Correlates of Loneliness among Widows Bereaved in a Mining Disaster

Abstract

From interviews with 44 widows of victims of the 1972 Sunshine Mine disaster (Idaho) and comparison samples of wives of survivors of the fire and of miners employed in other mines two types of loneliness were identified—one (personal loneliness) referring to whether respondents felt “very lonely and remote from other people” and the other (community underinvolvement) to whether they felt as involved in community life as they wanted to be. The widows manifested very high levels of personal loneliness but not of perceived community underinvolvement. An hypothesized link between loneliness and low income did not appear, but education was related to both kinds of loneliness. Participation in organizations seems related to low personal loneliness. Contacts with friends and relatives, belonging to a variety of voluntary organizations, having satisfying daily employment, and participating in religious organizations are related to satisfaction with level of involvement in community. Both types of loneliness are inversely related to high morale, happiness, and perceived high quality of life among widows. There may be many dimensions of loneliness as the present two types have different correlates; successful prescriptions for these often differ.