
outside as a result of decreasing physical function. As mentioned above, a
person with a higher PS tends to be “relational” when they spend time
alone and to value staying alone (Long & Averill, 2003); this may
influence certain older adults’ increasing use of secondary control
strategies and their recognition of the merits of solitude during their
adaptation to the social limitations that come with age. Thus, considering
this theoretical background, it can be said that developmental changes
relating to PSS are indicators of changes in the value of social interactions
with others caused as a result of the adoption of secondary control
strategies.
There is a degree of evidence supporting the theory that older adults
tend to have different levels of preference in comparison to younger
generations. For example, Toyoshima and Sato (2017) examined whether
PS promotes emotional well-being in older adults and college students;
their results showed that older adults reported both a higher level of PSS
and a lower level of negative emotion than the college students. Further,
Pauly, Lay, Nater, Scott, and Hoppmann (2016) reported that temporary
solitude is linked to more favorable mental health in older adults. Thus, it
can be concluded that temporarily spending time alone is an experience
that is not necessarily negative and may become more positive with aging.
Loneliness and Preference for Solitude among Older Adults 55
Life event
E.g., Bereavement of friends
Undesired retirement
Objective variables
Primary control
Decreasing social activities strategy
Secondary control
strategy
Loneliness
Subjective variables
Subjective well-being
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The concept of this article is based on the author’s doctoral thesis:
“Toyoshima, A. (2015). Kodoku kan no aging paradox to taisyo horyaku ni
Loneliness and Preference for Solitude among Older Adults 57
REFERENCES
Chapter 3
ABSTRACT
Corresponding Author: Marjan Ghahramanlou-Holloway, Ph.D. Associate Professor,
Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology; Psychiatry. Director, Suicide Care,
Prevention, and Research (CPR) Initiative. F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine.
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Room
B3046. Bethesda, Maryland 20814-4799. Telephone: 301-295-3271. Fax: 301-295-3034.
Email: marjan.holloway@usuhs.edu. Additional email: mholloway@usuhs.edu.
68 Rebecca L. Kauten, Jessica M. LaCroix, Amber M. Fox et al.
INTRODUCTION
The final stage of childhood stage involves the crisis of industry versus
inferiority and lasts until the child is 12 years old. During this stage, the
child seeks acceptance from authority members (e.g., teachers) and peers
by displaying competency and adhering to societal standards. The child
relies on his or her sense of autonomy and encouragement from others in
order to successfully complete this stage, the result of which is feeling
competent and industrious. When the individual is not encouraged or is
restricted, he or she will feel inferior compared to others. It is evident in
this fourth stage that Erikson meant for the stages to be completed
sequentially; they build upon one another, and failure to successfully
complete an early stage can lead to difficulties in later stages. However,
researchers have also argued that the progression through the stages is not
necessarily linear, and individuals may decompensate backward through
the stages at any time (Whilbourne, Zuschlag, Elliot, & Waterman, 1992).
Research related to loneliness and suicide in childhood is scant, and
there is no available evidence-based treatment that is specifically targeted
at managing suicidal ideation and urges in youth. However, it seems as
though both maternal depression and low perceived parental support
emerge as factors influencing childhood suicidal ideation and urges
(Anderson, Keyes, & Jobes, 2016; Sarkar et al., 2010; Whalen, Dixon-
Gordon, Belden, Barch, & Luby, 2015). Both of these factors are linked to
insecure attachment (Teti, Gelfand, Messinger, & Isabella, 1995; Yan,
Han, Tang, & Zhang, 2017). Insecurely attached children tend to become
upset regardless of whether or not the parent is present in the strange
situation paradigm (Ainsworth & Bowlby, 1991). The fact that these
children are not comforted even when the parent is present suggests a lack
of reliable attachment and could represent that the child’s needs, namely
those for connection, are not being met at home.
Furthermore, insecure attachment patterns tend to extend to peer
relationships, and individuals displaying such patterns are often faced with
peer rejection in early childhood, when these relationships are formative
(Ernst & Cacioppo, 1999). In other words, lonely individuals are often
rejected, which then perpetuates the lonely feelings. Lack of social support
from peers and family lays the foundation for more feelings of loneliness.
74 Rebecca L. Kauten, Jessica M. LaCroix, Amber M. Fox et al.
Adolescence: 12 to 18 Years
with loneliness and contribute to suicide risk above and beyond the
individual effects of negative life events or loneliness (e.g., sexual assault,
Chang et al., 2015). Furthermore, with the explosion of social media,
constant momentary updates, and compulsory comparison through multiple
portals, it is much easier to recognize when one is being excluded. It is not
surprising, then, that when considering college students who reported a
history of suicidal ideation, loneliness was often cited as a cause
(Westefeld & Furr, 1987).
burdensome, a key risk factor for suicide ideation (Joiner, 2005). However,
middle aged adults are likely to experience loneliness in the absence of
others (Hawkley & Cacioppo, 2010), especially when stability in their
social networks is disrupted. In situations that force isolation, like being
diagnosed with a physical disability that inhibits social activity, living
alone, going through divorce, or developing a life-threatening illness that
forces unexpected loss of employment, middle aged adults experience
increased loneliness (Lasgaard, Friis, & Shevlin, 2016), and perceived lack
of social support is associated with depressive symptoms among this age
group (Fiori, & Denckla, 2012).
Although suicide is the second leading cause of death for adolescents
and young adults, more people die by suicide in middle or late adulthood
than in adolescence or young adulthood. In the U.S. in 2015, 16,490 people
between the ages of 45 and 64 died by suicide compared with 12,438
people between the ages of 15 and 34 (Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 2016). The suicide rate among adults between 45 and 64 years
of age is 19.6 per 100,000 compared with a rate of 12.5 per 100,000 among
adolescents and young adults between 15 and 24 years of age. Further,
suicide rates among middle adults have been increasing, up from 13.5 per
100,000 in 2000 to 19.6 per 100,000 in 2015 (American Foundation for
Suicide Prevention, 2017). Notably, between 1999 and 2015, rural White
Americans between the ages of 45 and 54 had the highest increases in
“despair deaths” (Case & Deaton, 2015), i.e., death due to suicide,
poisoning, and liver disease, than any other group (Stein, Gennuso,
Ugboaja, & Remington, 2017). This group experiences economic stress
and hopelessness (e.g., stagnation) (Erikson, 1963) that contributes to
dysfunction in relationships, poor social support, and escapist use of drugs
and alcohol (Case & Deaton, 2017).
The eighth and final stage of development is old age and lasts from age
65 to death. Integrity versus despair constitutes the final conflict in
Loneliness and Suicide 79
Liu, & Wrosch, 2015; Dykstra et al., 2005; Pinquart & Sörensen, 2001).
This decreased social activity may be related to the feelings of loneliness
experienced by older adults. With these circumstances, the older adult
likely perceives little control over his or her own life and may develop a
sense of perceived burdensomeness and/or thwarted belongingness as
though their place in the world is narrowing. These individuals feel
separated not only from individuals but also from the world at large.
Quality of relationships becomes more valuable than quantity (Pinquart &
Sorensen, 2001).
In one particular qualitative investigation, several older adults who had
attempted suicide provided their rationale for their decision (Crocker et al.,
2006). Several themes emerged, including feelings of invisibility and a
struggle to maintain control over their lives. When these individuals felt
separated from and ignored by society and helpless to change their
situation, they attempted suicide as a way of gaining control over some
aspect of their lives. Very old adults have the second highest rate of
suicide; adults aged 85 and older have a rate of 19.4 per 100,000
(American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 2017).
Ultimately, the sense of losing control is a key contributor to rationale
for attempting suicide in older adults; it is also a factor that influences
feelings of loneliness. Adults that feel they have control over their (social)
lives and can influence their experience with personal effort tend to feel
less lonely than those that believe that only external factors influence their
reality (Newall, Chipperfield, Clifton, Perry, Swift, & Ruthig, 2009).
Unfortunately, this control is often lost with age, and older adults living in
nursing homes tend to be at higher risk for loneliness (Pinquart &
Sorensen, 2001).
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
Yan, J., Han, Z. R., Tang, Y. & Zhang, X. (2017). Parental support for
autonomy and child depressive symptoms in middle childhood: The
mediating role of parent-child attachment. Journal of Child and Family
Studies, 26, 1970-1978.
In: Psychology of Loneliness ISBN: 978-1-53612-900-7
Editor: Lázár Rudolf © 2017 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.
Chapter 4
ABSTRACT
While the literature is replete with evidence and theory regarding the
emotional consequences of loneliness and the challenges they pose to
individuals, there is still not enough evidence examining the emotional
antecedents of the phenomenon. This chapter reviews the existing
literature on emotional antecedents of loneliness, dwells on recent
evidence linking loneliness and certain underlying emotional mechanisms
and presents an integrative model to guide research and future practice in
diverse settings.
96 Leehu Zysberg
INTRODUCTION
support from family members. In other words – social support matters, but
who provides it is sometimes important too.
To better understand the role of interpersonal relationships and their
protective role we should take a look at personal characteristics often
associated with the above.
Personal Characteristics
Research searches for factors associated with loneliness not only at the
social-cultural level but also on the individual: Demographic
characteristics associate with varying levels of loneliness: gender (being
male), older age and lower socioeconomic status were associated with
increased loneliness. Age, however shows an intriguing ‘anomaly’ whereas
loneliness tends to peak around adolescence and older adulthood, for
different reasons (Yang & Victor, 2011). Family structure also associates
with loneliness. For example, widowed participants reported feeling
lonelier than individuals living with their families (Savikko et al., 2005).
Environment and settings seem to play a major role in triggering
loneliness but given the subjective nature of the experience, the literature
focused on personal attributes associated with it more than external factors.
Rokach, among the more prolific authors on the subject suggested a
5-factor model to account for the subjective experience of loneliness. Out
of these factors, 3 are personal in nature and include: developmental issues,
social inadequacy, and inability to draw upon interpersonal relationships
(e.g., Rokach, 1997). These factors hint at self-perception and personality
as potential structures underlying these experiences. Indeed, the literature
offers a lot of evidence to support the personality-loneliness association:
Studies find relationships between traits under the ‘five factor model’ and
Eysenck’s typology (among the most robust models of personality
assessment) and aspects of loneliness, especially neuroticism and
extraversion (or more accurately – the lack of it) (e.g., Saklofski et al.,
1986). Current studies have linked personality traits to both the extent of
the experience of loneliness and attitudes or judgments of this experience
as more or less acceptable, much in line with the findings reported above
(e.g., Teppers et al., 2013).
104 Leehu Zysberg
What’s Next?
interest are those aspects that seem to rise in importance and relevance in
recent years, namely: Cultural aspects, that seem to play a more complex
role than we may think as immigration and global mobility makes almost
any society on earth a mix of cultures, bringing together varying beliefs,
norms and assumptions – how does this meeting of cultures influence
perceived interactions and judgements of loneliness?
Emotional antecedents of loneliness remain elusive, and recent
addition to our tool box in the shape of the concept of emotional
intelligence, among others, add to our ability to re-examine and explore
what we know in this venue. Is emotional intelligence a potential that has a
protective value when it comes to loneliness? And if so – can we intervene
to ‘inoculate’ individuals against the adverse outcomes of being alone?
Practitioners in the fields of education, sports and athletics, social
workers working with immigrants, refugees, with children at risk, with
families experiencing crisis – may embrace some of the insights offered
here. The proposed model may help to both identify individual at high risk
of experiencing loneliness in a manner that may pose risk to their well-
being as well as intervene to ameliorate the adverse effects of the gap
between individuals’ perceptions of the relationships they have and those
they are wishing for.
REFERENCES
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Leehu Zysberg
Chapter 5
ABSTRACT
METHOD
Participants
Measures
Procedure
RESULTS
M SD Number of items
Cronbach’s α
Portuguese language proficiency 4.10 .91 4 .97
Perceived discrimination 2.48 1.31 5 .90
Sociocultural adaptation 4.33 .50 20 .83
Multicultural ideology 4.34 .72 8 .68
Mental health problems 2.06 .79 15 .93
Self-esteem 4.40 .35 10 .68
Loneliness 1.67 .57 6 .73
DISCUSSION
The current research explored the level and two sets of predictors of
loneliness among Romanian immigrants living in Portugal. Two
hypotheses were tested and they were partially supported by the data.
The literature presents a mixed picture about the level of loneliness
among immigrant people. Some research argues that immigrants may
present proneness to loneliness (King & Merchant, 2008). However, there
are studies which have not found significant differences in loneliness
between immigrants and native population. For example, Portuguese
adolescents living in France and Portuguese adolescents without migratory
experience did not reveal differences in the level of loneliness (Neto,
1999). Identical results were found among Portuguese migrants living in
Switzerland (Neto & Barros, 2000a), and among Angolan, Cape Verdean
and Indian adolescents with an immigrant background residing in Portugal
(Neto, 2002). In a recent study it was even shown that adolescents from
returned migrant families to Portugal displayed lower loneliness than
native adolescents (Neto, 2016). In the current study, the level of loneliness
was not compared with the native population. However, this sample of
Romanian immigrants was experiencing a low level of loneliness.
Our first hypothesis was partially supported. As expected, loneliness
was predicted by greater levels of perceived discrimination. Perceived
discrimination constitutes a potential major stressful factor of the
acculturation process (Jasinskaja-Lahati et al., 2003). Indeed, past research
indicates a strong association between perceived discrimination and poor
mental health associated with feelings of anxiety, psychological distress,
depression and low levels of general well-being (Berry et al., 2006; Pascoe
& Richman 2009). Current findings are consonant with this picture, as
perceiving themselves as being a target of discrimination by members of
the host society predicted loneliness among Romanian immigrants. The
more discrimination immigrants perceived the more loneliness they felt.
However, Portuguese language proficiency did not emerge as a
significant predictor of loneliness. This result can be related to the fact that
the sample had a mean length of residence of 9 years allowing these
134 Félix Neto and Maria da Conceição Pinto
include other immigrant groups in order to know if the current findings can
be generalized. Furthermore, additional predictors of loneliness can be
investigated, such as acculturation orientations, social support, tolerance
and personality.
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Loneliness Among Romanian Immigrants Living in Portugal 137
assessment, 56, 84, 89, 103, 110, 117, 138 -military gap, 18, 21, 27
attachment, 49, 50, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 68, clinical psychology, 111, 117
74, 91, 93, 96, 102, 104, 111, 119 clinicians, 22, 25, 84, 86
styles, 49, 59, 61 close relationships, viii, 37, 45, 50, 61, 79
attachment theory, 50 cognitive, vii, ix, 4, 40, 41, 42, 58, 65, 67,
attitudes, 103, 114, 118, 135, 136, 137 70, 81, 84, 85, 87, 88, 90, 107, 124
attribution, 104, 106 behavioral, vii, ix, 67, 70, 81, 84
authentic expression, 19 function, 41, 42, 58, 65
authenticity, ix, 68, 82 cognitive function, 41, 42, 58, 65
autonomy, 73, 74, 85, 93, 110 cognitive performance, 42
cognitive perspective, 4
cognitive skills, 107
B
cognitive therapy, 88
cognitive-behavioral therapy, 85, 90
behavioral theory, vii, ix, 67, 81
college students, 54, 59, 77, 87, 92
behaviors, ix, 3, 56, 60, 67, 70, 72, 78, 81,
combat stress injuries, 6
85, 86, 88, 92, 119
combat stress reaction (CSR), 7, 21, 28
belong, 17, 28, 31, 69, 70, 87
combat unit, 11
belonging, 16, 21, 69, 83, 86, 114, 136
communication patterns, 100
benefits, 26, 32, 61
communication skills, 104
bond, 10, 11, 12, 23, 90
communicative barrier, 15, 16, 26
breakdown, 7, 12, 30, 100
communicative isolation, 15, 23
brotherhood, 22
community, 30, 91, 97, 100, 108, 120, 124
brutality, 15
compensation, 57, 60
building blocks, 104, 107
computer addiction, 101
burdensomeness, 69, 80, 86, 92
conceptualization, 35, 70
conceptualized, ix, 4, 67, 106
C conflict, 34, 74, 76, 77, 79, 104, 113
consequences, viii, 32, 37, 52, 88, 90, 92,
Canadians, 124 96, 98, 109, 124, 126
care, 4, 21, 30, 31, 32, 34, 52, 77, 84, 121 context, ix, 14, 18, 23, 29, 58, 60, 68, 69,
challenges, ix, 10, 16, 24, 26, 28, 46, 47, 55, 82, 88, 107, 129
72, 84, 95, 97, 98, 99, 107, 124 controlled trials, 85
characteristics, vii, viii, 2, 3, 4, 9, 28, 39, 59, conviction, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26
91, 103, 106, 107, 122, 126, 128 cope, 5, 20, 22, 23, 26
childhood, ix, 34, 46, 49, 51, 61, 62, 68, 72, coping, 20, 21, 53, 84, 97, 102, 104, 106,
73, 74, 75, 76, 86, 88, 91, 93, 105, 109, 115
116, 135 core, 3, 5, 22, 87, 125, 126
children, 11, 44, 46, 49, 51, 74, 86, 90, 92, coronary heart disease, 118
101, 102, 106, 110, 111, 116, 121, 136 crisis, 17, 42, 44, 54, 71, 72, 73, 75, 85, 99,
civilian, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 110
18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28 cultural differences, 124, 126
Index 143
D
E
death, 5, 11, 13, 15, 21, 63, 70, 74, 76, 78,
79, 87, 91 education, 25, 110, 120, 128, 132
decades, vii, 1, 6, 7, 101 educational institutions, 100
deficit, 4, 11, 113 educational research, 105
definition, 4, 40, 41, 56, 70, 106 elderly population, 61
delay of gratification, 104 emotion, 40, 54, 70, 85, 106, 109, 113, 115,
dementia, 41, 43 117, 118
demographic, 91, 103, 122, 128, 130, 131, emotion regulation, 106, 109, 113, 115, 117
132, 137 emotional abilities, 97
demographic characteristics, 91 emotional antecedents of loneliness, ix, 95,
deployment, vii, 1, 9, 10, 28 104, 108, 109, 110
depression, ix, 5, 31, 42, 43, 53, 61, 67, 68, emotional consequences of loneliness, ix,
69, 71, 73, 75, 76, 85, 86, 87, 91, 92, 96, 95, 104
101, 106, 109, 112, 114, 115, 118, 119, emotional distress, 96, 99, 101, 113
126, 129, 133 emotional experience, 39, 104
depressive symptom, 42, 43, 58, 78, 89, 91, emotional health, 91, 138
93, 113, 118 emotional intelligence, 107, 109, 110, 111,
depressive symptomatology, 58, 89 115, 116, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122
depressive symptoms, 42, 43, 78, 91, 93, emotional knowledge, 105
113, 118 emotional reactions, 106
deprivation, 5, 105 emotional regulation, 97, 104
despair, 72, 79, 86, 91 emotional responses, 106, 109
detachment, 7, 11, 22 emotional well-being, 54, 64
developmental change, vii, ix, 38, 44, 50, empathy, 31, 35
54, 55 environment, 10, 11, 20, 98
developmental stage, 72, 74, 76, 78, 81, 82, environmental, 5
83, 84, 86 environmental change, 5
diagnostic, 7, 28 Erikson, Erik, 72
diagnostic and statistical manual of mental evidence, ix, 3, 42, 54, 71, 73, 89, 90, 95,
disorders, 7 96, 97, 98, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105,
disclosure, 26, 27, 33, 104, 112 106, 107, 108, 109, 138
discrepancy, 4, 23, 40, 69, 70, 96 evil, 42
discrimination, x, 123, 125, 126, 127, 128, evolutionary, 5, 11, 97
130, 131, 132, 133, 136, 137, 138 exclusion, 75, 92
144 Index
existential, 5, 21, 22, 30, 36 guilt, 5, 13, 21, 72, 73, 76, 86
existential fear, 21
expectancy, 98
H
expectations, 8, 98, 109
experiential alienation, 17, 18, 22
happiness, 62
experiential isolation, 13, 19, 21, 27
hazards, 96
experiential loneliness, viii, 2, 13, 14, 19,
healing, 5, 25
20, 21, 22, 27, 28
health, ix, 3, 17, 28, 29, 32, 41, 42, 43, 45,
54, 59, 60, 61, 62, 67, 69, 86, 88, 91, 96,
F 102, 111, 113, 116, 119, 120, 121, 125,
126, 129, 131, 133, 135, 137, 138
failed intersubjectivity, 13, 22 health condition, 102
family, 4, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 25, 34, 35, 39, health problems, 43, 126, 129, 131
43, 44, 45, 59, 61, 71, 74, 78, 79, 81, 83, health psychology, 120, 121
93, 100, 102, 103, 110, 112, 113, 114, hollowness, 5
120, 137 homecoming, viii, 2, 8, 9, 12, 24, 27, 28, 34
family interactions, 110 homesickness, 5, 10, 11, 30
family members, 14, 25, 39, 45, 103 hopelessness, ix, 67, 69, 71, 79, 86, 89
fear, 19, 26, 72, 76 host, 58, 125, 129, 133
feelings, 7, 14, 16, 17, 19, 43, 57, 70, 71, human actions, 15
74, 75, 76, 77, 80, 81, 86, 99, 116, 133 human behavior, 110
Filipinos, 124 human condition, 23
five factor model’, 103 human development, 59, 98
forsakenness, 5 human existence, 35
friends, 4, 5, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16, 22, 25, 33, human experience, 8
39, 40, 44, 45, 47, 49, 61, 68, 71, 78, 79, human motivation, 28, 87, 89
81, 98, 102 human sciences, 33
friendship, 16, 46, 90, 102, 116
frustration, 98, 105
I
individuals, viii, ix, 3, 5, 14, 24, 37, 39, 40, isolation, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 15, 19, 21,
47, 52, 53, 55, 70, 73, 74, 75, 76, 78, 80, 23, 24, 27, 31, 35, 36, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48,
82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 95, 96, 97, 98, 100, 56, 58, 59, 60, 64, 72, 76, 77, 78, 86, 92,
101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 109, 110, 99, 101, 115, 118, 135, 136, 139
125, 135 Israel, 1, 27, 30, 35, 95, 120, 136
inferiority, 72, 73, 76, 86 issues, 2, 14, 43, 44, 46, 69, 86, 103, 124
influenza, 63
information and communication
K
technologies, 115
infrastructure, vii, viii, 2, 26, 106
kill, 43, 83
inner world, 52
kodoku-shi, 38
insecurity, 72
Koreans, 124
insomnia, 71, 88
institutional betrayals, 22, 28
institutions, 26 L
instrumental support, 102
integrity, 79, 85 language, x, 15, 16, 57
intelligence, 57, 107, 110, 111, 119, 120, proficiency, x, 123, 125, 127, 130, 131,
121, 122 132, 133
intensity, 4, 12, 23 language proficiency, x, 123, 125, 127, 130,
interactions, 98, 102 131, 132, 133
interdependence, 11 later life, viii, 37, 41, 44, 45, 47, 48, 50, 51,
internal-external discrepancy, 19, 23 52, 58, 63, 64, 87
internalization, 106 learning, 25, 26, 98, 139
internalizing, 106, 112 level of education, 130, 131
interpersonal, v, 13, 16, 23, 28, 35, 36, 69, life changes, 97
72, 73, 75, 77, 85, 87, 89, 92, 95, 96, 97, life cycle, 79, 88, 105
98, 99, 100, 102, 103, 104, 105, 107, life experiences, 98
108, 109, 112, 115, 116, 118, 119, 136 life satisfaction, 62, 116
abilities, 97 loneliness, v, vii, viii, ix, x, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
associations, 98, 104 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20,
interactions, 97 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32,
interpersonal communication, 108 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43,
interpersonal factors, 136 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54,
interpersonal interactions, 97 55, 56, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 67,
interpersonal relationships, 73, 85, 103, 104, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78,
105, 107, 118, 119 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89,
intervention, v, vii, viii, ix, 1, 2, 22, 24, 27, 90, 91, 92, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101,
56, 68, 83, 88, 89 102,
intimacy, 4, 53, 61, 68, 69, 72, 75, 76, 82, lonely, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19,
83, 85, 98, 114 21, 22, 24, 26, 38, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 53,
146 Index
55, 56, 70, 71, 74, 75, 81, 82, 85, 87, 89, misunderstanding, 16
92, 97, 98, 99, 100, 104, 107, 129 mobility, 100, 110
longevity, 60 model, 29, 49, 99, 103, 108
longitudinal study, 88, 89, 139 modern society, 114
longitudinally, 6 mood change, 81
loss, viii, 5, 12, 15, 16, 21, 30, 33, 35, 37, mood disorder, 42
47, 51, 52, 58, 78, 111 mortality, 3, 41, 58, 60, 62, 63, 87, 96, 136
love, 4, 10, 75, 76 motivation, 5, 28, 87, 89, 98, 114
multicultural ideology, x, 123, 126, 129,
130, 131, 134
M
multiculturalism, 126
multidimensional, 88
majority, 124, 127
multiple regression, 131
maladaptive perceptions, 5
maladaptive social cognitions, 24, 26
marshmallow study, 105 N
matter, 2, 35, 98, 102, 114, 135
meanings, 8, 16 narrative, 8, 9, 29, 35, 111
measurement, 28, 70, 138, 139 national academy of sciences, 87
media, 9, 77, 81, 100, 102, 111, 116 native population, 133
memoirs, 6 negative consequences, 124
mental, ix, 3, 12, 17, 20, 21, 28, 29, 30, 31, negative emotions, 41, 42, 43, 83
32, 34, 43, 45, 51, 52, 54, 57, 67, 69, 88, negative outcomes, 96
91, 102, 113, 116, 125, 126, 133, 137 neuroticism, 103
breakdown, 12, 30 nomenclature, 7
health problems, 31, 126 nuclear families, 38
mental disorder, 28, 57 nursing, 80, 81, 121, 122
mental health, ix, 3, 17, 28, 29, 31, 32, 43, nursing home, 80, 81, 121
45, 54, 67, 69, 88, 91, 102, 113, 116,
125, 126, 133, 137
O
mental health problems, 31, 126
mental health professionals, 3
objective, ix, 3, 4, 19, 39, 48, 67, 68, 69, 84,
mental illness, 21
96, 99
mental representation, 52
objective factors, 97
meta-analysis, 31, 33, 41, 46, 47, 63, 85, 90,
old age, 58, 60, 61, 79, 80
93, 118, 136
older adulthood, ix, 68, 79, 80, 86, 103
methodology, 46
older adults, viii, 30, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42,
middle adulthood, 77
43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54,
migrants, vii, x, 123, 125, 126, 127, 133,
55, 56, 59, 61, 62, 63, 65, 79, 80, 81, 89,
134, 136
90, 102, 113, 135, 137
military, 3, 10, 15, 16, 18, 21, 23, 25, 27,
opportunities, 20, 24, 26, 79, 83
28, 29, 30, 33, 34, 35, 90
ostracized, 5
Index 147
other, 4, 100, 102 Portuguese, x, 123, 124, 125, 127, 129, 130,
131, 132, 133, 134, 136, 137
positive, vii, ix, 4, 26, 38, 45, 51, 53, 54, 56,
P
62, 99, 106, 119, 129, 130, 134
positive emotions, ix, 38, 119
pain, 3, 10, 16, 23, 33, 97
positive relationship, 134
parental influence, 112
posttraumatic stress, viii, 1, 2, 6, 7, 12, 21,
parental relationships, 51
26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33
parental support, 73
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), viii,
parents, 11, 49, 50, 75, 77, 102, 121
1, 2, 6, 7, 12, 21, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32,
participants, 18, 46, 50, 103, 127, 130
33
peer, 7, 26, 29, 31, 32, 46, 74, 75, 84, 102,
post-war, vii, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 22, 23, 25,
111, 113, 116, 135
26
peer group, 84, 116
preference for solitude, vii, ix, 38, 52, 58,
peer influence, 75
64
peer rejection, 74
prevalence, 9, 27, 31, 38, 44, 50, 91, 92, 138
peer relationship, 29, 74
prevention, 76, 84, 85, 86
peer support, 26, 31, 32, 102
primary control strategies, viii, 37, 52
perceived, x, 4, 6, 19, 23, 24, 31, 35, 40, 41,
problem solving, 107
46, 59, 69, 70, 73, 78, 80, 86, 92, 110,
professional growth, 77
117, 122, 123, 124, 125, 127, 130, 131,
protection, ix, 11, 68, 82
133, 135, 137
protective, 6, 86, 102, 103, 107, 110, 115
discrimination, x, 123, 125, 127, 130,
protective role, 103, 115
131, 133, 137
psychiatric, 7, 21, 88, 115
social isolation, 24, 41
psychiatry, 6, 115, 119
social support, 6, 35
psychological, x, 13, 17, 22, 23, 33, 40, 41,
personal relationship, 52, 64, 124
42, 43, 46, 49, 52, 55, 56, 57, 59, 63, 64,
personality, 4, 39, 42, 43, 61, 86, 90, 103,
69, 89, 90, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101, 104, 105,
104, 106, 107, 111, 113, 117, 120, 135,
106, 108, 109, 113, 118, 123, 125, 126,
139
127, 130, 131, 133, 134, 139
phenomenon, ix, 5, 7, 15, 27, 30, 38, 44, 46,
psychological development, 105
47, 49, 55, 83, 95, 96, 99, 101
psychological distress, 133
philosophy, 6, 31, 33
psychological functions, 104
physical, viii, ix, 3, 16, 23, 33, 37, 41, 42,
psychological problems, x, 123, 130, 131,
43, 45, 47, 51, 54, 63, 67, 68, 77, 78, 79,
134
83, 91, 105, 116, 138
psychological processes, 43
health, 41, 42, 79
psychological well-being, 63, 90
physical health, 41, 42, 79
psychologists, 5, 42
polymorphic, 5
psychology, 6, 32, 33, 39, 49, 52, 60, 63, 64,
population, 12, 18, 26, 38, 89, 91, 133, 138
89, 90, 111, 113, 116, 117, 119, 120,
Portugal, v, vii, x, 123, 124, 129, 130, 133,
121, 125, 136, 139
134, 136, 137, 138
psychometric properties, 92
148 Index
psychopathology, 7, 21, 35, 71, 86, 117 retirement, viii, 37, 45, 47, 51, 97
psychosocial, vii, ix, 5, 60, 68, 72, 73, 74, risk factor, 29, 41, 43, 45, 47, 60, 63, 78, 84,
76, 77, 79, 85, 88 89, 91, 98, 118, 136, 138, 139
psychosocial development, vii, ix, 68, 72, Romania, 128
76, 77, 79 Romanian, v, vii, x, 123, 124, 127, 128,
psychosomatic, 126, 129 130, 131, 133, 134
immigrants, x, 123, 124, 127, 130, 131,
133, 134
Q
Romanian immigrants, x, 123, 124, 127,
130, 131, 133, 134
qualitatively, viii, 2, 4, 39
romantic relationship, 46, 59, 76
quantitative, 9, 27, 99, 124
R S
sadness, 124
reactions, 19, 27, 104
school, 49, 75, 102, 116, 118
recognition, 52, 54, 75, 105
second generation, 136
recommendations, vii, ix, 68
secondary control strategies, viii, 37, 52, 54
reconnection, 5, 6, 22, 24, 28
secondary education, 127
recovering, 6
SEF (Portuguese Immigration Service), 124
reintegration, 3, 6, 16, 18, 21, 24, 30
selective attention, 71
rejection, 74, 82, 98, 102, 116
selective optimization with compensation,
relatedness, 4, 110
51
relational deficits, vii, viii, 2, 20, 23
self-actualization, 69, 115
relational expectations, 4
self-alienation, 99
relational needs, 4, 5, 8, 17
self-concept, 51, 106, 113
relationships, viii, 4, 5, 10, 11, 23, 29, 30,
self-consciousness, 112
33, 34, 37, 39, 40, 42, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48,
self-definition, 106
49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 59, 61, 62, 63,
self-destructive behavior, 85
64, 68, 69, 70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79,
self-discovery, 53
80, 81, 84, 85, 89, 91, 102, 103, 104,
self-esteem, x, 42, 53, 61, 69, 70, 73, 114,
105, 107, 110, 111, 112, 113, 116, 118,
123, 126, 130, 131, 134, 139
119, 124, 126, 134
self-image, 138
relevance, 86, 101, 110
self-knowledge, 106
reliability, 46, 131
self-mutilation, 106
relief, 70, 106
self-rated loneliness, 102
religion, 130
self-regulation, 115
requirements, 69
self-worth, 18, 25
researchers, 11, 17, 39, 40, 42, 46, 47, 49,
severity, 4, 7, 12, 23
73, 98
shared experiences, 11, 12, 26
resources, 51, 97, 105, 122, 136
shared inner realities, 13
response, 8, 51, 101, 126
Index 149
subjective well-being, 38, 42, 43, 45, 47, 48, triggers, 46, 47, 48, 52
49, 51, 54, 56, 137 trust, 21, 22, 26, 32, 34, 72, 74, 85, 98, 120
subjectivity, 99
substitutions, 79
U
successful aging, 42, 51, 57
suicidal behavior, 17, 74, 89, 92
UCLA Loneliness Scale, 39, 61, 63, 64, 90,
suicidal ideation, 43, 73, 77, 82, 85, 89
117, 129, 137, 138
suicide, v, vii, ix, 3, 31, 32, 36, 43, 60, 67,
unique features, viii, 1, 25
69, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81,
unpleasant, 4, 39, 68, 96
83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 136
suicide attempts, 83, 86, 90
suicide rate, 76, 78 V
survival, 11, 97, 100
symptomatology, 7, 27 Veterans, vii, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13,
symptoms, 21, 28, 35, 42, 43, 78, 85, 111, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,
126, 129 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36
victimization, 102
victims, 23, 32
T Vietnam, 8, 12, 19, 32, 34