Residential environmental satisfaction explains variability in depression and loneliness among community-dwelling older adults: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction:

Depression and loneliness are common mental health concerns among older adults and are associated with reduced quality of life and daily functioning. Understanding how satisfaction with the residential environment relates to these outcomes may inform approaches to support well-being and aging in place.

Method:

This cross-sectional study analyzed data collected from 89 community-dwelling older adults residing in the southeastern United States. Residential environmental satisfaction (RES), depression, and loneliness were measured using the Residential Environmental Satisfaction Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and UCLA Loneliness Scale, respectively. Stepwise linear regression analyses examined associations between RES and depression and loneliness, adjusting for age, sex, and education.

Results:

RES and age were significantly associated with both depression and loneliness (p < 0.05). RES explained an additional 7.2% of the variance in depression (p < 0.001) and 11.2% of the variance in loneliness (p = 0.007) beyond demographic factors. Lower RES was associated with higher levels of depressive symptoms and loneliness.

Conclusion:

Perceived satisfaction with one’s home and neighborhood was significantly associated with depression and loneliness among community-dwelling older adults. These findings highlight RES as an important contextual factor to consider when supporting mental well-being and aging in place in later life.

Keywords

residential environmental satisfaction depression loneliness aging in place

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Administration for Community Living (2024) 2023 profile of older Americans. Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Adriaanse

CCM

(2007) Measuring residential satisfaction: A residential environmental satisfaction scale (RESS). Journal of Housing and the Built Environment 22(3): 287–304.

Baum

Christiansen

Bass-Haugen

(2015) Occupational Therapy: Performance, Participation, and Well-Being. SLACK Incorporated.

Beck

Steer

Carbin

(1988) Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation. Clinical Psychology Review 8(1): 77–100.

Beck

Ward

Mendelson

, et al. (1961) An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry 4(6): 561–571.

Blazer

(2003) Depression in late life: Review and commentary. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A 58(3): M249–M265.

Bolster-Foucault

Vedel

Busa

, et al. (2024) Social inequity in ageing in place among older adults in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries: A mixed studies systematic review. Age and Ageing 53(8): afae166.

Cai

Jin

Liu

, et al. (2023) Global prevalence of depression in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis of epidemiological surveys. Asian Journal of Psychiatry 80: 103417.

Chen

Cui

Pan

, et al. (2021) Association between housing environment and depressive symptoms among older people: A multidimensional assessment. BMC Geriatrics 21(1): 259.

10.

Chen

Song

Lee

TMC

, et al. (2023) The robust reciprocal relationship between loneliness and depressive symptoms among the general population: Evidence from a quantitative analysis of 37 studies. Journal of Affective Disorders 343: 119–128.

11.

Djernes

(2006) Prevalence and predictors of depression in populations of elderly: A review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 113(5): 372–387.

12.

Donovan

Blazer

(2020) Social isolation and loneliness in older adults: Review and commentary of a National Academies Report. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 28(12): 1233–1244.

13.

Elhag

Niechcial

Potter

, et al. (2025) Exploring the impact of community-based interventions on healthy older adults’ physical health, psychological wellbeing, and social connections: A systematic review. Ageing Research Reviews 111: 102784.

14.

Fiske

Wetherell

Gatz

(2009) Depression in older adults. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 5: 363–389.

15.

Gan

DRY

Wister

Best

(2022) Environmental influences on life satisfaction and depressive symptoms among older adults with multimorbidity: Path analysis through loneliness in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. The Gerontologist 62(6): 855–864.

16.

Gerlach

Solway

Malani

(2024) Social isolation and loneliness in older adults. JAMA 331(23): 2058–2058.

17.

Gibson

Brittain

McLellan

, et al. (2024) ‘It’s where I belong’: What does it mean to age in place from the perspective of people aged 80 and above? A longitudinal qualitative study (wave one). BMC Geriatrics 24(1): 524.

18.

Greenfield

Scharlach

Lehning

, et al. (2013) A tale of two community initiatives for promoting aging in place: similarities and differences in the national implementation of NORC programs and villages. Gerontologist 53(6): 928–938.

19.

Hawkley

Cacioppo

(2007) Aging and loneliness: Downhill quickly? Current Directions in Psychological Science 16(4): 187–191.

20.

Hoang

King

Moore

, et al. (2022) Interventions associated with reduced loneliness and social isolation in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Network Open 5(10): e2236676.

21.

Hong

Welch-Stockton

Kim

, et al. (2023) Age-friendly community interventions for health and social outcomes: A scoping review. Int J Environ Res Public Health 20(3): 2554.

22.

Hou

Cao

(2021) Promising aging in community models in the U.S.: Village, naturally occurring retirement community (NORC), cohousing, and university-based retirement community (UBRC). Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine 7: 23337214211015451.

23.

IBM Corp. (2023) IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows (Version 29.0.2) [Computer software]. IBM Corp.

24.

Jalali

Ziapour

Karimi

, et al. (2024) Global prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress in the elderly population: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Geriatrics 24(1): 809.

25.

Kim

Buckley

Burnette

, et al. (2022) Age-friendly communities and older adults’ health in the United States. International Journal of Environmental Research Public Health 19(15): 9292.

26.

Law

Cooper

Strong

, et al. (1996) The person-environment-occupation model: A transactive approach to occupational performance. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy 63(1): 9–23.

27.

Lin

Wang

Tan

, et al. (2024) Neighborhood social environment and mental health of older adults in China: The mediating role of subjective well-being and the moderating role of green space. Frontiers in Public Health 12: 1502020.

28.

Luo

(2022) Social isolation, loneliness, and depressive symptoms: A twelve-year population study of temporal dynamics. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B 78(2): 280–290.

29.

Malani

Solway

Kirch

, et al. (2025) Loneliness and social isolation among US older adults. JAMA 333(3): 254–257.

30.

Mann

Wang

Pearce

, et al. (2022) Loneliness and the onset of new mental health problems in the general population. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 57: 2161–2178.

31.

McHugh Power

Hannigan

Hyland

, et al. (2020) Depressive symptoms predict increased social and emotional loneliness in older adults. Aging & Mental Health 24(1): 110–118.

32.

Morgado

Silva

Agostinho

, et al. (2024) Psychotherapeutic interventions for depressive symptoms in community-dwelling older adults: A systematic review with meta-analysis. Healthcare (Basel) 12(24): 2551.

33.

Parniak

DePaul

Frymire

, et al. (2022) Naturally occurring retirement communities: Scoping review. JMIR Aging 5(2): e34577.

34.

Patil

Braun

(2024) Interventions for loneliness in older adults: A systematic review of reviews. Frontiers in Public Health 12: 1427605.

35.

Pollak

Pham

Ehrlich

, et al. (2025) Loneliness and social isolation risk factors in community-dwelling older adults receiving home health services. BMC Geriatrics 25(1): 290.

36.

Prieto-Flores

M-E

Fernandez-Mayoralas

Forjaz

, et al. (2011) Residential satisfaction, sense of belonging and loneliness among older adults living in the community and in care facilities. Health & Place 17(6): 1183–1190.

37.

Ross

Mirowsky

(2006) Sex differences in the effect of education on depression: Resource multiplication or resource substitution? Social Science & Medicine 63(5): 1400–1413.

38.

Russell

(1996) UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3): Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment 66(1): 20–40.

39.

Salari

Najafi

Rasoulpoor

, et al. (2025) The global prevalence and associated factors of loneliness in older adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 12(1): 985.

40.

Sharifi

Mosafer

Rahmati

, et al. (2024) Dwelling characteristics and mental well-being in older adults: A systematic review. Heliyon 10(18): e37676.

41.

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) An aging nation: The older population in the United States (Current Population Report, No. P25-1144). U.S. Government Publishing Office.

42.

U.S. Census Bureau (2025) Older Adults Outnumber Children for First Time in U.S. History [Press release]. U.S. Census Bureau.

43.

Vassar

Crosby

(2008) A reliability generalization study of coefficient alpha for the UCLA loneliness scale. Journal of Personality Assessment 90(6): 601–607.

44.

Wang

Gorenstein

(2013) Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory-II: A comprehensive review. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria 35(4): 416–431.

45.

Ward

Briggs

McGarrigle

, et al. (2023) The bi-directional association between loneliness and depression among older adults from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 38(1): e5856.

46.

Wetherell

Gatz

Pedersen

(2001) A longitudinal analysis of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Psychology and Aging 16(2): 187–195.

47.

Wister

Levasseur

, et al. (2023) The effects of loneliness on depressive symptoms among older adults during COVID-19: Longitudinal analyses of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging. Journal of Aging and Health 35(5–6): 439–452.