No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Loneliness
Risky alcohol use that became a factor that has affects the person and the environment very closely and has increased and threatened the health. It is possible to have a number of psychological issues that accompany alcohol use, increase alcohol use and / or it develops after alcohol use. The aim at this study is to investigate the level of alexithymia and loneliness of individuals using risky alcohol, the alexithymia of risky alcohol use and the effect of loneliness. A total of 228 women and men living in the Bodrum province of Muğla province participated in this research and 128 people who had 8 points in the Alcohol Use Disorders Recognition Test were evaluated as risky alcohol users. UCLA Loneliness Scale, Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and Alcohol Use Disorders Recognition Test (AKBTT) were used for the data collection in addition to the demographic information form. The risk alcohol use was determined in 128 (56.1%) of the 228 participants, and 100 (43.9%) risk alcohol use was not determined. A simple regression analysis was conducted to determine the predictive effect of alcohol use on the alexithymia and loneliness of the risky alcohol use, and the EUSC score affects the TAS-20 score but affects the UCLA-loneliness score. Risky alcohol use affects the level of alexithymia. However, there was no significant relationship between levels of loneliness and alcoholism in people without risky alcohol use. Two groups with and without risk of alcohol were included in the independent sample T-test. A significant difference was observed between the scores of those with and without risk of alcohol use, and 21.1% of risk alcohol use alexithymia was significantly explained. As a result of the research, it has been proposed from the similar studies for risky alcohol use and alexithymia.
Loneliness and depressive symptoms are closely related constructs. However, mixed evidence exists on their prospective associations and only very few studies to date focused on intervening mechanisms. The present manuscript examined the direction of effects between loneliness and depressive symptoms in two longitudinal studies sampling college students (N = 514 and N = 437, respectively), using cross-lagged path analysis. Furthermore, the mediating and moderating role of active and passive coping strategies was examined. Results indicated that, although bi-directional effects tended to emerge, loneliness was a more consistent predictor of depressive symptoms across both studies than vice versa. Moreover, results indicated that this association was mediated, but not moderated, by coping strategies. Loneliness was related to an increased use of passive coping strategies, which, in turn, was a risk factor for later depressive symptoms. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are outlined.
The cognitive discrepancy model predicts that loneliness occurs when individuals perceive a difference between their desired and actual levels of social involvement. Using data from a sample of high school sophomore students, the present investigation was designed to go beyond previous research that has tested this model by examining the predicted nonlinear relationships between desired and actual social contact and feelings of loneliness. Analyses indicated that support for the cognitive discrepancy model of loneliness was found only for measures of close friendships. Specifically, the discrepancy between the students' ideal number and actual number of close friends was found to be related in a nonlinear fashion to feelings of satisfaction with close friendships and loneliness after control for the number of close friends. Implications of these findings for theoretical models of loneliness are discussed.
Social and demographic trends are placing an increasing number of adults at risk for loneliness, an established risk factor for physical and mental illness. The growing costs of loneliness have led to a number of loneliness reduction interventions. Qualitative reviews have identified four primary intervention strategies: (a) improving social skills, (b) enhancing social support, (c) increasing opportunities for social contact, and (d) addressing maladaptive social cognition. An integrative meta-analysis of loneliness reduction interventions was conducted to quantify the effects of each strategy and to examine the potential role of moderator variables. Results revealed that single-group pre-post and nonrandomized comparison studies yielded larger mean effect sizes relative to randomized comparison studies. Among studies that used the latter design, the most successful interventions addressed maladaptive social cognition. This is consistent with current theories regarding loneliness and its etiology. Theoretical and methodological issues associated with designing new loneliness reduction interventions are discussed.
As a social species, humans rely on a safe, secure social surround to survive and thrive. Perceptions of social isolation, or loneliness, increase vigilance for threat and heighten feelings of vulnerability while also raising the desire to reconnect. Implicit hypervigilance for social threat alters psychological processes that influence physiological functioning, diminish sleep quality, and increase morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this paper is to review the features and consequences of loneliness within a comprehensive theoretical framework that informs interventions to reduce loneliness. We review physical and mental health consequences of loneliness, mechanisms for its effects, and effectiveness of extant interventions. Features of a loneliness regulatory loop are employed to explain cognitive, behavioral, and physiological consequences of loneliness and to discuss interventions to reduce loneliness. Loneliness is not simply being alone. Interventions to reduce loneliness and its health consequences may need to take into account its attentional, confirmatory, and memorial biases as well as its social and behavioral effects.
In this article I evaluated the psychometric properties of the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3). Using data from prior studies of college students, nurses, teachers, and the elderly, analyses of the reliability, validity, and factor structure of this new version of the UCLA Loneliness Scale were conducted. Results indicated that the measure was highly reliable, both in terms of internal consistency (coefficient alpha ranging from .89 to .94) and test-retest reliability over a 1-year period (r = .73). Convergent validity for the scale was indicated by significant correlations with other measures of loneliness. Construct validity was supported by significant relations with measures of the adequacy of the individual's interpersonal relationships, and by correlations between loneliness and measures of health and well-being. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a model incorporating a global bipolar loneliness factor along with two method factor reflecting direction of item wording provided a very good fit to the data across samples. Implications of these results for future measurement research on loneliness are discussed.
This paper describes an attempt to construct a measuring instrument for loneliness that meets the cri teria of a Rasch scale. Rasch (1960, 1966) proposed a latent trait model for the unidimensional scaling of di chotomous items that does not suffer from the inade quacies of classical approaches. The resulting Rasch scale of this study, which is based on data from 1,201 employed, disabled, and jobless adults, consists of five positive and six negative items. The positive items assess feelings of belongingness, whereas the negative items apply to three separate aspects of miss ing relationships. The techniques for testing the as sumptions underlying the Rasch model are compared with their counterparts from classical test theory, and the implications for the methodology of scale con struction are discussed.
Describes loneliness as a natural response of the individual to certain situations and not as a form of weakness. Emotional and social isolation (as 2 distinct forms of loneliness) are delineated, as well as feelings of emptiness, anxiety, restlessness, and marginality. Examples from case studies are included. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Extensive research has been completed to investigate loneliness in adolescents over the past several decades; identification of key predictors for loneliness was needed using meta-analytic techniques.
To identify predictors for loneliness in adolescents through a comprehensive review of the literature and to use quantitative meta-analysis to determine the magnitude of the relationships between each predictor and loneliness.
The literature reviewed included 242 studies published or unpublished between 1980 and 2004, of which 95 met the inclusion criteria. Eleven key predictors for loneliness were identified in the 95 studies. A meta-analysis was conducted on each of the 11 predictors in relation to loneliness.
Four predictors (gender, depression, shyness, and self-esteem) had large effect sizes, four predictors (social support, social anxiety, maternal expressiveness, and paternal expressiveness) had large medium to medium effect sizes, two predictors (stress and self-disclosure) had low effect sizes, and one predictor (age) had a very low effect size.
Theories of loneliness served as a framework for interpreting the findings of the meta-analysis. The most powerful predictors can be used in intervention studies aimed at reducing loneliness in adolescents.
Perspectives on loneliness
- L A Peplau
- D Perlman