Loneliness is not a homogeneous experience: An empirical analysis of adaptive and maladaptive forms of loneliness in the UK

The Emotional Burden of Loneliness and its Association with Mental Health Outcomes

BACKGROUND

The present study examined, for the first time, the emotional burden of loneliness on dimensions of emotional valence and arousal, and its association with mental health outcomes.

METHOD

A cross-sectional design was used, and data were collected from 503 adults across the UK with an online survey. Measures included socio-demographic characteristics, self-reported measures of loneliness and social isolation, affective ratings (i.e., valence and arousal) of loneliness experiences, and symptoms of depression and anxiety as mental health outcomes.

RESULTS

The emotional burden of loneliness differed significantly across groups with differing loneliness experiences, and females scored significantly higher in the emotional burden of loneliness than males. The emotional burden of loneliness was associated with both depression and anxiety symptoms, and respectively added 4.7% and 6.2% of the variance, on top of measures of loneliness frequency and social isolation.

CONCLUSIONS

Measuring the valence and arousal dimensions of loneliness experiences advances our understanding of loneliness experiences and its association with mental health outcomes. The theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of our study are discussed.

A 2-year mental health follow-up study subsequent to COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly impacted the mental health and education of college students. This study examined the interrelationships among loneliness, resilience, and COVID-19 fear among college students in Northern Michigan, a region of the United States severely affected by the pandemic. Data were collected from two student cohorts (n = 258), with half surveyed in early 2022 and the other half in mid-2022, two years after pandemic's onset. The Omicron wave peaked in Michigan in January 2022, but by June 2022, cases, hospitalizations, and deaths had significantly declined. Students completed measures of loneliness, resilience, learning difficulty, and psychological symptoms. Key findings are: 1) Participants' fear, loneliness, and academic difficulty decreased over time, reflecting fluctuations in acute situational and emotional states; 2) Unexpectedly, resilience declined from early to mid-2022, suggesting its diminishing protective role under prolonged, pandemic-induced stress; 3) Despite improvements, students continued reporting high academic difficulties. Loneliness, heightened fear, and dampened happiness together contributed to greater academic difficulties; 4) Pre-existing sex differences equalized two years after the pandemic's onset. While modest improvements were noted, enduring academic and mental health impacts signal a need for continued support.

Starting an undergraduate degree amid the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-method egocentric network study on student loneliness

Students who began their undergraduate university studies in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic (the 'COVID cohort'), may have been particularly at risk for experiencing increased loneliness. This study employed an exploratory egocentric network and mixed-methods approach to investigate the links between social networks and loneliness in the COVID cohort. Of sixty-one respondents meeting inclusion criteria for the study, fifty-eight first-year undergraduate students from the September 2020 intake at a large Scottish University provided egocentric network data via an online survey, as well as responses to three open-ended questions which were aimed at generating qualitative data about participants' experiences of starting university in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Bivariate analyses suggest that having a larger social network, and higher satisfaction with that network, was associated with reduced loneliness. We additionally explored these associations in subsamples of students living on-campus and living off-campus. Our qualitative data adds valuable insight into the impact that pandemic-related social-distancing restrictions had on limiting students' opportunities for meeting their peers and forging meaningful social connections at university. Limitations of this study include a small sample size and an exploratory approach requiring further investigation and replication. However, in the context of universities continuing to use hybrid teaching models, this study provides useful initial insights, highlighting potential avenues for institutions to support students in developing social connections in the transition to higher education.

Association of loneliness and grey matter volume in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: the mediating role of interpersonal self-support traits

As a social and public health concern, loneliness is associated with an abundance of negative life outcomes such as depressive symptomatology, mortality, and sleep disturbance. Nevertheless, the neural basis underlying loneliness remains elusive; in addition, previous neuroimaging studies about loneliness mainly focused on the elderly and were limited by small sample sizes. Here, utilizing the voxel-based morphometry (VBM) approach via structural magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated the association between brain GMV and loneliness in 462 young adults (67.7% females, age = 18.59 ± 1.14 years). Results from whole-brain VBM analyses revealed that individuals with higher loneliness tended to have greater GMV in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), which was thought to be associated with emotional regulation deficits and executive dysfunction. Importantly, the GMV-based predictive models (a machine-learning method) demonstrated that the correlation between loneliness and GMV in the DLPFC was robust. Further, interpersonal self-support traits (ISS), a Chinese indigenous personality construct and pivotal personality factor for resisting negative life outcomes, mediated the relationship between the GMV in the right DLPFC and loneliness. Taken together, the present study reveals that the GMV in right DLPFC acts as an underlying neurostructural correlate of loneliness in the healthy brain, and further provides a brain-personality-symptom pathway for protection against loneliness in which GMV of DLPFC affects loneliness through ISS traits. Future intervention procedures aiming to decrease loneliness and enhance mental health levels among young adults should be developed through improving interpersonal relationships such as social skills training.

Prevalence of anxiety, depression, mania, insomnia, stress, suicidal ideation, psychotic experiences, & loneliness in UK university students

Despite existing wellbeing services, university students remain particularly vulnerable to mental health difficulties. Therefore, this study was designed to provide a comprehensive assessment of the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms by using well validated scales with robust psychometric properties. More specifically, the current data provides crucial information concerning the prevalence of anxiety, depression, mania, insomnia, stress, suicidal ideation, psychotic experiences and loneliness amongst a sample of N = 1408 UK university students. A cross-sectional online questionnaire-based study was implemented. Online recruitment for this dataset began on September 17th, 2018, and ended on the 30th July 2019. Eight validated measures were used: Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale; Patient Health Questionnaire; The Mood Disorder Questionnaire; The Sleep Condition Indicator; The Perceived Stress Scale; Suicidal Behaviours Questionnaire-Revised; The Prodromal Questionnaire 16 (PQ-16); and the University of California Loneliness Scale. The dataset is available to other researchers and is provided on figshare. Information concerning the data records, usage notes, code availability and technical validation are presented. Finally, we present demographic information concerning psychiatric symptom prevalence.