Loneliness and Its Association with Physical Health Conditions and Psychiatric Hospitalizations in People with Serious Mental Illness

Overview

Journal Soc Work Ment Health

Publisher Routledge

Date 2020 Sep 25

PMID 32973412

Citations 5

Authors

Karen L Fortuna

Eugene Brusilovskiy

Gretchen Snethen

Jessica M Brooks

Greg Townley

Mark S Salzer

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: Explore the association between loneliness and psychiatric hospitalizations, functioning, and physical health conditions in people with serious mental illness.

Methods: Data were included from 349 individuals with serious mental illnesses, aged 18+ years, who participated in two consecutive cross-sectional survey studies conducted between 2013 and 2018.

Results: A higher number of psychiatric hospitalizations in the past six months was associated with greater loneliness. The Short-Form-12 mental component score was a highly significant correlate, accounting for a significant amount of variance in loneliness scores. The physical component score and the bodily pain subdomain of the Short-Form-12 were also significantly associated with loneliness, with individuals with lower physical functioning and greater bodily pain reporting more loneliness. Having a higher total number of health conditions, higher total number of conditions that cause pain, and the presence of at least one respiratory condition were found to be associated with greater loneliness.

Discussion: Loneliness may be an important dimension of health as related to health conditions associated with pain, functioning, and psychiatric hospitalizations among people with serious mental illness. These finding reinforce the powerful role of socio-cultural and environmental factors in shaping whole health in people with serious mental illness.

Citing Articles

Loneliness and pain among community-dwelling middle-aged and older Black, Latino, and White adults in the United States.

Camacho D, Burnette D, Aranda M, Moxley J, Lukens E, Reid M Front Public Health. 2024; 12:1429739.

PMID: 39377004 PMC: 11457733. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1429739.

Investigating the Fidelity of Digital Peer Support: A Preliminary Approach using Natural Language Processing to Scale High-Fidelity Digital Peer Support.

Kadakia A, Preum S, Bohm A, Fortuna K Biomed Eng Syst Technol Int Jt Conf BIOSTEC Revis Sel Pap. 2024; 2023:581-592.

PMID: 39280019 PMC: 11398714. DOI: 10.5220/0011776500003414.

Associations between recorded loneliness and adverse mental health outcomes among patients receiving mental healthcare in South London: a retrospective cohort study.

Parmar M, Ma R, Attygalle S, Herath M, Mueller C, Stubbs B Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2024; 59(12):2155-2164.

PMID: 38622311 PMC: 11522161. DOI: 10.1007/s00127-024-02663-9.

Social Withdrawal, Loneliness, and Health in Schizophrenia: Psychological and Neural Mechanisms.

Fulford D, Holt D Schizophr Bull. 2023; 49(5):1138-1149.

PMID: 37419082 PMC: 10483452. DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbad099.

Assessing a digital peer support self-management intervention for adults with serious mental illness: feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness.

Fortuna K, Myers A, Ferron J, Kadakia A, Bianco C, Bruce M J Ment Health. 2022; 31(6):833-841.

PMID: 35088619 PMC: 9329481. DOI: 10.1080/09638237.2021.2022619.

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