Childhood loneliness is characterised by children’s perceived dissatisfaction with aspects of their social relationships. This 8-year prospective study investigates whether loneliness in childhood ...predicts depressive symptoms in adolescence, controlling for early childhood indicators of emotional problems and a sociometric measure of peer social preference. 296 children were tested in the infant years of primary school (T1 5 years of age), in the upper primary school (T2 9 years of age) and in secondary school (T3 13 years of age). At T1, children completed the loneliness assessment and sociometric interview. Their teachers completed externalisation and internalisation rating scales for each child. At T2, children completed a loneliness assessment, a measure of depressive symptoms, and the sociometric interview. At T3, children completed the depressive symptom assessment. An SEM analysis showed that depressive symptoms in early adolescence (age 13) were predicted by reports of depressive symptoms at age 8, which were themselves predicted by internalisation in the infant school (5 years). The interactive effect of loneliness at 5 and 9, indicative of prolonged loneliness in childhood, also predicted depressive symptoms at age 13. Parent and peer-related loneliness at age 5 and 9, peer acceptance variables, and duration of parent loneliness did not predict depression. Our results suggest that enduring peer-related loneliness during childhood constitutes an interpersonal stressor that predisposes children to adolescent depressive symptoms. Possible mediators are discussed.
The BBC Loneliness Experiment provided a unique opportunity to examine differences in the experience of lonelines across cultures, age, and gender, and the interaction between these factors. Using ...those data, we analysed the frequency of loneliness reported by 46,054 participants aged 16–99 years, living across 237 countries, islands, and territories, representing the full range of individualism-collectivism cultures, as defined by Hofstede (1997). Findings showed that loneliness increased with individualism, decreased with age, and was greater in men than in women. We also found that age, gender, and culture interacted to predict loneliness, although those interactions did not qualify the main effects, and simply accentuated them. We found the most vulnerable to loneliness were younger men living in individualistic cultures.
•Younger people reported more loneliness than the middle-aged.•The middle-aged reported more loneliness than older people.•Men reported more loneliness than women.•People in individualistic (vs. collectivist) countries reported more loneliness.•Age, gender, and culture interacted to predict loneliness.
•Young adults showed high rates of loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic.•Loneliness, COVID-19 worry, and distress tolerance predicted mental health symptoms.•Family support was associated with ...lower levels of depression and anxiety.•Interventions may consider targeting loneliness and distress tolerance.
This study sought to identify factors associated with depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptomatology in U.S. young adults (18-30 years) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This cross-sectional online study assessed 898 participants from April 13, 2020 to May 19, 2020, approximately one month after the U.S. declared a state of emergency due to COVID-19 and prior to the initial lifting of restrictions across 50 U.S. states. Respondents reported high levels of depression (43.3%, PHQ-8 scores ≥ 10), high anxiety scores (45.4%, GAD-7 scores ≥ 10), and high levels of PTSD symptoms (31.8%, PCL-C scores ≥ 45). High levels of loneliness, high levels of COVID-19-specific worry, and low distress tolerance were significantly associated with clinical levels of depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms. Resilience was associated with low levels of depression and anxiety symptoms but not PTSD. Most respondents had high levels of social support; social support from family, but not from partner or peers, was associated with low levels of depression and PTSD. Compared to Whites, Asian Americans were less likely to report high levels across mental health symptoms, and Hispanic/Latinos were less likely to report high levels of anxiety. These factors provide initial guidance regarding the clinical management for COVID-19-related mental health problems.
Despite evidence that loneliness increases during times of transition, and that the incidence of loneliness is highest in young adults, loneliness during pregnancy and new parenthood has not been ...developed as a program of research. Because loneliness research has primarily focused on older adults and other high-risk populations, the concept of loneliness and its effects on this population are not well understood, leaving a gap in our understanding of the psychosocial needs and health risks of loneliness on pregnant people and new parents. A scoping review has been completed in order to map and synthesize the literature on loneliness experienced during pregnancy and the first 5 years of parenthood prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
To address the aim of this review, a wide net was cast in order to detect experiences of perinatal or parental loneliness and/or instances where loneliness was measured in this population. Among the inclusion criteria were loneliness in people who were pregnant, who were parents in the postpartum period, or who had children aged 5 years or younger. A search for literature was conducted in December 2020 using nine databases: MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE (Elsevier), SCOPUS (Elsevier), Cochrane Library including CENTRAL (Wiley), CINAHL (Ebscohost), PsycINFO (Ebscohost), Dissertations & Theses Global (ProQuest) and Sociological Abstracts (ProQuest), and the Web of Science Core Collection (Clarivate).
Perinatal and parental loneliness studies are limited and have rarely been targeted and developed through a program of research. Loneliness inquiry in this population was frequently studied in relation to other concepts of interest (e.g., postpartum depression). Alternatively, the importance of loneliness emerged from study participants as relevant to the research topic during qualitative inquiry. Across studies, the prevalence of loneliness ranged from 32 to 100%. Loneliness was commonly experienced alongside parenting difficulties, with parents feeling as though they were alone in their struggles.
As loneliness has been called a sensitive indicator of mental wellbeing, we believe screening will help healthcare professionals identify common difficulties and early signs of depression experienced during pregnancy and parenthood.
The protocol is available on Open Science Framework at DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/BFVPZ.
Despite the relevance of loneliness to family scholarship, an attempt to integrate various perspectives on loneliness with relevant insights from loneliness research for understanding contemporary ...families has not yet been made. Although quantitative researchers have developed measures that have been fruitful in broadening insights about loneliness, they have failed to grasp its multidimensional and dynamic nature. Due to a shift in emphasis from lived experiences to correlational variables, loneliness research has been confronted with two particular problems. First, endeavors to refine previous conceptualizations of loneliness have stagnated. Second, research questions are scattered across a variety of disciplines. This article provides an integrated multidisciplinary theory from which it becomes clear that a family focus is of great importance to all disciplines concerned with loneliness, because opportunities for social interaction, relational standards, and sources of loneliness depend on familial and developmental histories and the cultural orientation of the families in which individuals live.
Loneliness is a major public health concern. Duration of loneliness is associated with severity of health outcomes, and further research is needed to direct interventions and social policy. This ...study aimed to identify predictors of the onset vs. the maintenance of loneliness in older adults before and during the pandemic using longitudinal data from the Survey of Health, Age, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).
Groupings of persistent, situational, and no loneliness were based on self-reports from an ordinary pre-pandemic SHARE wave and a peri-pandemic telephone interview. Predictors were identified and compared in three hierarchical binary regression analyses, with independent variables added in blocks of geographic region, demographics, pre-pandemic social network, pre-pandemic health, pandemic-related individual, and country level variables.
Self-reported loneliness levels for the persistent, situational, and no loneliness groups were stable and distinct through 7 years preceding the pre-pandemic baseline measure. Shared predictors were chronic diseases, female sex, depression, and no cohabitant partner. Persistent loneliness was uniquely predicted by low network satisfaction (OR: 2.04), functional limitations (OR: 1.40), and a longer country-level isolation period for older adults (OR: 1.24).
Interventions may target persons with depression, functional limitations, chronic health issues, and no cohabitant partner. The added burden of the length of isolation on those who are already lonely should be taken into account when employing social policies that target older adults. Further research should distinguish between situational and persistent loneliness, and seek to identify predictors of chronic loneliness onset.
•Examined impact of COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders on psychological outcomes.•Stay-at-home orders linked to health anxiety, financial worry, and loneliness.•Impact of COVID-19 on life associated ...with health anxiety and financial worry.•Impact of COVID-19 on life associated with less loneliness and more social support.•Results highlight importance of social connection and need for tele-mental health.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the widespread implementation of extraordinary physical distancing interventions (e.g., stay-at-home orders) to slow the spread of the virus. Although vital, these interventions may be socially and economically disruptive, contributing to adverse psychological outcomes. This study examined relations of both stay-at-home orders and the perceived impact of COVID-19 on daily life to psychological outcomes (depression, health anxiety, financial worry, social support, and loneliness) in a nationwide U.S. community adult sample (N = 500; 47% women, mean age = 40). Participants completed questionnaires assessing psychological outcomes, stay-at-home order status, and COVID-19’s impact on their daily life. Being under a stay-at-home order was associated with greater health anxiety, financial worry, and loneliness. Moreover, the perceived impact of COVID-19 on daily life was positively associated with health anxiety, financial worry, and social support, but negatively associated with loneliness. Findings highlight the importance of social connection to mitigate negative psychological consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This paper discusses why talking about loneliness is important, what topics should be talked about and offers points of attention for bringing up the topic of loneliness. There are three reasons why ...talking about loneliness is important. First, conversation is the only way to assess loneliness at the individual level. Second, conversations help gathering rich information about an individual’s loneliness and thus are essential in determining appropriate follow-up action. Third, conversation helps individuals in structuring their thoughts, which results in more agency for the lonely individual. Four topic areas to discuss regarding loneliness are specified, i.e. how loneliness feels, what causes loneliness, what consequences of loneliness are, and how loneliness is addressed. Furthermore, three points of attention for bringing up the topic of loneliness are presented, i.e. how loneliness influences the ability to build and maintain relationships, that loneliness should not be a taboo, but an everyday topic to discuss, and the possible pitfall of talking about easy solutions. As talking about loneliness is important, developing, implementing and evaluating training to talk about loneliness is an important step for future development.
Contrary to common stereotypes, loneliness is not restricted to old age but can occur at any life stage. In this study, we used data from a large, nationally representative German study (N = 16,132) ...to describe and explain age differences in loneliness from late adolescence to oldest old age. The age distribution of loneliness followed a complex nonlinear trajectory, with elevated loneliness levels among young adults and among the oldest old. The late-life increase in loneliness could be explained by lower income levels, higher prevalence of functional limitations, and higher proportion of singles in this age group. Consistent with an age-normative perspective, the association of income, relationship status, household size, and work status with loneliness differed between different age groups. In contrast, indicators of the quantity of social relationships (social engagement, number of friends, contact frequency) were universally associated with loneliness regardless of age. Overall, these findings show that sources of loneliness in older adults are well understood. Future research should focus on understanding the specific sources of loneliness in middle-aged adults.
The stigma of loneliness exacerbates the negative effect of loneliness, reduces the willingness to seek help, damages interpersonal relationships, and threatens health status. However, there is ...currently no valid scale for measuring the stigma of loneliness in China. The study aims to translate the Stigma of Loneliness Scale (SLS) and evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version.
The investigation was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, the SLS was used to conduct a questionnaire survey on 657 college students aged 17 to 24; in the second phase, the SLS, the UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-8), the Distress Disclosure Index (DDI), the Revised Cheek and Buss Shyness Scale (RCBS), the Self-Concealment Scale (SCS), the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS), the Social Phobia Scale (SPS), the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) were used to conduct the questionnaire survey on 801 college and graduates students aged 18 to 39.
Two dimensions of Self-stigma of Loneliness and Public Stigma of Loneliness were extracted with a cumulative factor interpretation rate of 74.60% when conducting exploratory factor analysis on the first-stage data. The factor loading of each item ranged from 0.585 to 0.890, and the commonality ranged from 0.609 to 0.735. The confirmatory factor analysis and reliability and validity test were carried out on the data gathered in the second phase, indicating that the two-factor model fits well. In addition, the scores of SLS and all dimensions were significantly positively correlated with the total scores of ULS-8, RCBS, SCS, SIAS, SPS, and K10, and negatively correlated with those of DDI and RSES. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for SLS and SSL and PSL dimensions were 0.957, 0.941, and 0.955. The cross-group invariance test found that the SLS was equivalent for males and females. Meanwhile, males scored significantly higher than females on both the total scores of SLS score and each dimension.
The Chinese version of SLS displayed satisfactory psychometric properties and can be a valid tool to assess the stigma of loneliness among Chinese young people.
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