Loneliness in adulthood exhibits a U-shaped pattern, peaking in early and older adulthood and lowest in middle adulthood. This finding comes from a new study by Northwestern Medicine, which analyzed nine longitudinal studies from around the world. “What was striking was how consistent the uptick in loneliness is in older adulthood,” said Eileen Graham, the study’s corresponding author and an associate professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

The study, recently published in Psychological Science, also explored several risk factors contributing to heightened loneliness across all stages of life. “There’s a wealth of evidence that loneliness is related to poorer health, so we wanted to better understand who is lonely and why people are becoming lonelier as they age out of midlife so we can hopefully start finding ways to mitigate it,” added Graham.
The Health Risks of Loneliness

Loneliness can elevate the risk of premature death to levels comparable to those posed by daily smoking, according to the U.S. Surgeon General. This statement was made a year ago when a call to action was issued to fight America’s loneliness epidemic. Graham believes her findings highlight the need for targeted interventions to reduce loneliness, especially among older adults. She suggests that general practitioners could assess loneliness during regular wellness visits to identify those at greatest risk.


Corresponding author Eileen Graham, associate professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, summarizes the findings of her new study. Credit: Kristin Samuelson, Northwestern University

Persistent Loneliness: Risk Factors

The study found individuals with higher persistent loneliness were disproportionately women, more isolated, less educated, had lower income, had more functional limitations, were divorced or widowed, were smokers, or had poorer cognitive, physical, or mental health.