Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T16:15:24.777Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Loneliness, socio-economic status and quality of life in old age: the moderating role of housing tenure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2017

AGNES SZABO ,
JOANNE ALLEN ,
FIONA ALPASS  and
CHRISTINE STEPHENS
AGNES SZABO*
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Massey University, Manawatuū, New Zealand.
JOANNE ALLEN
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Massey University, Manawatuū, New Zealand.
FIONA ALPASS
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Massey University, Manawatuū, New Zealand.
CHRISTINE STEPHENS
Affiliation:
School of Psychology, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Massey University, Manawatuū, New Zealand.
*
Address for correspondence: Agnes Szabo, School of Psychology, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Massey University, Manawatuū, 4442, New Zealand E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The study investigated housing tenure as a factor moderating the effects of loneliness and socio-economic status (SES) on quality of life (control and autonomy, pleasure, and self-realisation) over a two-year period for older adults. Data from the 2010 and 2012 waves of the New Zealand Health, Work, and Retirement Study were analysed. Using case-control matching, for each tenant (N = 332) we selected a home-owner (N = 332) of the same age, gender, ethnicity, SES, working status and urban/rural residence. Structural equation modelling was employed to examine the impact of SES, housing tenure and loneliness on quality of life over time. Emotional loneliness exerted a significant negative main effect on control and autonomy and pleasure. Tenure and SES influenced control and autonomy, but not pleasure or self-realisation. Tenure moderated the effect of emotional loneliness on control and autonomy, with the negative effect of emotional loneliness weaker for home-owners compared to renters. Tenure moderated the effect of SES on control and autonomy, with the positive impact of SES stronger for home-owners. Findings suggest that owners capitalise on their material and financial resources more than tenants in terms of their quality of life. In addition, home-ownership can act as a protective factor against the harmful effects of emotional loneliness in old age.

Keywords

bufferemotional lonelinesshome-ownershipquality of liferentingsocial lonelinesssocio-economic status
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 39 , Issue 5 , May 2019 , pp. 998 - 1021
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andersen, H. S. 2011. Motives for tenure choice during the life cycle: the importance of non-economic factors and other housing preferences. Housing, Theory and Society, 28, 2, 183–207.Google Scholar
Andrews, D. and Sánchez, A. C. 2011. The evolution of homeownership rates in selected OECD countries: demographic and public policy influences. OECD Journal: Economic Studies, 1, 1, 1–37.Google Scholar
Badland, H., Foster, S., Bentley, R., Higgs, C., Roberts, R., Pettit, C. and Giles-Corti, B. 2017. Examining associations between area-level spatial measures of housing with selected health and wellbeing behaviours and outcomes in an urban context. Health and Place, 43, 17–24.Google Scholar
Baker, E. H. 2014. Socioeconomic status, definition. In Cockerham, W. C., Dingwall, R. and Quah, S. R. (eds), The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Health, Illness, Behavior, and Society. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, West Sussex, UK, 2210–4.Google Scholar
Baker, E., Bentley, R. and Mason, K. 2013. The mental health effects of housing tenure: causal or compositional? Urban Studies, 50, 2, 426–42.Google Scholar
Bierre, S., Howden-Chapman, P., Signal, L. and Cunningham, C. 2007. Institutional challenges in addressing healthy low-cost housing for all: learning from past policy. Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, 30, 42–64.Google Scholar
Bowling, A., Seetai, S., Morris, R. and Ebrahim, S. 2007. Quality of life among older people with poor functioning. The influence of perceived control over life. Age and Ageing, 36, 3, 310–5.Google Scholar
Brimblecombe, N., Dorling, D. and Shaw, M. 1999. Where the poor die in a rich city: the case of Oxford. Health and Place, 5, 4, 287–300.Google Scholar
Bucchianeri, G. W. 2011. The American Dream or the American Delusion? Available online at policylinkcontent.s3.amazonaws.com/AmericanDreamOrAmericanDelusion_Wharton_1.pdf [Accessed 20 February 2017].Google Scholar
Burnholt, V. and Windle, G. 2001. Literature Review for the Strategy of Older People in Wales. The Centre for Social Policy Research and Development, The Institute of Medical and Social Care Research, University of Wales, Bangor, UK.Google Scholar
Cacioppo, J. T. and Hawkley, L. C. 2009. Perceived social isolation and cognition. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 13, 10, 447–54.Google Scholar
Cacioppo, J. T., Hughes, M. E., Waite, L. J., Hawkley, L. C. and Thisted, R. A. 2006. Loneliness as a specific risk factor for depressive symptoms: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Psychology and Aging, 21, 1, 140–51.Google Scholar
Cairney, J. and Boyle, M. H. 2004. Home ownership, mortgages and psychological distress. Housing Studies, 19, 2, 161–74.Google Scholar
Clinton, M. and Anderson, L. R. 1999. Social and emotional loneliness: gender differences and relationships with self-monitoring and perceived control. Journal of Black Psychology, 25, 1, 61–77.Google Scholar
Costa-Font, J. 2008. Housing assets and the socio-economic determinants of health and disability in old age. Health and Place, 14, 3, 478–91.Google Scholar
Courtin, E., Dowd, J. and Avendano, M. 2017. The mental health benefits of acquiring a home in older age: a fixed-effects analysis of older Americans. American Journal of Epidemiology. Published online, 11 August 2017, doi:10.1093/aje/kwx278.Google Scholar
Crane, M. and Warnes, A. M. 2010. Homelessness among older people and service responses. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 20, 4, 354–63.Google Scholar
Dahlberg, L. and McKee, K. J. 2014. Correlates of social and emotional loneliness in older people: evidence from an English community study. Aging and Mental Health, 18, 4, 504–14.Google Scholar
de Jong Gierveld, J. 1998. A review of loneliness: concept and definitions, determinants and consequences. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 8, 1, 73–80.Google Scholar
de Jong Gierveld, J., van Groenou, M. B., Hoogendoorn, A. W. and Smit, J. H. 2009. Quality of marriages in later life and emotional and social loneliness. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 64, 4, 497–506.Google Scholar
Dunn, J. R. 2000. Housing and health inequalities: review and prospects for research. Housing Studies, 15, 3, 341–66.Google Scholar
Dupuis, A. and Thorns, D. C. 1998. Home, home ownership and the search for ontological security. The Sociological Review, 46, 1, 24–47.Google Scholar
Ellaway, A. and Macintyre, S. 1998. Does housing tenure predict health in the UK because it exposes people to different levels of housing related hazards in the home or its surroundings? Health and Place, 4, 2, 141–50.Google Scholar
Fergusson, D., Hong, B., Horwood, J., Jensen, J. and Travers, P. 2001. Living Standards of Older New Zealanders: A Technical Account. Ministry of Social Policy, Wellington.Google Scholar
Foye, C., Clapham, D. and Gabrieli, T. 2017. Home-ownership as a social norm and positional good: subjective wellbeing evidence from panel data. Urban Studies. Published online, 8 March 2017, doi:10.1177/0042098017695478.Google Scholar
Garin, N., Olaya, B., Miret, M., Ayuso-Mateos, J. L., Power, M., Bucciarelli, P. and Haro, J. M. 2014. Built environment and elderly population health: a comprehensive literature review. Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health, 10, 103–15.Google Scholar
Gibson, M., Petticrew, M., Bambra, C., Sowden, A. J., Wright, K. E. and Whitehead, M. 2011. Housing and health inequalities: a synthesis of systematic reviews of interventions aimed at different pathways linking housing and health. Health and Place, 17, 1, 175–84.Google Scholar
Gollwitzer, M., Christ, O. and Lemmer, G. 2014. Individual differences make a difference: on the use and the psychometric properties of difference scores in social psychology. European Journal of Social Psychology, 44, 7, 673–82.Google Scholar
Gurney, C. M. 1995. Meaning of Home and Home Ownership: Myths, Histories, and Experiences. University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.Google Scholar
Harris, T., Cook, D. G., Victor, C., Rink, E., Mann, A. H., Shah, S., DeWilde, S. and Beighton, C. 2003. Predictors of depressive symptoms in older people – a survey of two general practice populations. Age and Ageing, 32, 5, 510–8.Google Scholar
Howden-Chapman, P. L., Chandola, T., Stafford, M. and Marmot, M. 2011. The effect of housing on the mental health of older people: the impact of lifetime housing history in Whitehall II. BMC Public Health, 11, 1, 682–90.Google Scholar
Hu, L. T. and Bentler, P. M. 1999. Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6, 1, 1–55.Google Scholar
Iwarsson, S., Wahl, H. W., Nygren, C., Oswald, F., Sixsmith, A., Sixsmith, J., Széman, Z. and Tomsone, S. 2007. Importance of the home environment for healthy aging: conceptual and methodological background of the European ENABLE–AGE Project. The Gerontologist, 47, 1, 78–84.Google Scholar
Jensen, J., Spittal, M. and Krishnan, V. 2005. ELSI Short Form. User Manual for a Direct Measure of Living Standards. Centre for Social Research and Evaluation, Te Pokapü Rangahau Arotaki Hapori, Wellington. Available online at www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/monitoring/living-standards/elsi-short-form.html [Accessed 25 March 2017].Google Scholar
Jose, P. E. 2013. ModGraph-I: A Program to Compute Cell Means for the Graphical Display of Moderational Analyses: The Internet Version, Version 3.0. Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington. Available online at http://pavlov.psyc.vuw.ac.nz/paul-jose/modgraph/ [Accessed 3 October 2016].Google Scholar
Kavanagh, A. M., Aitken, Z., Baker, E., LaMontagne, A. D., Milner, A. and Bentley, R. 2016. Housing tenure and affordability and mental health following disability acquisition in adulthood. Social Science and Medicine, 151, 225–32 .Google Scholar
Kearns, A., Hiscock, R., Ellaway, A. and McIntyre, S. 2000. ‘Beyond four walls’. The psycho-social benefits of home: evidence from West Central Scotland. Housing Studies, 15, 3, 387–410.Google Scholar
Kemeny, P. 1981. The Myth of Home-ownership: Private Versus Public Choices in Housing Tenure. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.Google Scholar
Lindblad, M. R., Manturuk, K. R. and Quercia, R. G. 2013. Sense of community and informal social control among lower income households: the role of homeownership and collective efficacy in reducing subjective neighborhood crime and disorder. American Journal of Community Psychology, 51, 1/2, 123–39.Google Scholar
Lindblad, M. R. and Quercia, R. G. 2015. Why is homeownership associated with nonfinancial benefits? A path analysis of competing mechanisms. Housing Policy Debate, 25, 2, 263–88.Google Scholar
Luanaigh, C. O. and Lawlor, B. A. 2008. Loneliness and the health of older people. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 23, 12, 1213–21.Google Scholar
Macintyre, S., Ellaway, A., Der, G., Ford, G. and Hunt, K. 1998. Do housing tenure and car access predict health because they are simply markers of income or self esteem? A Scottish study. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 52, 10, 657–64.Google Scholar
Macintyre, S., Ellaway, A., Hiscock, R., Kearns, A., Der, G. and McKay, L. 2003. What features of the home and the area might help to explain observed relationships between housing tenure and health? Evidence from the west of Scotland. Health and Place, 9, 3, 207–18.Google Scholar
Macintyre, S., Hiscock, R., Kearns, A. and Ellaway, A. 2001. Housing tenure and car access: further exploration of the nature of their relations with health in a UK setting. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 55, 5, 330–1.Google Scholar
Manturuk, K. R. 2012. Urban homeownership and mental health: mediating effect of perceived sense of control. City & Community, 11, 4, 409–30.Google Scholar
McMunn, A., Nazroo, J. and Breeze, E. 2009. Inequalities in health at older ages: a longitudinal investigation of the onset of illness and survival effects in England. Age and Ageing, 38, 2, 181–7.Google Scholar
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment 2014. He Whare Aūhuru He Oranga Tāngata – the Māori Housing Strategy. Available online at www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/housing-property/maori-housing-strategy/document-image-library/strategy.pdf [Accessed 25 March 2017].Google Scholar
Ministry of Social Development 2014. Report on the Positive Ageing Strategy. Ministry of Social Development, Wellington. Available online at https://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/assets/Our-Work/2014-Report-on-the-Positive-Ageing-Strategy.pdf [Accessed 25 March 2017].Google Scholar
Moore, D. and Schultz, N. R. 1987. Loneliness among the elderly: the role of perceived responsibility and control. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2, 2, 215–24.Google Scholar
New Zealand Housing Strategy 2004. Building the Future: Towards a New Zealand Housing Strategy. Available online at www.urbancentre.utoronto.ca/pdfs/elibrary/NZHS_New-Zealand-Housing-St.pdf [Accessed 25 March 2017].Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 1994. Caring for Frail Elderly People: New Directions in Care. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris.Google Scholar
Oswald, F., Jopp, D., Rott, C. and Wahl, H. W. 2011. Is aging in place a resource for or risk to life satisfaction? The Gerontologist, 51, 2, 238–50.Google Scholar
Oswald, F., Wahl, H. W., Schilling, O., Nygren, C., Fänge, A., Sixsmith, A., Széman, Z., Tomsone, S. and Iwarsson, S. 2007. Relationships between housing and healthy aging in very old age. The Gerontologist, 47, 1, 96–107.Google Scholar
Packer, C. N., Stewartbrown, S. and Fowle, S. E. 1994. Damp housing and adult health: results from a life-style study in Worcester, England. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 48, 6, 555–9.Google Scholar
Pierse, N., Carter, K., Bierre, S., Law, D. and Howden-Chapman, P. 2016. Examining the role of tenure, household crowding and housing affordability on psychological distress, using longitudinal data. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 70, 10, 961–6.Google Scholar
Pinquart, M. and Sorensen, S. 2001. Influences on loneliness in older adults: a meta-analysis. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 23, 4, 245–66.Google Scholar
Pollack, C. E., Griffin, B. A. and Lynch, J. 2010. Housing affordability and health among homeowners and renters. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 39, 6, 515–21.Google Scholar
Rohe, W. M. and Stegman, M. A. 1994. The effects of homeownership: on the self-esteem, perceived control and life satisfaction of low-income people. Journal of the American Planning Association, 60, 2, 173–84.Google Scholar
Rohe, W. M., Van Zandt, S. and McCarthy, G. 2002. Home ownership and access to opportunity. Housing Studies, 17, 1, 51–61.Google Scholar
Rossi, P. H. and Weber, E. 1996. The social benefits of home ownership: empirical evidence from National Surveys. Housing Policy Debate, 7, 1, 1–35.Google Scholar
Saunders, P. 1990. A Nation of Homeowners. Unwin Hyman, London.Google Scholar
Shinn, M., Gottlieb, J., Wett, J. L., Bahl, A., Cohen, A. and Baron Ellis, D. 2007. Predictors of homelessness among older adults in New York City: disability, economic, human and social capital and stressful events. Journal of Health Psychology, 12, 5, 696–708.Google Scholar
Sixsmith, A. and Sixsmith, J. 2008. Ageing in place in the United Kingdom. Ageing International, 32, 3, 219–35.Google Scholar
Smith, G. D. and Egger, M. 1992. Socioeconomic differences in mortality in Britain and the United States. American Journal of Public Health, 82, 8, 1079–81.Google Scholar
Statistics New Zealand 2014. 2013 Census QuickStats About People Aged 65 and Over. Available online at http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-65-plus.aspx [Accessed 20 February 2017].Google Scholar
Szabo, A., Allen, J, Alpass, F. and Stephens, C. 2017. Longitudinal trajectories of quality of life and depression by housing tenure status. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences. Published online, 22 March 2017, doi:10.1093/geronb/gbx028.Google Scholar
Tabachnick, B. G. and Fidell, L. S. 2007. Using Multivariate Statistics. Fifth edition, Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, Boston.Google Scholar
Towers, A., Stevenson, B., Breheny, M. and Allen, J. 2017. Health, Work and Retirement Longitudinal Study. In Pahana, N. (ed.), The Encyclopaedia of Geropsychology. Springer, Singapore, 1025–33.Google Scholar
Towers, A., Yeung, P., Stevenson, B., Stephens, C. and Alpass, F. 2015. Quality of life in indigenous and non-indigenous older adults: assessing the CASP-12 factor structure and identifying a brief CASP-3. Quality of Life Research, 24, 1, 193–203.Google Scholar
Valtorta, N. and Hanratty, B. 2012. Loneliness, isolation and the health of older adults: do we need a new research agenda? Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 105, 12, 518–22.Google Scholar
Victor, C., Scambler, S., Bond, J. and Bowling, A. 2000. Being alone in later life: loneliness, social isolation and living alone. Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 10, 4, 407–17.Google Scholar
Victor, C. R., Scambler, S. J., Bowling, A. N. N. and Bond, J. 2005. The prevalence of, and risk factors for, loneliness in later life: a survey of older people in Great Britain. Ageing & Society, 25, 6, 357–75.Google Scholar
Von dem Knesebeck, O., Lüschen, G., Cockerham, W. C. and Siegrist, J. 2003. Socioeconomic status and health among the aged in the United States and Germany: a comparative cross-sectional study. Social Science and Medicine, 57, 9, 1643–52.Google Scholar
Weiss, R. S. 1973. Loneliness: The Experience of Emotional and Social Isolation. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Wiggins, R. D., Netuveli, G., Hyde, M., Higgs, P. and Blane, D. 2008. The evaluation of a self-enumerated scale of QoL (CASP-19) in the context of research on ageing: a combination of exploratory and confirmatory approaches. Social Indicators Research, 89, 1, 61–77.Google Scholar
Wiles, J. L., Leibing, A., Guberman, N., Reeve, J. and Allen, R. E. S. 2012. The meaning of ‘aging in place’ to older people. The Gerontologist, 52, 3, 357–66.Google Scholar
Windle, G. S., Burnholt, V. and Edwards, R. T. 2006. Housing related difficulties, housing tenure and variations in health status: evidence from older people in Wales. Health and Place, 12, 3, 267–78.Google Scholar
Woldoff, R. A. 2002. The effects of local stressors on neighborhood attachment. Social Forces, 81, 1, 87–116.Google Scholar
Zumbro, T. 2014. The relationship between homeownership and life satisfaction in Germany. Housing Studies, 29, 3, 319–38.Google Scholar