Walker, E;
Ploubidis, G;
Fancourt, D;
(2019)
Social engagement and loneliness are differentially associated with neuro-immune markers in older age: time-varying associations from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity
10.1016/j.bbi.2019.08.189.
(In press).
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Abstract
Objectives This study aimed to explore time-varying associations between social engagement, living status and loneliness and neuro-immune markers in older adults, and whether results are explained by socioeconomic position, health behaviours or depression. Methods We analysed blood samples from 8,780 adults aged 50 and above from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing across three waves of data collection: 2004/5, 2008/9 and 2012/2013. We used fixed effects modelling to estimate the relationship between loneliness, social isolation, living alone and levels of fibrinogen, insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), white blood cell (WBC) count and C-reactive protein (CRP), whilst accounting for all time-invariant and identified time-varying confounders. Results Higher levels of social engagement and living with somebody were associated with lower levels of CRP, fibrinogen and WBC, while lower levels of loneliness were associated with higher levels of IGF-1. These associations were found to be independent of time-invariant factors such as gender, medical history, previous patterns of social behaviours, unobserved aspects of social class, and genetics, and time-varying factors such as income, physical health, health behaviours, and depression. Conclusions Aspects of social engagement were associated with lower levels of inflammation whilst loneliness was inversely related to the regulation of inflammation. This suggests there could be different biological pathways involved in objective and subjective aspects of social connections.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Social engagement and loneliness are differentially associated with neuro-immune markers in older age: time-varying associations from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing |
| Location: | Netherlands |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.bbi.2019.08.189 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2019.08.189 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Inflammation; loneliness; social isolation; social support; CRP; fibrinogen; IGF-1 |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Behavioural Science and Health |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10081505 |
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