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Stronger feelings of loneliness among Moroccan and Turkish older adults in the Netherlands: in search for an explanation

The prevalence of loneliness among Turkish–Dutch and Moroccan–Dutch older adults is higher than among Dutch older adults of non-migrant origin. Three explanations may account for this difference: (1) differential item functioning might result in scores that vary in intensity and in meaning across ca...

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Autores principales: van Tilburg, Theo G., Fokkema, Tineke
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Netherlands 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8377113/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34483796
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10433-020-00562-x
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author van Tilburg, Theo G.
Fokkema, Tineke
author_facet van Tilburg, Theo G.
Fokkema, Tineke
author_sort van Tilburg, Theo G.
collection PubMed
description The prevalence of loneliness among Turkish–Dutch and Moroccan–Dutch older adults is higher than among Dutch older adults of non-migrant origin. Three explanations may account for this difference: (1) differential item functioning might result in scores that vary in intensity and in meaning across categories; (2) the position of migrants is much more vulnerable than that of non-migrants; (3) the lack of protective factors has more severe consequences for older migrants. The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam interviewed 176 persons born in Morocco and 235 born in Turkey, aged 55–66 and living in urban areas. They are compared with a matched sample of 292 Dutch persons. The psychometric properties of the loneliness scale are satisfying, although there is some differential item functioning. Older migrants have more frequent social contacts but are at a disadvantage in other domains. Taking into account differences in social participation, satisfaction with income, mastery and depressive symptoms, the difference between older migrants’ and non-migrants’ loneliness is reduced by more than half. Protective factors are equally important for older migrants and non-migrants. Exceptions are marriage (less protective for Moroccans), frequent contact with children/children-in-law (mostly for Turks), a higher educational level (protects Moroccans and Turks) and better physical functioning (less for Turks). Being an older migrant and belonging to a minority might further contribute to feelings of loneliness. Interventions can be directed at stimulating social contact, but also at aspects like enhancing the appreciation of their social status and avoiding negative interpretations of a situation. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s10433-020-00562-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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spelling pubmed-83771132021-09-02 Stronger feelings of loneliness among Moroccan and Turkish older adults in the Netherlands: in search for an explanation van Tilburg, Theo G. Fokkema, Tineke Eur J Ageing Original Investigation The prevalence of loneliness among Turkish–Dutch and Moroccan–Dutch older adults is higher than among Dutch older adults of non-migrant origin. Three explanations may account for this difference: (1) differential item functioning might result in scores that vary in intensity and in meaning across categories; (2) the position of migrants is much more vulnerable than that of non-migrants; (3) the lack of protective factors has more severe consequences for older migrants. The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam interviewed 176 persons born in Morocco and 235 born in Turkey, aged 55–66 and living in urban areas. They are compared with a matched sample of 292 Dutch persons. The psychometric properties of the loneliness scale are satisfying, although there is some differential item functioning. Older migrants have more frequent social contacts but are at a disadvantage in other domains. Taking into account differences in social participation, satisfaction with income, mastery and depressive symptoms, the difference between older migrants’ and non-migrants’ loneliness is reduced by more than half. Protective factors are equally important for older migrants and non-migrants. Exceptions are marriage (less protective for Moroccans), frequent contact with children/children-in-law (mostly for Turks), a higher educational level (protects Moroccans and Turks) and better physical functioning (less for Turks). Being an older migrant and belonging to a minority might further contribute to feelings of loneliness. Interventions can be directed at stimulating social contact, but also at aspects like enhancing the appreciation of their social status and avoiding negative interpretations of a situation. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s10433-020-00562-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Springer Netherlands 2020-02-22 /pmc/articles/PMC8377113/ /pubmed/34483796 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10433-020-00562-x Text en © The Author(s) 2020 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Original Investigation
van Tilburg, Theo G.
Fokkema, Tineke
Stronger feelings of loneliness among Moroccan and Turkish older adults in the Netherlands: in search for an explanation
title Stronger feelings of loneliness among Moroccan and Turkish older adults in the Netherlands: in search for an explanation
title_full Stronger feelings of loneliness among Moroccan and Turkish older adults in the Netherlands: in search for an explanation
title_fullStr Stronger feelings of loneliness among Moroccan and Turkish older adults in the Netherlands: in search for an explanation
title_full_unstemmed Stronger feelings of loneliness among Moroccan and Turkish older adults in the Netherlands: in search for an explanation
title_short Stronger feelings of loneliness among Moroccan and Turkish older adults in the Netherlands: in search for an explanation
title_sort stronger feelings of loneliness among moroccan and turkish older adults in the netherlands: in search for an explanation
topic Original Investigation
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8377113/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34483796
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10433-020-00562-x
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