Autonomy and loneliness – longitudinal within- and between-person associations among Swedish older adults

Objectives. Loneliness is an important risk factor for mental and physical health over the lifespan. So far, too little is known about psychosocial predictors and consequences of loneliness apart from social network characteristics. One important factor which may both prevent from, but also be affected by loneliness, is perceived autonomy. Method. In the present study, we investigated the longitudinal association of loneliness and autonomy over four years among participants of the Swedish HEARTS study (n = 5,718, age 60-66 at baseline). We used a latent curve model with structured residuals, which distinguishes within- and between person associations and includes cross-lagged parameters. Results. Between persons, higher levels of autonomy and baseline were associated with lower levels of loneliness, and increases in autonomy were associated with decreases in loneliness. When individuals felt more autonomous than usual, they also reported less loneliness. However, feeling more autonomous than usual was not associated with increases in loneliness or vice versa. Conclusion. Our findings show that low autonomy and high loneliness are related crosssectionally and longitudinally, as well as within and between persons, but the direction of effects is unclear. More research is needed to understand the development of this association over the lifespan.