Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Loneliness and health

Loneliness is associated with increased mortality and a higher risk of some cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological disorders. Co-ordinated approaches at the individual, community and society levels are needed to reduce loneliness.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Effects of loneliness on health and loneliness reduction approaches.

References

  1. Hawkley, L. C., Buecker, S., Kaiser, T. & Luhmann, M. Loneliness from young adulthood to old age: explaining age differences in loneliness. Int. J. Behav. Dev. 46, 39–49 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Clark, D. M. T., Loxton, N. J. & Tobin, S. J. Declining loneliness over time: evidence from American colleges and high schools. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 41, 78–89 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Luchetti, M. et al. The trajectory of loneliness in response to COVID-19. Am. Psychol. 75, 897–908 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults: Opportunities for the Health Care System (The National Academies Press, 2020).

  5. Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., Baker, M., Harris, T. & Stephenson, D. Loneliness and social isolation as risk factors for mortality: a meta-analytic review. Perspect. Psychol. Sci. 10, 227–237 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Hawkley, L. C. & Capitanio, J. P. Perceived social isolation, evolutionary fitness and health outcomes: a lifespan approach. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. B 370, 20140114 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Gerst-Emerson, K. & Jayawardhana, J. Loneliness as a public health issue: the impact of loneliness on health care utilization among older adults. Am. J. Public Health 105, 1013–1019 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Masi, C. M., Chen, H.-Y., Hawkley, L. C. & Cacioppo, J. T. A meta-analysis of interventions to reduce loneliness. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Rev. 15, 219–266 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Lindsay, E. K., Young, S., Brown, K. W., Smyth, J. M. & Creswell, J. D. Mindfulness training reduces loneliness and increases social contact in a randomized controlled trial. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 116, 3488–3493 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Brady, S. et al. Reducing isolation and loneliness through membership in a fitness program for older adults: implications for health. J. Appl. Gerontol. 39, 301–310 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges the National Institute on Aging and the National Institutes of Health for their ongoing support of the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (R01AG021487; R37AG030481; R01AG033903; R01AG043538; R01AG048511; R01AG043538-08S1).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Louise C. Hawkley.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Additional information

Disclaimer

The content is solely the responsibility of the author and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hawkley, L.C. Loneliness and health. Nat Rev Dis Primers 8, 22 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-022-00355-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-022-00355-9

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing