TY  - JOUR
AU  - Beller, Johannes
AU  - Wagner, Adina Svenja
TI  - Loneliness and Health: The Moderating Effect of Cross-cultural Individualism/Collectivism
JO  - Journal of aging and health
VL  - 32
IS  - 10
SN  - 0898-2643
CY  - London [u.a.]
PB  - Sage Publ.
M1  - FZJ-2020-02435
SP  - 1516-1527
PY  - 2020
AB  - Objectives: The adverse health effects of loneliness are well documented, but less is known about cultural moderators of this relationship. Contributing to the literature, we examined whether cross-cultural differences in individualism moderate the effect of loneliness on health. Methods: We used population-based longitudinal data of 14 countries (N = 40,797), as provided by the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe data. Multilevel regression analyses were employed. Moderating effects were analyzed for multiple health outcomes: activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, grip strength, life satisfaction, depression, memory performance, verbal fluency, and numeracy. Results: Cultural individualism significantly moderated the effect of loneliness on health regarding most health outcomes. In general, the effect of loneliness on health became stronger in less individualistic/more collectivistic countries. Discussion: Cultural individualism proved to be one important moderator of the loneliness–health relationship. As previous studies mostly used samples from highly individualistic countries, the current literature might severely underestimate the global public health burden of loneliness.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - 32723203
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000558585400001
DO  - DOI:10.1177/0898264320943336
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/877747
ER  -