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Short- and long-term determinants of social detachment in later life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2015

STEPHEN JIVRAJ ,
JAMES NAZROO  and
MATT BARNES
STEPHEN JIVRAJ*
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, UK.
JAMES NAZROO
Affiliation:
Sociology and Cathie Marsh Institute for Social Research, University of Manchester, UK.
MATT BARNES
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, City University London, UK.
*
Address for correspondence: Stephen Jivraj, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK E-mail: stephen.jivraj@ucl.ac.uk
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Abstract

The benefits of engagement with social activities on health and wellbeing are widely reported by gerontologists. Less is known, however, about what drives withdrawal from and re-engagement with social activities in later life. This is an important area of research which has direct implications for public policies that aim to ensure equitable outcomes among older adults. Much of the existing literature supports continuity theory which assumes people will not alter their level of social engagement as they age or after life-changing events. This paper uses data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing over an eight-year period (2002–2010) to determine the effect of short-term changes in marital, employment and health status over an initial four-year period on the dynamics of social detachment over the following four years. We control for underlying socio-economic disadvantages built up during the lifecourse and find that these effects, including poor education, wealth and health, are the most important determinants of persistent detachment from social activities as well as movement into and out of social detachment. The effects are consistent in men and women. The effects of short-term changes in marital and employment status have little effect on social detachment. Recent deterioration in health, however, predicted movement into social detachment, which implies the relationship between health and social detachment is reciprocal.

Keywords

social detachmentsocial activitycontinuity theorycumulative advantagesocio-economic inequalitiesEnglish Longitudinal Study of Ageing
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 36 , Issue 5 , May 2016 , pp. 924 - 945
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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