The relationship between self-compassion, attitudes to ageing, anxiety, depression and loneliness in older adults who live alone in the UK.

Paper One is a literature review of 12 studies. It reviews the impact of social isolation during Covid-19 lockdowns on older adults’ psychological wellbeing. Four main areas across the studies highlighted how ways of coping, effects on physical and mental health, uncertainty relating to the lockdown restrictions, and loneliness due to lack of social connection impacted older adults. There were discrepancies between how psychological wellbeing was defined and measured. Some studies were limited by their cross-sectional design, narrow inclusion criteria and an inability to establish cause and effect. The potential implications for this are discussed. Paper Two is an empirical study. This details a cross-sectional study, which explored the relationship between loneliness, attitudes to ageing, self-perceived burden, anxiety, depression, and self-compassion. A total of 65 older adult participants over 65 years old were recruited. Participants completed five validated questionnaires online or by requesting a postal pack. A multiple regression was used to analyse the data. The results indicated that there was no relationship between loneliness, attitudes to ageing, self-perceived burden, anxiety, depression, and self-compassion. The findings suggest that further research is needed into the complex and nuanced experience of loneliness. Exploring different individual factors, such as resilience and income, alongside environmental factors through mixed methods research may provide information into loneliness dynamic and deeply subjective. Paper Three is an executive summary of the empirical research project. It is written to be accessible to participants who originally took part in the study. The background, method, results, and recommendations are outlined.