Table 2

Determinants of loneliness, social isolation and number of important people with whom individuals share regular contact: results of multiple linear regression

(1) Loneliness(2) Social isolation(3) Social network size
Care of grandchild: yes (reference category: no)
 		−0.06**
(0.02)		−0.04*
(0.02)		1.02***
(0.09)
Gender: female (reference category: male)
 		−0.13***
(0.02)		0.00
(0.02)		0.31***
(0.09)
Age in years
 		−0.01***
(0.00)		−0.00***
(0.00)		−0.01*
(0.01)
Marital status: married and living together with spouse (reference category: other (married, living separated from spouse, divorced, widowed, single))
 		−0.07***
(0.02)		−0.04
(0.02)		0.62***
(0.10)
Monthly net household income in Euros/1000
 		−0.03***
(0.01)		−0.05***
(0.01)		0.19***
(0.04)
Body mass index
 		−0.00*
(0.00)		−0.00
(0.00)		0.01
(0.01)
Physical activity: at least once a week (reference category: at least once a week)
 		0.03
(0.02)		−0.04*
(0.02)		0.51***
(0.09)
Self-rated health (1=very good to 5=very bad)
 		0.02
(0.01)		0.02
(0.01)		−0.24***
(0.06)
Number of physical illnesses (0–11)
 		0.02***
(0.00)		0.03***
(0.01)		0.10***
(0.03)
Depressive symptoms
 		0.02***
(0.00)		0.03***
(0.00)		−0.01
(0.01)
Constant
 		2.38***
(0.10)		1.76***
(0.12)		4.40***
(0.52)
Observations384938673923
R²0.130.140.08

  • Beta-coefficients are reported; robust standard errors in parentheses. Social isolation was measured using a scale by Bude and Lantermann (2006); values range from 1 to 4, with higher values reflecting higher perceived social isolation. Loneliness was measured using a short version (Gierveld and Van Tilburg, 2006) of the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (Gierveld and Kamphuls, 1985); values range from 1 to 4, with higher values reflecting higher perceived loneliness. Number of important people in regular contact ranges between 0 and 9. Depressive symptoms measured using the Centre for Epidemiological Depression Scale (CES-D), comprising 15 items (scores range from 0 to 45; higher scores refer to more severe depressive symptoms). In regression analysis, listwise deletion was used.

  • ***p<0.001, **p<0.01, *p<0.05, †p<0.10.