Replication Study: Predictors of Loneliness in U.S. Adults Over Age Sixty-Five

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Interdisciplinary Centers, Units and Projects::Penn Population Studies Centers::Population Center Working Papers (PSC/PARC)
Degree type
Discipline
Psychology
Mental and Social Health
Public Health
Subject
replication study
loneliness
older adults
populatoin studies
secondary analysis
Funder
This project was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (R25AG069719).
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Copyright date
2025-12-11
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Author
Arp, Patrick C.
Lee, Daniel S.
Sun, Chuxuan
Trivedi, Sheel
Yam, Emily
Stites, Shana D.
Contributor
Abstract

Loneliness has been a prevalent problem for older adults in the United States, and it continues to threaten the well-being of older adults as that population reaches historic sizes. Loneliness is a growing population problem. In 2009, Theeke found almost 1 in 5 older Americans was lonely. Marital status and health factors predicted loneliness but other key variables, somewhat unexpectedly, did not. In this study, we replicate Theeke (2009)’s findings using 2020 data from the Health and Retirement Study. We sought to understand whether Theeke’s (2009) findings stand up over time given administrative changes to the parent study and changes in population factors. The current study’s findings have implications for efforts to replicate extant science and for understanding, what has been called, the loneliness epidemic in older Americans.

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Series name and number
Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC), 2025-123
Publication date
2025-12-11
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Arp, Patrick C., Daniel S. Lee, Chuxuan Sun, Sheel Trivedi, Emily Yam, and Shana D. Stites. 2025. “Replication Study: Predictors of Loneliness in U.S. Adults Over Age Sixty-Five.” University of Pennsylvania. Population Center Working Paper (PSC/PARC), 2025-123.
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