Patterns of stress across the life course and their role in mental health and loneliness in later life

The purpose is to better understand how exposure to different kinds of stressors (factors that cause stress) across the life course is associated with mental health and loneliness in older adults. What are the relations between stressors, mental health, and loneliness across the life course?

Can the negative impact of stressors be counteracted through social resources and lifestyle factors?The project will run for 4-years with participating researchers from Jönköping University (coordinators), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm University, University of Gothenburg, University of Southern California, and Swansea University.

Longitudinal data will be used to assess stressors in childhood e.g., family conflicts, adulthood e.g., work stressors, late adulthood e.g., death of a spouse, and stressors that may play a role from childhood to older age, e.g., financial strain. Outcomes include anxiety, depressive symptoms, psychiatric disorders, quality of life, and loneliness.

We will also study how social resources and lifestyle factors can impact these associations, and the role that gender and socioeconomic position play.

Advanced statistical modelling will be used, e.g., structural equation models and growth curve models.The results can support practical recommendations on stress-buffering factors that can be implemented at strategic points in the life course, which can be promoted at a societal level, and, ultimately, help to reach the goals of sustainable and healthy aging for all.