Annotated Bibliography

Carmichael, C. L., Reis, H. T., & Duberstein, P. R. (2015). In your 20s it’s quantity, in your 30s

it’s quality: The prognostic value of social activity across 30 years of adulthood.

Psychology and Aging, 30(1), 95-105. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pag0000014.

In a longitudinal study involving 133 adults, researchers examined how social

interactions between age 20 and age 30 would affect midlife social experiences and

psychological outcomes. Results revealed that higher quantity and quality of social activities in

early adulthood were significantly predictive of better social integration, friendship quality, and

psychological outcomes– greater wellbeing and lower loneliness levels– at age 50. This peer-

reviewed article seems to suggest that positive social interaction in early adulthood potentially

promote psychosocial functioning in middle adulthood life and resilience.

DiSalvo, D. (2014). Study: Loneliness isn't a symptom, it's a disease. Forbes. Retrieved from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2014/11/30/study-loneliness-isnt-a-symptom-

its-a-disease/#342dc05a2330.

Although loneliness is often considered as a symptom of mental illnesses or physical

problems, John Cacioppo, a founder of the social neuroscience field and loneliness expert,

mentions it is a disease. He argues that lonely brain is structurally and biochemically different

from non-lonely brain since lonely brain show suppressed neural response to positive stimuli,

like social contact with friends or family, and less activity when attempting to predict what

others are thinking tuned-down ability to mentalize as a means of “social self-preservation”

against the impact of receiving bad news from others. Even though Forbes might not be as

reliable as peer-reviewed journal articles, the topic discussed in this article is really interesting.

This will be helpful to discuss the future treatment of chronic loneliness in my conclusion.
Doane, L. D., & Adam, E. K. (2010). Loneliness and cortisol: momentary, day-to-day, and trait

associations. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 35(3), 430–441.

doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.08.005

In a community sample of young adults, researchers examine whether feelings of

loneliness were related to changes in levels of the stress-sensitive hormone cortisol due to the

HPA axis. Results indicated both daily and momentary state variations in loneliness were related

to cortisol levels and prior-day feelings of loneliness were associated with an increased cortisol

awakening response the next morning and momentary experiences of loneliness. I will use this

information to explain why young adults feel lonely.

Lee, C. S., & Goldstein, S. E. (2016). Loneliness, stress, and social support in young adulthood:

Does the source of support matter? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 45(3), 568-580.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10964-015-0395-9.

In an empirical study with a sample of 636 ethnically-diverse adults at the age of 18 to

25, researchers investigated the effects of social support on loneliness with stress by using the

Perceived Stress Control. Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support and UCLA

Loneliness Scale to measure perceived stress levels, sources of social support, and loneliness,

respectively. The results demonstrated social support from friends would buffer the association

between loneliness and stress, while the researchers also found the negative correlation between

social support from a friend or romantic partners and one’s loneliness levels. I consider the study

reliable because of the large sample size and well-known questionnaire to measure stress and

loneliness. I will use this data to explain one of the reasons for some adults struggling with

loneliness.
Lee, E., Depp, C., Palmer, B., Glorioso, D., Daly, R., Liu, J., . . . Jeste, D. (2018). High

prevalence and adverse health effects of loneliness in community-dwelling adults across

the lifespan: Role of wisdom as a protective factor. International Psychogeriatrics, 1-16.

doi:10.1017/S1041610218002120.

Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosciences and director of the UC San Diego Center for

Healthy Aging found that levels of loneliness changes across adulthood, but it is particularly

acute during three age periods: late-20s, mid-50s and late 80s based on the data of UCLA

Loneliness Scale and self-reported measure of social isolation from 340 participants aged 27 to

101. There were no sex differences in loneliness prevalence, severity and age relationship. I will

use these findings in an introduction to discuss possible factors of increasing loneliness levels

among adults in specific age periods.

Luhmann, M., & Hawkley, L. C. (2016). Age difference in loneliness from late adolescence to

oldest old age. Developmental Psychology, 52(6), 943-959.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/dev0000117.

In cross-sectional research, researchers investigated the distribution of age differences in

loneliness with the UCLA Loneliness Scale from nationally representative German sample

(16,132) and also examined the association between loneliness levels and living circumstances,

social engagement, social interaction, functional limitation, or income level. The results revealed

that loneliness levels are distributed unevenly across the life span – higher among young adults

and the oldest old. Especially, an increase in loneliness during late adulthood will be due to their

functional limitations, single lives, and lower-income. This article seems highly reliable since the

researcher succeeded in collecting a large amount of data and statistically identifying possible
variables to explain loneliness levels. I will use this information to discuss how loneliness levels

change from early to late adulthood.

Malle, B. (2019). Theory of mind. In R. Biswas-Diener & E. Diener (Eds), Noba textbook series:

Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF publishers. Retrieved from http://noba.to/a8wpytg3

Theory of mind is a social cognitive ability to interpret and empathize with people’

behaviors of mental state. People enjoying interaction with their partners are more likely to

synchronize behaviors each other, and vice versa – even in manipulated settings. The possible

explanation of their synchronicity is that the brain mechanism would strengthen linkage between

perceptual information and motor information. This is very helpful information to explain why

people cannot understand others truly.

Matthews, G.A., Nieh, E.H., Weele, C. M. V., Halbert, S.A, Pradhan, R.V., Yosafat, A. S. …

Tye, K.M (2016). Dorsal Raphe Dopamine Neurons Represent the Experience of Social

Isolation. Cell, 164 (4), 617-631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2015.12.040.

In this experimental study, researchers found that social isolation affects the activation of

dopaminergic and serotonergic neurons, which are key to our emotional well-being. They

explained that dopaminergic neurons in a brain (the dorsal raphe nucleus) respond to acute social

isolation and motivate us to interact with other people. Also, serotonergic neurons will be

involved in social isolation response because alternated serotonergic neurons after chronic social

isolation block the SK channels and treat depressive behaviors of isolated mice. I will use this

information to explain loneliness from physiological perspectives.

Segrin, C., Burje, T. J., & Badger, T. (2016). Loneliness, Relationship, and Health. In A. Rokach

(Ed.), The Correlates of Loneliness (pp. 128-155). Retrieved from

 http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.loras.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1

511867&site=ehost-live.

In this article, researchers mention that loneliness is a form of psychological distress that

may aggravate (worsen) the psychological and physical health of cancer survivors and their

supportive partners (caregiver). Loneliness is a common problem in cancer patients, but as their

disease progresses to advanced and then terminal stages levels of loneliness increases even in

caregivers. The psychological distress of supportive partners reduces their abilities to provide

social support to survivors during illness. I will use this possible factor of the reason why adults

aged 50 and 80 experience severe loneliness.

Stocker, C. M., Gilligan, M., Klopack, E. T., Conger, K. J., Lanthier, R. P., Neppl, T. K., . . .

Wickrama, K. A. S. (2019). Sibling relationships in older adulthood: Links with

loneliness and well-being. Journal of Family Psychology,

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fam0000586.

In this paper, the researcher examined sibling relationships in later life and the

association among sibling relationships, loneliness, and well-being. They collected self-report

data on the UCLA Loneliness Scale and ASRQ-VS, a measurement of sibling intimacy levels,

from 806 older adults. The results revealed that older adults would feel lonelier as the levels of

sibling closeness and intimacy decreased. The data seems reliable because of the large sample

size and well-designed scales. I will use this evidence of a negative association between lonliness

and sibling warmth to claim a possible social factor of increasing loneliness levels among older

people.
von Soest, T., Luhmann, M., Hansen, T., & Gerstorf, D. (2018). Development of loneliness in

midlife and old age: Its nature and correlates. Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000219.

In a study about how adults develop their loneliness across the second half of life,

researchers assessed the developmental factors and potential predictors of loneliness in middle

life and old age by analyzing the data from the population-based NorLAG study, which covers

direct/indirect loneliness measures, SES, physical health and social relationships, and personality

of more than 5,000 participants aged 40 to 80. As a result, loneliness levels for women kept

increasing but for men followed a U-shaped curve with the peaks at 40 and 80. I think the

information is credible because of the peer-review article. I plan to use the data to mention the

development of loneliness in middle adulthood.

The World Health Organization. (2018). Healthy life expectancy (HALE). Retrieved from

http://apps.who.int/gho/data/view.main.HALEXv?lang=en.

The data shows healthy life expectancy at birth across the world in 2018. Singapore,

Japan, Spain, and other European countries have higher healthy life expectancy than the U.S.

This data is very credible because the sources come from WHO. Since healthy life expectancy

indicates ages of people who can independently live without receiving any daily care or

treatments for their diseases, I think countries with higher life expectancy may show different

changes in loneliness levels from American ones across adulthood.

Wright, W. (2017). Loneliness is literally killing us. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruh6rN5UrME.

Will Wrights, a healthcare tech entrepreneur, defines being alone as a choice and good

but loneliness as not a choice but a “fundamental mismatch between the relationships that we
have and what we want.” Loneliness is killing us since it puts us at greater risk of diabetes,

depression, and other mental illnesses.” A meta-analysis of 70 peer-review journal articles,

loneliness is as risky to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes each day. I will use this information

to clarify why loneliness matters.