Loneliness from a neighbourhood perspective: a study of the impact of physical and social neighbourhood factors on different types of loneliness

I also attach the summary as a separate pdf-file because it allows me to work with clear formatting:  Description of the research proposal - Wouter Schepers 1. Content My PhD research is part of a broader SBO project on tackling loneliness from a spatial perspective. Therefore, it is important to first outline the broader context of this SBO project. Afterwards, I will elaborate on my specific doctoral research. 2. An SBO project on tackling loneliness from a spatial perspective The PhD research is part of an SBO project on loneliness from a spatial perspective, entitled: 'A Lonely Planet? Tackling loneliness from a spatial perspective: exploring the influence of neighbourhood and environment'. It is a large-scale project running over a 4-year period involving researchers from HIVA-KULeuven, the VUB and Thomas More University College and will involve intensive collaboration. The main aim of the SBO project is to explore how neighbourhood characteristics influence feelings of loneliness. While loneliness has already been widely studied in relation to individual characteristics such as gender, personality and life stage, little is known so far about how neighbourhood characteristics influence loneliness (Buecker et al., 2021; De Witte & Van Regenmortel, 2021). Our research contributes to the emerging socio-ecological approach to loneliness by specifically focusing on meso- and macro-level characteristics. By studying loneliness in adults of all ages, we also try to move beyond the stereotypical view that loneliness is only a problem for a specific age group. By taking into account the multidimensional nature of loneliness (social, emotional and existential), we also recognise the complexity of loneliness and the need for a tailored approach with attention to both individual and neighbourhood characteristics.  The overall scientific objective is to study the relationship between neighbourhood and (social, emotional and existential) loneliness among adults (18+) in Flanders. The main research questions are: 1) Which neighbourhood characteristics are related to the risk of loneliness among adults? 2) How do these neighbourhood characteristics relate to the risk of adult loneliness? 3) How can loneliness be prevented and addressed at the neighbourhood level? To find the answers to the above questions, the research project is divided into several work packages (WP) with a literature review & interviews (WP1), quantitative data collection and analyses (WP2 & WP3) and neighbourhoods case studies (WP4) as the main substantive components. The study will contribute to the scientific literature by: 1) looking at the current state of the relationship between neighbourhood characteristics  and loneliness and situate this in the Flemish context using interviews; 2) Obtain innovative scientific knowledge on how neighbourhood characteristics are related to different forms of loneliness among adults of all ages by supplementing a survey linked to objective data on neighbourhood characteristics with interviews; 3) make recommendations for neighbourhood-level interventions 3. The doctoral research with a focus on quantitative analyses  In particular, my PhD research will focus on the first main research question of the broader SBO study, i.e. 'which neighbourhood characteristics are related to the risk of loneliness among adults?'. This main research question is further refined and divided into the following 4 sub-research questions: 1) Which neighbourhood characteristics are related to loneliness based on international scientific research? 2) Which neighbourhood characteristics are related to loneliness in Flanders? 3) Does the impact of neighbourhood characteristics on loneliness in Flanders change with age? 4) What types of neighbourhoods are at risk of loneliness in Flanders? In order to answer the above questions, with regard to the larger SBO project, my doctoral project will mainly focus on the first three work packages: 3.1 Work package 1: Literature review Work package 1 will mainly serve to answer the first sub-question ('Which neighbourhood characteristics are related to loneliness based on international scientific research?'). By means of a large-scale literature study, it will be investigated what has already been written about the link between different types of neighbourhood characteristics and different dimensions of loneliness on the basis of international scientific literature. This will ultimately result in a systematic review of what is already known about this link between neighbourhood factors and loneliness. Writing a systematic review will lead to a comprehensive overview of what is known so far and will therefore form a crucial basis for the rest of my doctoral research. Besides being able to provide an overview of knowledge based on the international scientific literature, the literature review will also be an important input for the rest of my PhD research. As I will prepare a survey in the next phase of my project (cf. next section), the international scientific literature on the topic will be an important source of inspiration for determining relevant neighbourhood indicators on which the questionnaire will be largely based. 3.2 Work package 2: Data collection In work package 2, the focus will be on conducting a representative survey in Flanders. Regarding the method, we opt to provide both an online and a paper version of the survey. This is the most appropriate method because it guarantees respondents' anonymity better than other methods (e.g. face-to-face survey), which is important because loneliness is linked to feelings of shame, which could lead to socially desirable answers. By offering the possibility of completing the survey on paper, we will achieve a higher response rate and have a more representative sample because it reduces the 'coverage error' (i.e. the bias due to insufficient coverage of certain groups such as the elderly or people living in poverty) of an online survey (Heylen & Vanderstraeten, 2018). It is crucial to design and conduct such a survey ourselves, because although several secondary datasets exist, these data often relate to specific target groups, lack distinctions between different types of loneliness (e.g. European Social Survey, SHARE and the Health Interview Survey) or do not include information on neighbourhood characteristics (e.g. the survey on informal care in Flanders). The survey data will then be linked to objective data on neighbourhood characteristics from the database of 'the provinces in figures' (www.provinciesincijfers.be). This combined dataset will fill an important gap in international loneliness research as it will provide innovative insight into the distribution of social, emotional and existential loneliness among adults of all ages in Flanders, taking into account physical and social (and subjective and objective) neighbourhood characteristics. 3.3 Work package 3: Data analyses After having collected the relevant data, in the next phase I will carry out several quantitative analyses that mainly serve to answer the following sub-research questions: 2) Which neighbourhood characteristics are related to loneliness in Flanders? 3) Does the impact of neighbourhood characteristics on loneliness in Flanders change with age? 4) What types of neighbourhoods are at risk of loneliness in Flanders? For sub-research question 2, descriptive analyses will be conducted that provide an insight into social, emotional and existential loneliness in Flanders according to (physical and social) neighbourhood characteristics, and complement this with multivariate analyses on which neighbourhood characteristics have an impact on those different types of loneliness in Flanders. In doing so, I will determine different neighbourhood factors and protective factors for loneliness. For sub-research question 3, multivariate analyses will be conducted to examine whether the impact of specific (physical and social) neighbourhood characteristics varies across age groups. The research to answer sub-research question 4 consists of latent factor analyses and cluster analyses to create a typology of 'at-risk neighbourhoods' for loneliness in Flanders, where we associate a cluster of neighbourhood characteristics with certain types of loneliness. References: Buecker, S., Ebert, T., Götz, F. M., Entringer, T. M., & Luhmann, M. (2021). In a lonely place: Investigating regional differences in loneliness. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 12(2), 147-155. De Witte, J. & Van Regenmortel, T. (2021). The relationship between loneliness and migration among Belgian older adults. Ageing International.  Heylen, K., & Vanderstraeten, L. (2018). Woononderzoek in Vlaanderen. Verkenning van de opties voor dataverzameling