Loneliness Subtypes and Their Association With Prevalent and Incident Dementia

Loneliness is negatively associated with cognition, especially in older adults, yet it is often examined as a unidimensional construct. This study examined how the heterogeneities of loneliness relate to dementia outcomes and whether sex moderates this relationship. Using data from 8802 older adults in the Health and Retirement Study, latent class analysis identified four loneliness classes: Less Lonely and Socially Connected (51.6%), Lonely, but Socially Connected (12.6%), Less Lonely but Socially Disconnected (18.0%), and Lonely and Socially Disconnected (17.8%). Lonely and Socially Disconnected group was more likely to meet criteria for prevalent and incident dementia at baseline (OR = 2.17, p < .001), Wave 2 (OR = 1.83, p < .001), and Wave 3 (OR = 1.75, p < .001), even after adjusting for covariates. Sex did not moderate these associations. Findings highlighted the importance of identifying loneliness subtypes to better inform targeted cognitive and social interventions in older adults.