Living alone? Study links higher depression risk when isolated

Adults who live alone are more likely to grapple with higher rates of depression, especially for those lacking social and emotional support, according to a recent report.

Adults who live alone are more likely to grapple with higher rates of depression, especially for those lacking social and emotional support, according to a recent report.

The report, released Thursday by the United States National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), found that 6.4 per cent of adults who lived alone reported feelings of depression, compared with 4.1 per cent who lived with others.

“People aliving alone may be at greater risk of social isolation and loneliness, which have been linked to higher mortality risk and adverse health outcomes, including mental health outcomes, compared with people living with a spouse or partner,” the authors stated in the study.

In 2021, 4.4 million Canadians lived alone, up from 1.7 million in 1981. This represented 15 per cent of all adults aged 15 and older in private households, the highest proportion on record, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

The continued rise of one-person households, despite the economic downturn and housing affordability issues in some areas, is almost entirely due to aging of the population, Statistics Canada said. As a result, living alone is still most prevalent at older ages.

The NCHS report found that age did matter when it came to living alone. For most age groups (30 to 44, 45 to 64, and 65 and older), adults living alone were more likely to report feelings of depression than those living with others. No significant difference was seen in the percentage of adults aged 18 to 29.

To explore a possible link between loneliness and living alone, the NCHS looked at data from a 2021 National Health Interview survey that spoke with more than 29,400 sample adults living in the U.S. This was done through phone or personal visits.

Living arrangements were defined by the number of adults and the number of children younger than age 18 living in the household. An adult was defined as living alone if one adult and no children younger than age 18 lived in the household. All other responses were categorized as living with others.