Many people may consider retiring to a warmer, less expensive country. But retirees who move abroad may be at greater risk of loneliness than those who stay in their home country, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

Although "retirement migrants" generally report being happy, they may still face struggles adapting to a new country, according to the study authors. Those struggles can involve reduced contact with family and old friends -- including adult children -- as well as difficulty forming new friendships and connections in their new countries.

The researchers surveyed 4,995 Dutch retirees living abroad and a comparison group of 1,338 Dutch retirees still living in the Netherlands. To qualify as a retirement migrant, those living abroad had to be older than 65 and to have moved to their new country after age 50.

The team asked participants about their feelings of loneliness, as well as their connections with family, friends and neighbors back home and in their new countries. They looked at two aspects of loneliness -- emotional loneliness, which stems from the lack of close friends or a partner, and social loneliness, which stems from a lack of a broader social circle or a sense of community.

Overall, retirement migrants were socially lonelier than non-migrants, despite the fact that they were, on average, of higher socioeconomic status and healthier than the non-migrant retirees in the control group.

However, the retirement migrants were not, on average, emotionally lonelier than non-migrants. That makes sense, according to the researchers, because many retirees move to a new country with a spouse or partner.

Only retirement migrants who reported that they had lost contact with good friends and family from back home were both socially and emotionally lonelier. In contrast, those who had more contact with neighbors and a higher sense of belonging to their new country reported less social loneliness.

The study highlights the need for retirees to consider their social support systems if they are thinking of retiring abroad, the authors suggest. Of note, they also say that older retirement migrants "face double jeopardy," as they are vulnerable to both age-related and migration-related risk factors for loneliness.

To download the full study, click here