Loneliness as a Predictor of Work Disability Onset Among Nondisabled, Working Older Adults in 14 Countries

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between loneliness and work disability and whether depression mediates the hypothesized relationship. Method: We draw on data from the 2013 and 2015 waves of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe. We limited the sample to adults between the ages of 50 and 65 who were working and without work limitations in 2013, which consisted of 10,154 adults from 14 countries. We apply multivariate logistic regression and a binary mediation analysis with logistic regression to examine predictors of the onset of work disability in 2015. Results: Loneliness was predictive of future work disability onset when adjusting for other factors in the disablement process. Depression partly mediated the longitudinal relationship between loneliness and work disability. Discussion: The results indicate that addressing loneliness could mitigate the risk of depression and, in turn, work disability onset.