Citation

Dell NA, Huang J, Buttafuoco KA, Vidovic KR, Murphy AM, Farrar LA. J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 2020; 208(10): 828-832.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/NMD.0000000000001213

PMID

33002939

Abstract

This cross-sectional study examines the relationships of loneliness and depressive symptoms to thoughts of self-harm among a clinical sample (n = 150) of older adults (M = 58.42 years, SD = 5.86 years; male, 55.3%; African American, 61.3%) with serious mental illness (SMI) receiving publicly funded, community-based psychiatric rehabilitation services. Participants completed the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Patient Health Questionnaire 9, and Geriatric Depression Scale-Short Form. Mediation analyses tested the association of loneliness with thoughts of self-harm through depressive symptoms and were adjusted for social support and demographic variables. The direct association of loneliness with thoughts of self-harm was mediated by depressive symptoms; indirect associations of overall and emotional loneliness to thoughts of self-harm were significant.

FINDINGS suggest the need for clinicians to reduce feelings of loneliness among older adults with SMI as a means of partially ameliorating depressive symptoms and thoughts of self-harm.

Language: en