Posttraumatic stress disorder and loneliness are associated over time: A longitudinal study on PTSD symptoms and loneliness, among older adults. (May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fox, Robert; McHugh Power, Joanna; Coogan, Andrew N.; Beekman, Aartjan T.F.; van Tilburg, Theo G.; Hyland, Philip
• Is Part Of: Psychiatry research. Volume 299(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-05
• Subjects: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) -- loneliness -- emotional loneliness -- social loneliness -- mental health; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- periodicals; Psychiatrie -- Périodiques; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113846
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0165-1781

Abstract

Highlights: Loneliness was associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms at both time points. Social loneliness was longitudinally associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms. Emotional loneliness was longitudinally associated with posttraumatic stress symptoms. This relationship may be bidirectional. Findings may be beneficial to clinicians who are treating older adults. Abstract: Loneliness has a pernicious effect on mental health in later life and is likely to have a bidirectional relationship with psychopathology. However, longitudinal research examining loneliness and posttraumatic stress symptoms among older adults is scarce. This study aimed to examine the longitudinal relationship between different types of loneliness (social and emotional) and posttraumatic stress symptoms. Using two waves of an older adult sample ( n = 1, 276) from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA), this longitudinal relationship was examined using a multivariate two wave-latent change score (2W-LCS) model. There were significant, however, very small increases in both posttraumatic stress symptoms and emotional loneliness over time, whereas, average social loneliness scores did not significantly increase/decrease over time. Changes in both social (β = .16) and emotional loneliness (β = .15) were associated with small changes in posttraumatic stress symptoms, consistent with the existence of a longitudinal association between the constructs, net of covariate effects. Results provide evidence of the existence of a longitudinal association between subtypes of loneliness and posttraumatic stress symptoms, among older adults. Results have implications for clinicians who should identify individuals at risk of developing posttraumatic stress symptoms, and for the theory of both posttraumatic stress disorder and loneliness.