Loneliness - Science topic

We invite researchers and institutions to collaborate on a multi-country study on workplace loneliness among nurses. This study is currently under IRB review in Qatar with plans to expand to other countries. It aims to provide a comprehensive analysis across diverse healthcare environments.

To express your interest in joining this international study, please send the following information to Ms. Ederlie Encarnacion Pitiquen at epitiquen@hamad.qa

We look forward to collaborating with researchers passionate about understanding the psychosocial aspects of nursing and contributing to a high-impact study that informs organizational and healthcare practices globally.

With regards

'Research is a fruitful journey that brings me closer to the world and its people, gives me another layer to believe in a creator, offers me material wealth and recognition, swallows my loneliness, fears and inadequacies; a soothing activity that makes life extremely meaningful to me.'

-Dickson Adom

I am looking for articles on lack of social skills and loneliness of blind low vision students. any idea of authors?

My research is mainly about anthropomorphism\attachment anxiety\loneliness\mentalizing, I want to know the latest research about my interest.

What is the relationship between human loneliness and music? What is the characteristic of music that is closer to my solitude than other artistic forms? Does it have anything with its abstractness and lack of direct meaning? Why don't I like to extend the music of my solitude to my social life or am I not thrilled to hear them in public?

Technology has favored communication and interaction among different peoples and individuals throughout history. In the 16th century, the massive arrival of European settlers in the American continent meant the encounter of two cultures. From there, knowledge and culture have served as a bridge to overcome geographical isolation. Technological development has strengthened this connection, leading to real-time virtual interactions typical of our time. However, with the same technology, phenomena have emerged where, paradoxically, the abuse of technological means has led individuals to isolate themselves from their social, work, and family environments.

Freedom and rights to live as natural as did some countries did ,and social problems arises from loneliness' and lost life ,so do we need to follow religion and conservative life as democracy seek or go to optimum life ?

I was working on the data of 8-itemed UCLA Loneliness (ULS-8) and 9-itemed PHQ [2] (PHQ-9) scales. I found that in the study of PHQ-9 [2], the authors mentioned the 9 items as symptoms. However, in the study on the ULS-8 scale [1], the authors did not mention the 8 items as the symptom. I found similar criteria in the papers which conducted a study using the PHQ-9 (e.g., [3]) and ULS-8 scale (e.g., [4]). This raised the question: can the items of the UCLA Loneliness Scale not be called symptoms?

I understand that the items of the ULS-8 and PHQ-9 scales are different. In addition, one scale is used to assess loneliness whereas another one is used to assess depression. However, due to the following reasons, I think that the items of the UCLA loneliness scale can be called symptoms.

So far, I did not find a single reliable study that mentioned the items of the UCLA loneliness scale as the symptoms.

Can the items (e.g., item 5: I feel isolated from others) of the UCLA Loneliness Scale not be called symptoms?

Thank you.

I have conducted a moderation analysis with two independent moderators. (Using Hayes Process model 2). I have attached the output for your reference.

I am looking for the impact that financial wellbeing and gender has the relationship between marital status and loneliness.

My variables are:

Y: Loneliness (continuous variable - low values indicating low loneliness)

X: Marital status (single or married- dummy coded to have single as the reference category)

W (mod1): Financial wellbeing (continuous- low values indicating low financial wellbeing)

Z (mod2): Gender (male or female- dummy coded to have male as the reference category)

As you will see, all the p-values show significance

I have to questions:

1. Is this selection of variables appropriate for the moderation analysis I am undertaking?

2. Can someone please help me interpret this output? When interpreting the conditional effect I am seeing all the values under 'effect' are negative but I am not sure how to interpret this in relation to the predictor (being single coded as 0).

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Humans are created as social beings. Some life conditions can result in social isolation and loneliness. What are the adverse effects of long-term loneliness on human health? Sharing is caring. Thanks!!!

I have to find the correlation and causality between participants’ smartphone uses pattern and loneliness. For that, i have the dependent variable loneliness (both baseline (0 to 80) and daily: in an 0 to 10 numeric scale), and independent variables listed from daily smartphone uses screen time, spend time in several categorized apps like social media, entertainment, communication, physical activity, sleep, and some social variables and moods like how much the person felt bored, anxious, satisfied, productive, etc. I will collect these independent variables for 10 days, and the psychosocial variables will be collected three times a day. I also have to use a couple of prediction algorithms for predicting loneliness with the above-mentioned independent variables. But first, I have to find the correlation and causality between the dependent and independent variables. I just have programming experience until now with python, no statistics knowledge. I have about 9 months remaining to complete my thesis. Please share your valuable guideline and resources on how can I proceed with this challenge where I can get the most meaningful results.

David Morse you helped me previously, please can I check with you my question is : the impact of working from home on loneliness, creativity and resilience. I know I will be using multivariate regression but what am I putting in G Power to work out the sample size. I am assuming possible control variables of 1)ethnicity, 2)education level, 3) type of work and my IV is working from home. My 3 DVs are loneliness, creativity and resilience. What is the best way to work out the sample size please?

Is a-priori analysis with an effect of f2 of 0.08 reasonable, and alpha of 0.05 and power of 0,95 ? which test is best? and how do I do this please? I think you mentioned a generic F Test or Manova

I'm very new to this and have 1 Independent Variable ( Working from home) and its effect on 3 dependent variables ( loneliness, creativity and resilience) . Can someone please confirm I will use multivariate regression? Can I run this in Jamovi ? And I need to work out the sample size using G Power?

My research question is predicting whether personality traits (the Big 5) will predict loneliness.

I have a score from each participant about how they score overall in each personality trait.

Do I do a linear regression between each personality trait affecting loneliness separately? for example:

- regression analysis between extraversion (IV) and loneliness (DV)

- regression analysis between openness (IV) and loneliness (DV)

etc and do this for all 5 traits

OR do a multiple regression with all the IV's at the same time? for example:

- regression analysis between extraversion, openness, consciousness, agreeableness and neuroticism (IV's) and loneliness (DV)

thank you

In my thesis, I conducted a mediation analysis. My Iv is categorical (marital status with five subgroups), DV is depression, and mediator variable is loneliness. I used PROCESS, but now I don't know how I report it in APA style. Because there are four different X in my result. So how can I report the results?

It is noted that Men show significant lower anxiety, depression, and acute stress levels than women and women present greater severity in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and acute stress. Moreover, loneliness and violence specifically worsen the emotional state in women.kindly put your thoughts in this topic.

Hi, I am doing a research on 'Exploration of befriending services in tackling Loneliness and Social Isolation in Young Adults.' My original plan was to interview the participants myself and do a semi structured interview with IPA. However I had trouble finding participants who wants to be interviewed by me. One of the organisation's manager offered to interview the participants for me if |I can provide her research questions and participants have agreed to be interviewed by her. Now my question is I can send her interview questions which are open ended but structured. I have added enough probes where clarification is needed. Can I still do IPA on that data or can I use another method of data analysis?

Loneliness comes with a staggering 26% increase in risk of premature mortality, where around a third of people in industrialized countries are affected [1]. Can and should artificial intelligence be used to counteract this negative trend? If so, where do you see its potential? Detection, Prevention, Therapy… ?

[1] Cacioppo JT, Cacioppo S. The growing problem of loneliness. Lancet. 2018 3;391(10119):426

Hi everyone,

My MA-thesis focuses on the impact of Covid-measures on university students(in the Netherlands) with regards to experiences of loneliness, resilience and self-determination. I collected data for my mixed methods approach (convergent model) with an online survey (open and closed questions) and am currently in the proces of analyzing the 228 responses. Even though I have a theoretical framework that guides my research questions, my goal is also to let the data speak for itself since I do not know how the students truly feel (and what to find out).

(-sub question: can you make a conceptual model with a preexistent theoretical framework & grounded theory?)

I have checked the reliability of my scales (loneliness, resilience and motivation) and prepared these scales in SPSS. Now I just don't know what test to use (and how) in order to see correlations and possible causality between te experiences of motivation, loneliness and motivation in students.

Does anyone have some advice? Thank you!

Hi, I’m writing a research project about the relationship between high social media usage and feelings of loneliness and depression.

The sample is formed of 200 university students aged 18-24.

The experimental group will be required to limit their social media usage to 30 minutes per day and complete weekly surveys (using likert scale) on general wellbeing (questions about loneliness, depression, self esteem, FOMO, social support etc)- for a period of 6 months.

The control group will be instructed to continue using their social media platforms as usual and complete the same weekly surveys.

I am very confused at what test I should use for data analysis. I was thinking correlation coefficient for both groups separately and then t-test to compare the two groups? But I doubt this is the best option

thanks in advance

Are there ways to quantify / measure / monitor the degree of loneliness of team members in a Covid-19 lockdown teleworking situation? Team dynamics over a longer period of teleworking and expression of team members reveals that loneliness starts to spread among them. This to me seam to start a downwards trend in the sense that lonely colleagues interact less and less interaction creates more loneliness feelings for themselves and other team members. The effect seams amplified if team members can’t detach from teleworking physically and mentally. I see that at a certain point they even can’t see how to relax what as well worsen the loneliness feeling. Are there methods and ways to monitor such team developments to be able to intervene?

Now days the feeling bored and alone is very cruel and damage your life ,. Iloneliness is boring. Your keen observation reveal that when some people when among lot of friends also, will be discussing about the boring even when they are all together!. It clearly reveals that it's not the loneliness is boring. If you have thought that it is boring, everything is boring. Sometimes because you don't like a thing it becomes boring. If you think that it is very interesting and you also like it to be so, love it,then it's not boring including the loneliness.

The acceptance! We should be able to accept what we are and what we have and to meet any situation or difficulty without loosing our balance,will never be boring! Here I am reminded of some lines by the American poet,Walt Whitman. They emphasise the point that unlike animals we often overreact and do not know the technique of avoiding unnecessary emotions and anxieties. The lines of the poet are,I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contained, they do not sweat and whine about their condition.

Instead of feeling bored, one can accept the situation and use it for retrospection and modifications to become a great character.

The case of boring and feel that you are sad and your life is without target ,so how can you overcome this bad feelings?

Hello everyone!

I'm conducting research for my master's dissertation.

I am interested in knowing if there is a relationship between loneliness and dissociation. Can loneliness trigger a vulnerable individual into dissociating to be able to cope with this feeling?

If you're willing to be interviewed, please contact me at mirit.agaiby@online.liverpool.ac.uk for more information

Thanks!

Hello! I'm currently doing my Thesis on interpretation biases, loneliness and pain. I want to look at the contribution of interpretation biases to loneliness and then the contribution of interpretation biases to pain separately.

The ''interpretation bias'' scale consists of 4 subscales, namely, a) negative interpretations of social evaluation, b) benign interpretations of social evaluation, c) negative interpretations of bodily harm, d) benign interpretations of bodily harm.

My hypotheses are : 1. Threatening interpretation biases (particularly those indicating bodily harm) predict pain

2. Threatening interpretation biases (particularly those indicating social threat) predict loneliness

I also want to control for Anxiety and Depression since they have been found to be associated with both pain and loneliness as well as interpretation bias.

My supervisor advised me to do a standard multiple regression including all of the interpretation bias subscales as predictors and pain as a criterion. She told me that although we expect to see the 'negative interpretations of bodily harm' item to be significantly associated with pain we will include all of the other items of the scale in the regression because research has shown that for example weaker endorsement of benign inerpretations of bodily harm na be also associated with pain. However, I'm not sure. Can I include all of the items in the regression model and see the individual effect of each of the interpretation bias items on pain or is that wrong?

Then I was told that I need to do a second standard multiple regression including my covariates (anxiety and depression) in order to control for them and see if there is any difference.

Exactly the same process I am expected to repeat for my other dependent variable ''loneliness'' but in that case I expect that negative interpretations of social threat to be significantly associated with loneliness.

Do you think I need to continue with standadrd multiple regression or to use another kind of regression such as hierarchical multiple regression? I don't know if the right method to control for the covariates is just to do another standard multiple regression and included these along with the interpretation bias subscales.

While I'm reading different research papers I see that many authors use hierarchical regression but I'm still not sure which is the right method because I'm thinking that I don't want to find the best model as hierarchical regression does. But still I'm not sure if I need to keep it simple and continue with the standard one?

In the wave of corona,and amidst lock down, and social distancing, one section of our society who are at greater risk are the older people, people above the age of sixty five. Lower immunity levels and co- morbidities put the geriatric population at greater risk. Is this sect of population are also having greater risk of psychological issues like loneliness and , fear of death leading towards depression?

Inviting discussions and responses..

According to WHO reports In public mental health terms, the main psychological impact to date is elevated rates of stress or anxiety. But as new measures and impacts are introduced – especially quarantine and its effects on many people’s usual activities, routines or livelihoods – levels of loneliness, depression, harmful alcohol and drug use, and self-harm or suicidal behaviour are also expected to rise. ( http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus-covid-19/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-technical-guidance-OLD/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-outbreak-technical-guidance-europe-OLD/mental )

Many of people suffering a lot due to be victims and witnesses who were not physically harmed receive psychological help and are checked for signs of needing further post-traumatic treatment or for losing hopes/ economic problems; .......the statistics now be announced that : With some 2.6 billion people around the world in some kind of lockdown, we are conducting arguably the largest psychological experiment ever; .....

This question is the title of a video on Youtube that intrigued me, especially because of these accompanying remarks:

«It sounds like a hugely arrogant and self-serving suggestion to imply that cleverness might lead you to loneliness. But if you define cleverness in a selective (and modest) way, there may truly be an aspect whereby it can lead to a certain isolation. [...]

«It sounds like a very mean and undemocratic thought, trading off the peculiar glamour that isolation has in a Romantic culture – in order to gain an oblique sense of superiority and perhaps pass off an absence of social skills as a virtue. It is important, therefore, to be clear what is meant here by intelligence. It has nothing to do with degrees or any of the criteria by which we ordinarily measure cleverness. What is meant is emotional intelligence, which exists (or not) in every strata and nook of society…»

Entire world specially developing countries like India is facing many socio behavioral problems which cause Loneliness, separation from mainstream stress-free life, family disintegration ,depression, hurrysickness, fast speedy life, addiction of social media, drugs, nicotine, alcohol,...... Are some are pushing the humanity towards mass depression, suicidal moves, wild run for material satisfaction, destruction of all good and sacred values. We all need to worry and find universal health care reform and means to solve these things, before the world goes on self destructive war of values and deadly thought pollution.

I write articles and book on theories of consciousness in relation to human consciousness (ben mijuskovic google scholar)

Hello,

What is the best way to easily test for missing data patterns in repeated measures designs using R or SPSS?

Example study:

Design: survey data collected at baseline, 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months

IV: control vs. experimental

DVs: quality of life, loneliness, and depression

Missing data would likely be related to depression (participant is depressed and doesn't complete survey because of this). But this pattern might not be apparent in the data, so how would you find this out?

Thanks!

I am a PhD student currently exploring questionnaires that I could potentially use to identify older adults (50+ in this project) levels of social isolation, as part of a larger project. I have come across several questionnaires (e.g. Duke Social Support Index, Lubben Social Network Scale, Social disconnectedness questionnaire, Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey, Multidimensional scale of perceived social support, Social network index, De Jong Gierveld Loneliness scale) and I am currently weighing up the pros and cons of each to make a decision on which to use in this project.

I have found that some cross over with loneliness, but I would like to have separate 'scores' for social isolation and loneliness, which potentially means separate questionnaires. I have found loneliness questionnaires relatively easy to narrow down, but social isolation I've found much harder.

Dear researchers,

Can I find The Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA-S) (DiTommaso, 1997) in Arabic?

I am going to use this scale and I want to translate it if anyone has an Arabic version of this scale Please send it to me.

Thanks

Noor

I have been asked to help a group of high-schools construct a survey related to screen use, loneliness, stress, etc. their students.

What is the least problematic way of asking about screen use in a survey format? Both in terms of questions and answer scale.

Since a number of studies find that self-reported screen use has limited validity, this will never be a perfect approach, but I'd like it to be as valid as possible given the constraints.

The data are both intended for research purposes (hypotheses to be discussed) and to give the students a dataset to work with in Math and Civics, so nuance is very welcome.

(I will discuss covariates with the schools later, but ideally I intend to challenge "screentime" as a unitary concept, and hopefully add a uses and gratifications dimension to the data, including non-screen related factors that might affect, especially social, wellbeing).

I am seeking to approach the concept of loneliness via a critical review and reflection on the concept of aloneness. I find much more research literature on the former and little exploration of the latter. Why is that? Of course, loneliness as a concept needs further exploration, not least how it is understood not only across the life course, but by those from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds. What about aloneness?

Social isolation is described as a state of complete or near-complete lack of contact between an individual and society.

loneliness reflects a temporary lack of contact with other humans.

Social support is the perception and actuality that one is cared for, has assistance available from other people, and most popularly, that one is part of a supportive social network.

Please, help me to find the best answer to this question.

Conceptually, what is the different between "social isolation", "loneliness" and "lack of social support"?

This is a 20-item self-report inventory measured using a Likert scale (1, 2, 3, 4) with a total score ranging from 20 to 80 and high scores indicating a high level of loneliness.

Two books: Loneliness in Philosophy, Psychology, and Literature; and Feeling Lonesome: The Philosophy and Psychology of Loneliness

Hello everyone

I am planing for a study and wondered if the use of these instruments is copyrighted or not? They are:

- The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory Student Version

- Revised UCLA loneliness scale version 3

- Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS)

If any of them is copyrighted, please help by suggesting another one.

Thank you all

Dear researchers,

Hope you are well. I urgently need what are the ranges of UCLA Loneliness Scale and Lubben Social Network Scale?

Please inform me details as soon as possible.

Regards,

Bezon Kumar

I am currently working on a cross-lagged panel analysis on the association of loneliness and wellbeing over time. When I do simple pearson correlations of the 2 variables at different timepoint they are highly correlated, however when I enter them into the cross-lagged model the synchronous correlations between the two variables reduce over time. I am wondering what the cause of this is.

I need a reference to indicate that using the UCLA Loneliness Scale is free for research use. Is anybody to help me to get this permission.

It is not uncommon for the research process to be somewhat if not significantly painful, distressing, heartbreaking, burdensome, grievous, tiresome, laborious, excruciating. And I wonder where is some literature theoretical or empirical on this phenomenon in order to formulate a research problem and also to try to tap on the gap between research and practice.

If I ask them about loneliness with loneliness measurement, they might say "no" because participants sometimes tend to be aware of researcher's intention. Shortly, they pretend not to be lonely during survey.

I would like to find cause and effect (not significance) between loneliness and SNS addiction

Is there any indirect methods?

My study focuses on measuring two things in the elderly population:

Perceived social isolation and physical well-being.

For physical well-being I will be using the SF-36 which can be found here https://www.rand.org/health/surveys_tools/mos/36-item-short-form/survey-instrument.html

For perceived social isolation I was thinking of using the UCLA Loneliness Scale which has a different format and can be found here

Both these instruments will be applied before my intervention and 6 months after my intervention. What statistical method can I use to measure my results?

Loneliness is becoming an integral part of my work as a conflict resolution and change practitioner.  I'd love to learn:

1. What is your experience?

2.  How do you know you are lonely (behaviours and thoughts)?  Is there a difference for you between lonely, unsupported, isolated, alone?

3.  When do you feel lonely? (staff meetings, breaks, after work, etc.)

4.  Do you find you avoid conflict or deal with conflict more or less when you are experiencing loneliness?

5  What supports loneliness for you?

I am preparing information for my website to explore this more deeply. Should have details up in Sept/Oct, 2017 @ www.renovatingconflict.ca

or email me at tara@renovatingconflict.ca

Many thanks,

Tara

We are trying to measure it amongst mothers, therefore measures for elderly or disabled individuals do not seem appropriate. We believe the concept should be closely related to participation in your community. We highly appreciate your input and possible ways on how you have measured it or know how other's measure it.

The telephone survey company contracted to do the survey has suggested: 

"adding an option for “never” to the scale to remove the assumption that all respondents ever feel lacking in companionship, left out, or isolated.  For example, there may be some seniors who feel a lack of alone time - while these adjustments doesn’t create a measure for this (likely small) group, it would allow for a response option that is inclusive of their experiences."

I do not think it is a good idea to change this validated scale.  Any thoughts?

I am doing my dissertation on how loneliness and isolation among BME LGBTs contributes to their inability to access social care.

 I am  thinking of doing above title for a research project for an Undergraduate Degree ,any advise with regards to  literature reading would be welcome, and thoughts on the topic.

 Thank You  

Thank you so much!

There is a relationship between the increase in the number of hours of Internet use and the increased perception of loneliness?

Seeking the Lubbens Social Network Scale, Katz Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale, The DeJong Loneliness Scale, the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire, and the General Health Questionnaire-12. Any suggestions on how to obtain these scales in Chinese would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

I´m starting on a paper addressing happiness vs. loneliness relation within a city region? Does anyone know good references for this from the empirical happiness study? Or even better would be ones operating in an urban environment

Can anyone can help me find the cutting point for the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (the 11 item scale) and its reference?

I am trying to work on how celebration has changed the life of the older people along their life style and also looking at the angle on how this celebrations has help them reduced Social Isolation and loneliness. Please I will be glad if you can link me to any studies done on any or these two questions

Thanks

Can this be a solution? Do you have ideas or research links to support this assumption?

I am going to write an essay about this and am very critical regarding the assumption that loneliness in elderly is just a symptom of lacking ICT skills. Any support for this view?

I would be very grateful if someone could advise me on an aspect of the systematic review that I am currently conducting as part of my Masters studies. The preliminary aim of the systematic review is to examine the impact of information and communication technology usage on social isolation including loneliness in aged adults. I have completed my scoping searches and have identified several relevant systematic reviews in the area (please find attached).

Could someone have a quick read through and let me know if you are aware of any pertinent systematic reviews that I may have missed during my searches and/or if you know of any ongoing reviews that are due to be published in the next 3 months? Moreover, I would be very grateful for any kind of helpful advice that you can offer regarding my research topic in general. This will help me to ensure that I am addressing a novel question which has not previously been addressed.

As you can see reference [6] is as closest to the particular review question I am asking and therefore my primary reference point. The others focus on a broader context respectively on a broader target group.