Social integration is a key determinant of psychological and behavioral health, and social isolation has been repeatedly linked to poorer health outcomes and adverse lifestyle behaviors. Single-person households have risen in Europe, and the distinction between living alone, social isolation, and loneliness remains debated: loneliness is typically subjective, whereas social isolation is an objective measure of limited social contacts. Different types of isolation include emotional isolation, structural isolation, and social loneliness. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated distancing measures have further increased attention to social disconnection across age groups.
This study aimed to investigate associations between multiple dimensions of social isolation and four health-related factors—physical activity, tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and body mass index (BMI)—in a pan-European sample. A central focus was whether these associations differ by generational cohort, with particular attention to young adults. The working hypothesis was that higher social isolation would be associated with poorer outcomes in the examined health-related factors across European generations.
The analysis used cross-sectional data from Round 11 (2023/2024) of the European Social Survey (ESS). The sample comprised respondents from 24 European countries. The ESS Data Portal is the source for the dataset used; the authors state they had no special access privileges and that other researchers can download the same data via ESS links and DOI provided in the paper.
Five social isolation indicators were operationalized in the analysis: no social meetings (non-social meetings), lack of participation in activities, living alone, lack of emotional support, and unhappiness. The four dependent health-related outcomes were:
The authors frame social isolation as primarily objective measures of social connections (rather than subjective loneliness), while acknowledging the literature that treats the two concepts as related but distinct.
The study applied logistic regression models to estimate associations between each social isolation indicator and each health outcome. Analyses were stratified by generational cohorts defined as the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z. The models adjusted for covariates as described in the source article (details on specific covariates were reported in the full text of the paper). Odds ratios (ORs) were reported to quantify associations between isolation indicators and outcomes.
The empirical results indicate that social isolation indicators are meaningfully associated with health behaviors across generations. A notable finding reported in the abstract is that non-social meetings were associated with increased odds of physical inactivity across all generations, with reported ORs in the range of 1.291 to 1.789. The paper emphasizes that these associations are evident not only in older adults but also in younger cohorts; in some cases, the strength of association in young people exceeded that observed in older groups. The authors describe Generation X as demonstrating transitional patterns, reflecting both traditional and more modern lifestyle associations in the observed relationships.
The authors interpret the findings as evidence that social isolation acts through behavioral mechanisms to influence health-related outcomes, including physical inactivity and substance use. Physical activity is discussed in the literature review as a protective factor for affective well-being and as a mediator in the link between isolation and adverse health. The complexity of the relationship between isolation and substance use is noted: isolation can increase risk of smoking or drinking as coping strategies for some individuals but may reduce exposure to substance-using peer groups for others, depending on age and social context.
The study adds to the literature by demonstrating that social isolation is relevant to unhealthy lifestyles even among younger adults, suggesting heterogeneity in effects across age groups rather than a uniform pattern confined to older age.
Based on the observed associations, the authors underscore the need for age-specific policies to address social isolation and promote healthy behaviors across the life course. They highlight the public health importance of mitigating social disconnection in Europe to prevent long-term consequences related to inactivity, substance use, and weight-related outcomes.
This analysis is cross-sectional, which limits causal inference about the directionality of the relationships between social isolation indicators and health behaviors. The source article provides additional methodological details and model specifications; readers interested in covariate sets, sensitivity checks, and full regression tables should consult the published paper. The abstract and main text report key associations but do not exhaustively list all numerical estimates across every cohort and outcome within the abstract itself.
The authors report that the ESS Data Portal is the sole access point for the underlying data and provide the ESS DOI. They state they received no specific funding for this work and declared no competing interests. The article was received March 16, 2026; accepted August 20, 2026; and published September 10, 2026 in PLOS One under an open access Creative Commons license.