Which social exclusion indicators were linked to loneliness across four Nordic countries?

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Several factors associated with loneliness are also considered indicators of social exclusion. Loneliness has been proposed as an outcome of social exclusion, but empirical evidence of a link is limited. The study examined associations between social exclusion indicators and loneliness among adults aged 60 and older in four Nordic countries.

Researchers pooled four waves of the European Social Survey, totaling 7,755 respondents: 1,647 in Denmark, 2,501 in Finland, 1,540 in Norway and 2,067 in Sweden. They selected survey measures of loneliness, demographic characteristics, health and eight social exclusion indicators for analysis. They developed hierarchical logistic regression models of loneliness for each country and for the total sample.

Adding social exclusion indicators significantly improved every model compared with models containing only demographic and health variables. Country models explained between 15.1% of the variance in loneliness in Finland and 21.5% in Sweden. Less frequent social contact and living alone rather than in a two-person household were associated with a higher probability of loneliness in all countries. Other indicators were associated with loneliness in specific countries: lower neighbourhood safety in Sweden and Denmark, income concern in Sweden and Finland, and no emotional support in Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

The relationship between social exclusion indicators and loneliness appeared robust, with highly consistent directions of association across countries, although their strength and statistical significance varied. The researchers concluded that social exclusion has considerable potential for understanding and addressing risk factors for loneliness.