Loneliness stems from a mismatch between the social relationships one has and those one desires. Loneliness often has severe consequences for individuals and society. Recently, an online adaptation of the friendship enrichment program (FEP) was developed and tested to gain insight in its contribution to the alleviation of loneliness. Three loneliness coping strategies are introduced during the program: network development, adapting relationship standards, and reducing the importance of the discrepancy between actual and desired relationships. Data were collected among 239 participants aged 50–86. Loneliness was measured four times using a multi-item scale, and on various days with a single, direct question. Loneliness assessed with the scale declined during and after the program. Scores on loneliness assessed for a specific day, however, are more ambiguous. Despite the immediate positive effect of conducting assignments, we did not observe a decline in the single loneliness item score over the course of the program. The online FEP seems to reduce loneliness in general, but these effects are not visible on today’s loneliness. Nevertheless, the online intervention to reduce loneliness is a valuable new contribution to the collection of loneliness interventions.

ABSTRACTIn this study we examine patterns of change and stability in loneliness among 108 women who had participated in a friendship enrichment programme during the year after the programme. We distinguished seven groups of participants in which different levels of loneliness significantly declined, remained stable or increased. These were reduced to the following groups: those recovered, significantly improved and not improved. We then examined whether resources such as age, education, partner status, health, initially available friendships and developments in friendships were related to these loneliness patterns. The data were collected using face-to-face semi-structured interviews, a loneliness scale and the personal convoy model. The results indicate that none of the demographic characteristics, nor health, were associated with the patterns of loneliness. Friendship availability and development did differ among the groups. Recovery from loneliness after a year was associated with the presence of a friend in the outer circle of the convoy and having more variation in one's friendships initially and one year later. It was also associated with the presence of a friend in the inner circle and reporting improvement in friendship later. The absence of these qualities initially or subsequently was more characteristic of those whose loneliness was stable or increased. Thus, the maintenance of companionate friendship and the development of intimacy in one's friendships seem advantageous for recovery from loneliness. While this study illustrates that recovery from, and significant reduction of loneliness are possible, we are not yet able to predict who will benefit and who will not benefit from a friendship enrichment programme.

Boekaflevering Mens en Maatschappij. Dit artikel is een uitbreiding van een artikel dat in 2010 verscheen in Personal Relationships, 17, 345-356.Work-related personal ties following retirement. The current study examines consequences of retirement for the continuation of work-related relationships. The hypothesis is that their inclusion in personal networks after retirement has become more likely since these relationships have become less role-based in today’s social-cultural context. Data are from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. Members of two cohorts born 1928-1937 (N = 109) and 1938-1947 (N = 131) were interviewed in 1992 and 2002, respectively, with a follow-up three and six years later. Among retirees the likelihood of having work-related relationships in their personal network after retirement increased by 19% in ten years. This suggests that retirement has become less disruptive. Retirees seem more inclined to form intrinsically rewarding work-related relationships that continue to be important following retirement.

Friendships contribute uniquely to well-being in (late) adulthood. However, studies on friendship often ignore interindividual differences in friendship patterns. The aim of this study was to investigate such differences including their predictors.The study builds on Matthewss qualitative model of friendship styles. Matthews distinguished 3 approaches to friendship differing by number of friends, duration of friendships, and emotional closeness. We used latent class analysis to identify friendship network types in a sample of middle-aged and older adults aged 4085 years (N 1,876). Data came from the German Aging Survey (DEAS).Our analysis revealed 4 distinct friendship network types that were in high congruence with Matthewss typology. We identified these as a discerning style, which focuses on few close relationships, an independent style, which refrains from close engagements, and 2 acquisitive styles that both acquire new friends across their whole life course but differ regarding the emotional closeness of their friendships. Socioeconomic status, gender, health, and network-disturbing and network-sustaining variables predicted affiliations with network types.We argue that future studies should consider a holistic view of friendships in order to better understand the association between friendships and well-being in the second half of life.

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the trend in sport participation among retirees between 1983 and 2007. Sport participation is important for retirees because of its health benefits and the opportunities it offers for social interaction. Factors that influence sport participation such as educational level, physical limitations, and occupational background have changed during the last decades, possibly accounting for changes in sport participation. Data are from the Amenities and Services Utilization Survey (AVO), a nationally representative Dutch survey with seven observations between 1983 and 2007. The trend in sport involvement, sports club membership, and competition was investigated in a sample of 2,497 male and 1,559 female retirees aged 58–67 years. Increases in participation were observed in sport involvement and sports club membership. This trend can partially be explained by increases in educational level, decreases in the number of retirees with physical limitations, and in those retiring from sedentary jobs. Yet, sport participation seems to have increased for all retirees, regardless of their socio-economic background and health status. Alternative explanations for the observed trend are discussed.

Aging well refers to retaining or restoring well-being in the face of various age-related changes in later life. This process is influenced by the quality of social relationships and active adaptation to loss and change. According to recent studies from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, more older adults are maintaining relationships with friends, colleagues and other non-kin longer. Greater diversity in their social networks contributes to happiness and morale, and provides protection against anxiety, depression and loneliness. There is also a slight increase in mastery and in cognitive functioning among new cohorts of older adults. These developments promote adaptation to declines in health and loss of the partner. These improvements are found less frequently among those with lower education, lower incomes, and/or small networks. Several interventions have proven to be effective for these disadvantaged groups: a visiting service for widows and widowers and two self-management interventions for chronically ill or physically vulnerable older adults.

Aging well refers to retaining or restoring well-being in the face of various age-related changes in later life. This process is influenced by the quality of social relationships and active adaptation to loss and change. According to recent studies from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, more older adults are maintaining relationships with friends, colleagues and other non-kin longer. Greater diversity in their social networks contributes to happiness and morale, and provides protection against anxiety, depression and loneliness. There is also a slight increase in mastery and in cognitive functioning among new cohorts of older adults. These developments promote adaptation to declines in health and loss of the partner. These improvements are found less frequently among those with lower education, lower incomes, and/or small networks. Several interventions have proven to be effective for these disadvantaged groups: a visiting service for widows and widowers and two self-management interventions for chronically ill or physically vulnerable older adults.

A recent meta-analysis of loneliness interventions concluded that interventions aimed at influencing social cognitions were more effective than those aimed at improving social support or contact. No difference in effects of group versus individual interventions were found, technology was only effective in non-randomized studies. Also interventions worked better for males than females. Since the meta-analysis was published, new intervention studies have appeared. These include a bereavement visiting program, a telephone befriending scheme for socially isolated elders, programs providing elders opportunities for playing Wii regularly and for using video conferencing to enhance family visits with nursing home residents, and psychosocial group rehabilitation for lonely older persons. Some interventions are in line with the meta-analysis whilst others are not; issues raised include qualitative versus quantitative measures of effects of an intervention, the importance of understanding for whom effects are positive, neutral or possibly negative, and the importance of gender.

Het sociale leven van oudere volwassenen is gedurende de laatste twee decennia behoorlijk veranderd als gevolg van maatschappelijke ontwikkelingen. Onderliggende processen bij deze veranderingen zijn individualisering en het loslaten van tradities. Er is meer persoonlijke vrijheid in de keuze van leefstijl en identiteit, en grotere persoonlijke verantwoordelijkheid voor het ontwikkelen en in stand houden van een persoonlijk netwerk van sociale relaties. Vriendschappen worden belangrijker.

This study examines changes in self management abilities among women in a friendship enrichment programme. The study is based on the theory of self management of well-being which identifies relevant self-management skills as self-efficacy, taking initiative, investment behaviour and attaining variety in resources. An intervention group (N  =  60) and a control group (N = 55) were studied at a baseline, three months and nine months later. Results indicate that the programme is effective in stimulating two of the four self-management abilities. Compared to the control group, participants in the intervention showed greater increases in initiative taking and more investment behaviour in friendship. There was no change in self-efficacy or variety in friendship. We conclude that older adult women are able to improve some self-management abilities in friendship after participating in this programme. Important goals for future studies are to improve the measurement of self-efficacy and relate improvement in self-management to subjective well-being.

Deze studie vergelijkt mantelzorg aan oudere uitwonende volwassenen door vrienden en buren met mantelzorg door (schoon)kinderen. Aan de hand van de gegevens van een representatieve steekproef onder mantelzorgers in Nederland, uitgevoerd door het Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek en het Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau, werden mantelzorgers die hulp verleenden aan een vriend (n=133), buurman/ vrouw (n=108) of (schoon)ouder (n=1.008) met elkaar vergeleken om zo meer inzicht te krijgen in de specifieke kenmerken van de hulp door vrienden en buren. In het licht van de omvang van de subpopulaties betreft het hier een exploratief onderzoek. Negen procent van de mantelzorg aan uitwonende oudere volwassenen (van 55 jaar of ouder) werd gegeven door een vriend(in) van de hulpbehoevende en nog eens negen procent door een buurman/vrouw. Vrienden gaven, net als kinderen, vaak langdurig zorg, ongeveer vier à vijf jaar. Wat betreft de intensiteit van de geboden hulp lijken vrienden juist weer op buren. Zowel vrienden als buren ervaren een lagere belasting dan kinderen. De kans op een hogere belasting nam toe voor kinderen en vrienden bij het vervullen van meerdere zorgtaken. Vrienden die hulp kregen van andere mantelzorgers waren iets minder belast. Vrienden en buren dienen erkend te worden als mantelzorgers door beleidsmakers en zij verdienen evenals mantelzorgers van familie aandacht en ondersteuning.

This study compared informal care to older, non-coresiding adults provided by friends and neighbours and informal care by children or their partners. Using data from a Dutch representative survey among informal caregivers conducted by CBS and SCP, caregivers of friends (n=133), neighbours (n=108) and parents (n=1,008) were compared with one another to investigate care that friends and neighbours provide to the elderly non-coresiding adults (age 55 and over). Nine percent of those providing care to someone outside the household were friends and nine percent were neighbours. Friends, like children, usually provide long-lasting care, up to four or five years. Friends are similar to neighbours in the number of hours that they provide care. Friends and neighbours experience a lower caregiver burden than children. However, when fulfilling multiple caring tasks, both friends and children, have a greater chance of experiencing higher levels of burden. When there were other caregivers to help, friends experienced a small reduction in burden. Friends and neighbours deserve to be recognized as informal caregivers by policy makers and they deserve attention and support along with family caregivers.

Friendship has increased in importance during the last few decades. The study examines whether friendship has become more prevalent in personal networks of older adults. Three cohorts of older persons have been followed since 1992 for 17 years in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. The younger cohort had friends more often and retained friends longer than two older cohorts. The differences are related to personal choice, relational competence and greater structural opportunities for making and keeping friends that were available to the younger cohort. Women retained same-sex friends longer than men. The oldest women lost cross-sex friends more often than did men. This is related to different gender-specific survival rates and to women's tendency to retain friendships longer.