• Posted April 22, 2025

Loneliness More Common Among Middle-Aged In U.S.

TUESDAY, April 22, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Loneliness among seniors has been a huge concern among experts on aging as social isolation increases risk of dementia, health problems, psychological disorders and deaths.

But a new study suggests that, at least in the U.S., that concern has been somewhat misplaced.

Middle-aged people in the United States experience more loneliness than seniors, researchers reported today in the journal Aging and Mental Health.

The Netherlands is the only other country where loneliness is more concentrated among the middle-aged than seniors, according to the study’s review of more than 64,000 people in 29 countries.

“There is a general perception that people get lonelier as they age, but the opposite is actually true in the U.S. where middle-aged people are lonelier than older generations,” lead researcher Robin Richardson, a social and psychiatric epidemiologist and assistant professor at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, said in a news release.

“Advocacy and interventions to address the loneliness epidemic have historically focused on older adults and adolescents,” she added. “Middle-aged adults represent a critical population that is being overlooked.”

For the study, researchers assessed data from surveys conducted in Europe, the Middle East and North America that included a three-question loneliness scale developed by UCLA.

Results showed that loneliness generally increased with age, with the most substantial increases in the Eastern European countries Bulgaria and Latvia.

Adults in Cyprus and Greece had the most lonely people between the broad age range of 50 to 90, researchers found.

But in the U.S., loneliness was reported more often among people in their 50s and early 60s, results show.

Being unmarried or unemployed were major reasons why loneliness varied with age around the world, along with depression and poor health, researchers found.

In the U.S., not working was the top reason for loneliness among middle-aged adults, the study says.

However, researchers found that about 20% of loneliness could not be explained by the factors considered in the study, and this unexplained loneliness tended to concentrate in middle-aged adults.

Middle-aged folks might find it harder to socialize because they must work and care for both their young children and their aging parents, cutting back on their leisure time, researchers speculated.

This could be compounded in the U.S. by a lack of social supports and the high cost of care.

“Our findings show that loneliness is not just a late-life issue,” senior researcher Esteban Calvo, dean of social sciences and arts at Universidad Mayor in Chile, said in a news release. “In fact, many middle-aged adults — often juggling work, caregiving, and isolation — are surprisingly vulnerable and need targeted interventions just as much as older adults.”

His prescription?

“Globally, we must extend depression screenings to middle-aged groups, improve support for those not working or unmarried, and adapt these efforts to each country’s context — because a one-size-fits-all approach will not solve this worldwide problem,” Calvo said.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about loneliness and social isolation.

SOURCE: Emory University, news release, April 22, 2025