Medica Jadertina, Vol. 43 No. 1-2, 2013.
Izvorni znanstveni članak
Loneliness and preferred solitude as predictors of self-rated health of adults
Ivana Tucak Junaković
orcid.org/0000-0003-2166-1089
; Sveučilište u Zadru, Odjel za psihologiju
Marina Nekić
; Sveučilište u Zadru, Odjel za psihologiju
Irena Burić
; Sveučilište u Zadru, Odjel za psihologiju
Sažetak
Numerous studies have found self-rated health to be a valid indicator of objective health status of adults.
The self-rated health can be affected by many factors, such as sociodemographic characteristics, presence of a chronic condition, health behaviors, personality, social support, loneliness, solitude, etc.
The main aim of this study was to test sex and age differences in self-rated health, and to determine the contribution of loneliness and preferred solitude to the explanation of individual differences in self-rated health, after controlling the influence of some sociodemographic variables, in appropriate, non-clinical sample of adults.
Three hundred adults, 25 to 75 years of age, from different regions of Croatia participated in the research.
The short version of UCLA Loneliness Scale and Adapted Scale of Preferred Solitude were administered, while the self-rated health was assessed by a single question ("How would you rate your current health?").
Contrary to some previous findings, the results of our research demonstrated that men and women do not differ significantly regarding their self-rated health. The older adults rated their health as a significantly worse than younger and middle-aged adults. Loneliness correlated significantly and negatively, although
relatively low, with self-rated health. After controlling the contribution of some sociodemographic variables, loneliness contributed very modestly, although significantly, to the explanation of self-rated health variance.
Solitude did not correlate significantly with self-rated health, so the contribution of solitude to the explanation of this criterion variable was not significant. We concluded that loneliness, and particularly
solitude, do not have a greater role in the explanation of self-rated health of the participants in this study.
Ključne riječi
loneliness; solitude; self-rated health
Hrčak ID:
100543
URI
Datum izdavanja:
23.4.2013.
Posjeta: 4.693 *