Table 3.
Correlates of loneliness, perceived social isolation and objective social isolation. Results of multiple logistic regressions
| (1) | (2) | (3) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Independent variables | Loneliness | Perceived social isolation | Objective social isolation |
| Sex—Women (Ref.: Men) | 0.74** (0.59–0.92) | 0.93 (0.78–1.11) | 0.86 (0.71–1.04) |
| Diverse | – | – | – |
| Age group: 30–39 years (Ref.: 18–29 years) | 0.78 (0.56–1.11) | 0.63*** (0.48–0.82) | 1.78*** (1.31–2.43) |
| 40–49 years | 0.83 (0.57–1.19) | 0.44*** (0.33–0.59) | 2.49*** (1.81–3.42) |
| 50–59 years | 0.58** (0.41–0.83) | 0.32*** (0.24–0.43) | 2.18*** (1.58–3.00) |
| 60 years and older | 0.61* (0.39–0.94) | 0.25*** (0.18–0.35) | 1.79** (1.23–2.61) |
| Children in own household—Yes (Ref.: No) | 1.18 (0.92–1.50) | 1.03 (0.85–1.25) | 0.61*** (0.49–0.75) |
| Marital status—Single (Ref.: married, living together with spouse single/divorced/widowed/) | 2.35*** (1.78–3.12) | 1.44*** (1.18–1.77) | 1.54*** (1.24–1.90) |
| Divorced | 2.71*** (1.69–4.34) | 1.46* (1.08–1.97) | 1.49** (1.10–2.02) |
| Widowed | 2.26* (1.12–4.56) | 0.94 (0.58–1.53) | 1.12 (0.67–1.86) |
| Married, not living together with spouse | 1.40 (0.84–2.32) | 1.44 + (0.96–2.16) | 0.85 (0.53–1.35) |
| Migration—Migration background (Ref.: no migration background) | 1.83** (1.25–2.67) | 1.43** (1.10–1.86) | 1.28+ (0.98–1.67) |
| Highest educational degree—qualification for applied upper secondary school (Ref.: upper secondary school) | 1.04 (0.74–1.46) | 1.01 (0.78–1.32) | 1.02 (0.75–1.37) |
| Polytechnic Secondary School | 0.75 (0.49–1.17) | 1.11 (0.77–1.58) | 1.27 (0.88–1.85) |
| Intermediate Secondary School | 1.07 (0.83–1.37) | 1.12 (0.92–1.37) | 1.34** (1.08–1.65) |
| Lower Secondary School | 1.09 (0.75–1.58) | 1.19 (0.91–1.58) | 1.63*** (1.23–2.16) |
| Currently in school training/education | – | 6.83+ (0.72–64.64) | – |
| Without school-leaving qualification | 0.30 (0.06–1.53) | 0.62 (0.15–2.63) | 2.87 (0.65–12.61) |
| Employment status—Retired (Ref.: Full-time employed) | 0.82 (0.57–1.18) | 1.13 (0.85–1.50) | 1.40* (1.05–1.87) |
| Other | 1.11 (0.87–1.42) | 1.38*** (1.15–1.67) | 1.26* (1.03–1.55) |
| Smoking—Yes, daily (Ref: Never smoker) | 0.89 (0.68–1.17) | 0.79* (0.64–0.98) | 0.95 (0.75–1.19) |
| Yes, sometimes | 1.18 (0.77–1.79) | 0.94 (0.70–1.27) | 1.06 (0.76–1.47) |
| No, not anymore | 0.97 (0.75–1.24) | 0.82+ (0.67–1.00) | 0.96 (0.77–1.19) |
| Sports activities—Less than one hour a week (Ref.: no sports activity) | 0.90 (0.66–1.23) | 1.10 (0.87–1.39) | 0.80 + (0.64–1.02) |
| Regularly, 1–2 h a week | 0.92 (0.68–1.25) | 0.89 (0.71–1.11) | 0.55*** (0.43–0.70) |
| Regularly, 2–4 h a week | 0.92 (0.66–1.28) | 0.86 (0.67–1.11) | 0.59*** (0.44–0.78) |
| Regularly, more than 4 h a week | 0.67* (0.48–0.94) | 0.79+ (0.60–1.03) | 0.66** (0.49–0.88) |
| Alcohol intake—Daily (Ref.: Never) | 1.35 (0.81–2.25) | 1.00 (0.69–1.44) | 0.53** (0.36–0.78) |
| Several times a week | 1.01 (0.72–1.43) | 0.86 (0.66–1.12) | 0.52*** (0.39–0.68) |
| Once a week | 1.11 (0.78–1.58) | 1.03 (0.79–1.35) | 0.54*** (0.40–0.72) |
| 1–3 times a month | 0.78 (0.56–1.09) | 0.83 (0.63–1.08) | 0.55*** (0.41–0.73) |
| Less often | 0.95 (0.70–1.31) | 0.76* (0.60–0.97) | 0.79+ (0.61–1.00) |
| Vaccinated against COVID-19: Yes (Ref.: No) | 0.86 (0.65–1.12) | 0.86 (0.70–1.06) | 0.81+ (0.66–1.01) |
| Chronic diseases: Presence of at least one chronic disease (Ref.: Absence of chronic diseases) | 0.87 (0.70–1.10) | 1.05 (0.88–1.26) | 0.96 (0.79–1.17) |
| Self-rated health (1 = very bad to 5 = very good) | 0.53*** (0.46–0.62) | 0.52*** (0.46–0.58) | 0.70*** (0.63–0.78) |
| Constant | 79.25*** (35.18–178.54) | 37.02*** (19.95–68.72) | 1.47 (0.79–2.74) |
| Observations | 3063 | 3072 | 3063 |
| Pseudo R2 | 0.077 | 0.097 | 0.103 |
Odds ratios are displayed. 95% CI in parentheses. ***p < 0.001, **p < 0.01, *p < 0.05, +p < 0.10; ‘Diverse’ sex and ‘currently in school training/education’ (except for the model with perceived social isolation as outcome measure) were dropped as both of them predict the outcomes perfectly. Individuals were classified as ‘lonely’ when their score was greater than 1. Analogously, individuals were classified as ‘socially isolated (perceived)’ when their score was greater than 1. Additionally, individuals were classified as ‘socially isolated (objective)’ when their score was below 12