Satysfakcja z życia i poczucie osamotnienia osób w wieku senioralnym w kontekście wykluczenia społecznego

Background: The main aim of the presented study is to identify the relationship between loneliness and life satisfaction of seniors. It was expected that high score of loneliness will correspond to lower score of satisfaction with life. Methods: The group consisted of 161 people (53 male and 108 female, age range 60-105 years old) took part in this study. The data was collected using following tools: UCLA Loneliness Scale by Russell, Peplau and Cutrona, Attitude Profile-Revised LAP-R by Reker and a survey of our own authorship allows to collect socio-demographic data. Correlation and regression methods have been used to find relationship between the variables. Findings: Results of the study show some correlations between loneliness and satisfaction with life (r=0,49 for social connections, r=0,57 for belonging to social group, r=-0,53 for lack of contact). Furthermore, regression analysis shows that lack of contact, social connections and sense of belonging explain about 94% of the variance of life satisfaction. Discussion: The implementation of these results to the psychological care for the elderly might contribute to improving their quality of life.