Understanding loneliness during adolescence: Developmental changes that increase the risk of perceived social isolation

Loneliness is typically defined in terms of feeling states. In this review, we take a somewhat different approach, describing loneliness in terms of perceived social isolation. Vulnerabilities to perceived social isolation differ across the lifespan. Unique properties of adolescence are identified that carry special risk for perceived social isolation. These include (but are not limited to) developmental changes in companions, developmental changes in autonomy and individuation, identity exploration, cognitive maturation, developmental changes in social perspective taking, and physical maturation. Scholars are encouraged to consider loneliness through the lens of perceived social isolation so as to better understand how the experience of physical isolation varies across adolescence.     

Loneliness among older Europeans

More than two decades of research has consistently indicated that feelings of loneliness among older people are more common in southern Europe than in its northern parts, with the lowest rates in Denmark and Sweden. Our analyses based on analysis of 2004–2006 data from 8,787 individuals aged 65 years or older in the SHARE project replicate, update, and extend these findings. We found, similar to previous studies, that the prevalence of feelings of loneliness was more common in the Mediterranean countries than in Northern Europe. Living together with a spouse/partner was consistently associated with the lower prevalence of loneliness across countries. The combination of living alone and having bad health was associated with 10 times higher odds of feeling lonely as compared with living together with someone and having good health. With regard to gender and health, we found signs of differences between countries in how these factors were related to loneliness. Our results indicate the importance of both contextual features and cultural expectations in interpreting reported loneliness, that is, loneliness across Europe has both nomothetic and idiographic features.     

深圳市农民工子女孤独感和抑郁感与父母养育方式研究

目的 探索农民工子女孤独,抑郁以及父母养育方式之间的关系,为维护农民工子女的心理健康提供参考依据.方法 以深圳市218名小学高年级学生为研究对象,以“儿童孤独量表““抑郁自评量表““父母养育方式量表“为研究工具进行团体施测.结果 ①农民工子女抑郁量表得分高于非农民工子女,差异有统计学意义.②在农民工子女中,男性孤独感量表得分高于女性,差异有统计学意义.③男性被试中,农民工子女孤独感量表和抑郁量表得分均高于非农民工子女,差异有统计学意义.④父母养育方式量表中父亲情感温暖因子与抑郁呈负相关,父亲惩罚严厉因子和父亲拒绝因子分别与抑郁和孤独呈正相关;母亲情感温暖因子与抑郁呈负相关,母亲拒绝否认因子和母亲惩罚严厉因子分别与抑郁和孤独呈正相关.⑤父亲情感温暖因子和母亲拒绝因子对子女抑郁有重要影响.结论 民工子女较非农民工子女更易于抑郁;农民工子女中,男性的孤独和抑郁体验较女性更甚;父母教养方式与农民工子女的抑郁、孤独有密切联系.     

小学生社交焦虑和孤独感与学业成绩的关系研究

目的研究小学生社交焦虑和孤独感与学业成绩的关系,为促进儿童心理健康提供依据。方法采用经修订的儿童社交焦虑、儿童孤独感量表,对成都市随机抽取的三、四、六年级小学生200名进行测查。结果社交焦虑和孤独感存在显著正相关,只有学业成绩在儿童社交焦虑和孤独感得分上存在主效应。学业成绩不同的学生在社交焦虑和孤独感上差异有统计学意义。差生的社交焦虑与孤独感显著高于优生和中等生,中等生社交焦虑最低,优生孤独感最低。结论差生的情绪情感状态和心理健康应引起教育者的重视。     

小学农村留守儿童孤独感现状研究

目的了解浙江省留守儿童内心孤独感状况。方法选用儿童孤独感量表,以随机抽样的方法进行调查。结果1有29.4%的留守儿童孤独感偏高,总体孤独感水平留守儿童要显著高于非留守儿童(t=3.36,P<0.001),高孤独感发生率也显著高于非留守儿童(χ2=7.904,P<0.01)。2留守儿童的孤独感存在显著的年级差异(F=6.22,P<0.001)。3高孤独感在留守儿童中的发生率有显著的年级差异(χ2=21.42,P<0.01),在非留守儿童中有显著的性别差异(χ2=6.36,P<0.05)。结论1留守儿童整体孤独感不显著,但比非留守儿童情况要严重。2留守儿童与非留守儿童的孤独感呈现出很不同的特点。     

大学生孤独感与网络使用特点关系的研究

目的：探讨孤独感与网络使用之间的关系。方法：使用UCLA孤独量表、感情与社交孤独量表及网络使用状况量表调查了160名大学生，并进行了相关分析。结果：平均每周上网10小时，上网时间和孤独感显著相关；感情孤独高于社交孤独。结论：网络使用导致孤独感的增加，感情孤独更易受网络使用的影响。     

小学生的学校态度及其相关因素研究

目的　探讨小学生学校态度的发展特点及其与学生学习成绩、师生关系和孤独感的关系。方法　选用学校态度问卷( Ladd G.W1 990 )、孤独问卷 (邹泓 1 998)、师生关系问卷对 3 0 1名小学生进行问卷调查。结果　小学生对学校的喜欢显著高于对学校的回避 ;在学校喜好维度上 ,2年级学生与 4年级、6年级学生存在显著差异 ,在学校回避维度上 ,学习成绩优秀和优良的学生与中等生有显著差异。结论　孤独感、学习成绩和师生关系亲密性对小学生的学校态度有显著的预测作用     

大学生完美主义与孤独的相关研究

目的 探讨大学生完美主义与孤独的关系.方法 采用FMPS完美主义量表与孤独量表(UCLA)对620名大学生进行了调查.结果 不同孤独水平大学生在担心错误维度和完美主义总分上都存在看显著差异(P＜0.05,P＜0.01)和显著的相关;完美主义的担心错误对孤独有非常显著的预测作用(R2=0.064,P＜0.001).结论 大学生的完美主义与孤独密切相关.     

Social-psychological correlates of peer victimization in children with endocrine disorders

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relation between victimization by peers and child and parent reports of social-psychological adjustment. STUDY DESIGN: The Social Experience Questionnaire, Children's Depression Inventory, Social Anxiety Scale for Children-Revised, and Asher Loneliness Scale were administered to 93 children diagnosed with various endocrine disorders. The child's parent/guardian completed the Child Behavior Checklist. RESULTS: For the entire sample, peer victimization was positively related to child-reported depression, social anxiety, loneliness, and parent-reported externalizing symptoms. Those children with endocrine disorders without observable features had a stronger relation between peer victimization and depression and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems than did those who had endocrine disorders with observable physical features. CONCLUSIONS: Recognition of the magnitude of the problem and means of evaluating for peer victimization is important for clinicians who see children with chronic diseases.     

Loneliness and social adaptation in Brazilian, Canadian, Chinese and Italian children: a multi-national comparative study

BACKGROUND: Research on children's loneliness has been conducted mostly in Western, especially North American, cultures. The purpose of the study was to examine relations between loneliness and social adaptation among children and adolescents in four different societies. METHODS: A total of 2263 children from grade 3 to grade 6, aged 9 to 12 years, in Brazil, Canada, P. R. China, and Southern Italy participated in the study. The participants completed a self-report measure of loneliness. Information about social behaviors and peer relationships was obtained from peer assessments. RESULTS: Multi-group analyses revealed that the overall patterns of relations among social behaviors, peer relationships and loneliness differed across the samples. Specifically, sociability was positively associated with peer relationships and made negative indirect contributions to loneliness through peer relationships in all four samples. Aggression made significant indirect contributions to the prediction of loneliness in Chinese children, but not in other samples. Shyness-sensitivity was associated with loneliness directly in Brazilian and Italian children and indirectly through peer relationships in Canadian children, but not associated with loneliness in Chinese children. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the nature of children's loneliness may be affected by the broad socio-cultural context.