This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by van Tilburg, T. Articles by Marsiglia, D. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Social Integration and Loneliness: A Comparative Study among Older Adults in the Netherlands and Tuscany, Italy

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, tilburgtgvan{at}scw.vu.nl

Jenny de Jong Gierveld

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Laura Lecchini

University of Pisa, Italy

Donatella Marsiglia

University of Pisa, Italy

On the average, older adults in Italy are lonelier than those in the Netherlands. The results of a study by Jylha & Jokela (1990) showed that loneliness was more prevalent in regions of Europe where living alone was rarest and where community bonds were strongest. This inverse macro-level association, an increasing proportion of lonely older people and a decreasing proportion of older people who live alone from northern to southern Europe, could not be explained by differences in individual social integration. The aim of the present study was to reinvestigate this association. The data were from surveys conducted in the Netherlands (N = 3750) and northwestern Tuscany, Italy (N = 1543). Fewer older adults lived alone in Tuscany than in the Netherlands, which indicates that the Dutch were less integrated. As regards their participation in social organizations and personal networks, the Tuscan older adults were less integrated. To a large extent, loneliness among the Dutch and Tuscans based on differences in social integration could be similarly explained, and regional loneliness differences could be attributed to individual situations and characteristics:

Key Words: aged • cross-cultural differences • loneliness • social integration • social networks

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Vol. 15, No. 6, 740-754 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/0265407598156002


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. de Jong Gierveld, M. Broese van Groenou, A. W. Hoogendoorn, and J. H. Smit Quality of Marriages in Later Life and Emotional and Social Loneliness J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci, July 1, 2009; 64B(4): 497 - 506. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. de Jong Gierveld and G. O. Hagestad Perspectives on the Integration of Older Men and Women Research on Aging, November 1, 2006; 28(6): 627 - 637. [Abstract] [PDF]

				N. Stevens and G. J. Westerhof Marriage, Social Integration, and Loneliness in the Second Half of Life: A Comparison of Dutch and German Men and Women Research on Aging, November 1, 2006; 28(6): 713 - 729. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. de Jong Gierveld and D. Perlman Long-Standing Nonkin Relationships of Older Adults in the Netherlands and the United States Research on Aging, November 1, 2006; 28(6): 730 - 748. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J. D. J. Gierveld and T. V. Tilburg A 6-Item Scale for Overall, Emotional, and Social Loneliness: Confirmatory Tests on Survey Data Research on Aging, September 1, 2006; 28(5): 582 - 598. [Abstract] [PDF]

				S. Duck Reflections on 15 Years of Editing of JSPR Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, December 1, 1998; 15(6): 859 - 860.