Advances in medicine enable more Americans to live longer, but unfortunately many are living lonelier as increasing numbers of older people outlive partners in important social relationships. For many, the golden years are becoming cold years of social isolation and loneliness. This past July, Division faculty launched a major, five year, interdisciplinary research project to study the inter-relationships among social isolation, physical and emotional well-being. With a $7.5 million grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, the project Social Isolation, Loneliness, Health and the Aging Process seeks to expand knowledge of the social and biological causes and effects of loneliness. The project is the first to integrate psychological, sociological, and biological research methods to identify interactions among these levels of analysis and the specific mechanisms through which they produce effects. .
The project will be directed by John T. Cacioppo, the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor in Psychology and co-director of the Institute for Mind and Biology. Members of the Steering Committee include Martha K. McClintock, the David Lee Shillinglaw Distinguished Service Professor in Psychology and co-director of the Institute for Mind and Biology, Linda J. Waite, Professor in Sociology and director of the NORC/UC Center on Aging, and Ronald A. Thisted, Professor in Statistics and Health Studies. .
Three component studies of the project will aim to identify both predictors and adverse health effects of loneliness. One, a longitudinal study of individuals aged 50-64, will measure the stability of subjects" perception of loneliness over time, and seek to identify social, psychological and biological factors that influence changes in perceived loneliness. The study will also track the effects of loneliness on behavioral and physiological mechanisms associated with poor health, specifically blood pressure, cortisol levels, sleep disturbance and health behaviors.