Bidirectional relationships between television viewing and loneliness in middle-aged and older men and women
Résumé
Background: There is growing evidence that both sedentary behaviour and loneliness have adverse health consequences; however, the potential relationships between sedentary behaviour and loneliness are unclear. Accordingly, we examined the directionality of prospective relationships between television (TV) viewing (a ubiquitous leisure-time sedentary behaviour) time and loneliness in middle-aged and older adults. Methods: We used data from three waves (2008-2013; follow-up every two years) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing cohort, in which middle-aged and older adults (3684 women and 3104 men) aged 50 years and older were included. The duration of TV viewing was quantified using two self-report questions, based on the hours spent on this behaviour on weekdays and weekends. Loneliness was assessed via the UCLA 3-item Loneliness Scale. Gender-stratified random-intercept cross-lagged panel models were constructed to examine the potential relationships between TV viewing and loneliness. Results: Among middle-aged and older adults, loneliness in the previous assessment wave was significantly correlated with the level of loneliness in the following wave (women: β = 0.182, 95 % CI [0.096-0.268], men: β = 0.206, 95 % CI [0.116-0.296]). Moreover, there was evidence for a temporal directionality among women, but not men. That is, higher levels of loneliness in women predicted longer TV viewing duration in the subsequent wave (β = 0.159, 95 % CI [0.011-0.307]). Conclusions: This study identifies gender-specific longitudinal relationships between TV viewing time and loneliness in middle-aged and older adults. We observe that loneliness can be a predictor of TV viewing time for women, which may lead to increased screen-based leisure-time sedentary behaviour.
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