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Datasets

Available Datasets in relation to Loneliness and Social Isolation in Mental Health

Data tools

brings together mental health and wellbeing measures in British cohort and longitudinal studies, as well as measures of loneliness and social isolation.

to bring together health statistics from across government is explained in an about this new tool.

Available datasets

Our initial scoping of existing datasets has identified a number of datasets that include measures of loneliness or social engagement/isolation/connectedness, together with mental health outcomes. Many of these have already been analysed by network members to answer research questions relating to social connectedness and mental health (including James Kirkbride, Andrew Sommerlad, Ula Tymoszuk, Jean Stafford), and we feel there is further scope to interrogate these resources:

Cross-sectional

  • Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Surveys 1993, 2000, 2007 & 2014
  • South London Health Survey
  • The Sheldon, Townsend, and Tunstall surveys
  • UCL Bereavement Study
  • BBCÌýloneliness survey

Cohorts

  • English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA)
  • Irish Longitudinal Study of Ageing
  • Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam
  • Whitehall II
  • Millennium Cohort Study
  • Million Women Study
  • Understanding Society (USOC)
  • Chicago Health and Retirement Study (CHASRS)
  • Stockholm Public Health Cohort
  • Swedish Conscript Study
  • Danish registers linked to theÌý2013 Danish National Health Survey
  • Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil)
  • Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study
  • MRCÌýNational Survey of Health and Development (NSHD)
  • 1958ÌýNational Child Development Study (NCDS)
  • 1970ÌýBritish Cohort Study (BCS70)
  • ALSPAC
  • UK Biobank
  • Social Epidemiology of Psychoses in East Anglia (SEPEA) Study
  • CORE Study trial dataset

We are aware that existing datasets will be able to answer key research questions in relation to the links between social isolation, loneliness and adverse mental health outcomes, but that to answer key questions we will need to collect data to test a primary hypothesis.ÌýSuch data might include qualitative data describing the emotional experience of loneliness, quantitative survey data to describe associations, scores on cognitive tasks to assessÌýindividual differences inÌýaffective processing biases inÌýperceptions of the social environment, and cost data to model the cost-effectiveness of previously-trialled interventions to address loneliness. In each case the co-investigators leading on the relevant approach will be able to advise on whetherÌýexisting datasets are adequate for the proposed research.

Government surveys including loneliness measuresÌý

ÌýÌý

This list of UK GovernmentÌýsurveys thatÌýincludeÌýloneliness measures was kindly provided by DCMS in April 2021.