Self-concealment, secrecy, and guilt

OBJECTIVE

Individuals with a tendency to conceal unflattering information about themselves are more likely to be preoccupied by their secrets and tend to report more negative affect. According to theory, this negative affect is due to self-concealers' conflicting motivation to be authentic in their relationship but fear the negative consequences should they reveal their secrets, which promotes ill-fated attempts to suppress. The purpose of the current study was to test a central component of this model.

METHODS

Two studies of adults who were in a romantic relationship and keeping a secret from their partner (combined N = 635; 67.2% women; Mage  = 39.6, SD = 11.9) were surveyed on four biweekly occasions. Multilevel mediation analyses were conducted to test whether preoccupation and suppression mediated the link between self-concealing and negative affect and guilt.

RESULTS

The data support the hypotheses. Self-concealers were more preoccupied with and prone to suppress their secret than those low on the trait, which, in turn, predicted greater negative affect and guilt.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that self-concealers' insecurities and fear of the relational consequences of disclosure set the stage for the debilitating cycle of suppression and preoccupation that leaves them feeling anxious and guilty.

Depressive symptoms and loneliness among early adolescents: a psychometric network analysis approach

BACKGROUND

Previous studies demonstrate a high prevalence of depression and loneliness among adolescents. Although they often co-occur, the relationship between symptoms of depression and loneliness remains poorly understood. This study investigates: (a) the symptoms of depression that are connected to loneliness; (b) the role played by loneliness in the network of depression symptoms; and (c) whether the method used to measure loneliness (single-item direct or multi-item indirect) affects the relationship of loneliness with depressive symptoms.

METHODS

Participants were 496 Polish adolescents (50.8% girls) aged 11 to 13, who completed: (a) the 10-item Major Depressive Disorder subscale of the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale; (b) the 11-item De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (indirect loneliness), and (c) a single direct question evaluating loneliness: 'I'm lonely'. Networks were estimated using a Gaussian Graphical Model.

RESULTS

Loneliness shows a direct relationship with three affective symptoms of depression: sadness, worthlessness, and anhedonia, which mediate relationships with somatic symptoms. In contrast to previous studies, loneliness has the lowest level of centrality among all elements of the network. The method used to assess loneliness did not significantly affect the connections between loneliness and depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS

Loneliness and depression overlap since they are formed by the same cognitive biases and deficits in emotion regulation but differ in the level of generality. In loneliness, they have an interpersonal context, while symptoms of depression can be intrapersonal. This helps us to understand why cognitive interventions, as compared to those which are social, are more effective in reducing loneliness.

The effect of parental regulatory focus on the loneliness stigma of college children

BACKGROUND

The present study aimed to examine the relationship between regulatory focus and loneliness stigma, as well as the intergenerational transmission of the two. Specifically, the study analyzed the effects of fathers' and mothers' regulatory focus on their own and their spouses' stigma of loneliness. In addition, a mediation model was constructed to explore how parents' regulatory focus influences their children's stigma of loneliness and the potential mediating mechanisms involved.

METHODS

Questionnaires were distributed to 470 college students and their parents, employing the Regulatory Focus Questionnaire (RFQ) and the Stigma of Loneliness Scale (SLS) to collect data.

RESULTS

The analysis of intergenerational transmission effects revealed that parents' regulatory focus and loneliness stigma significantly and positively predicted children's regulatory focus and loneliness stigma, respectively. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) elucidated that both fathers' and mothers' promotion focus exerted significant influence on both actor and partner's loneliness stigma. Furthermore, the mediation model analysis indicated that parents' loneliness stigma, along with children's regulatory focus operate as mediators in the influence of parental regulatory focus on loneliness stigma of their college-aged offspring.

CONCLUSIONS

From a familial context, this study, investigated the association between regulatory focus and loneliness stigma, along with the mediating roles within parent-child groups and couples. The findings enhanced our comprehension of the interrelation between regulatory focus and loneliness stigma, underpinned by empirical evidence.

Reliability and validity evaluation of the stigma of loneliness scale in Chinese college students

BACKGROUND

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.

METHODS

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.

RESULTS

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.

CONCLUSIONS

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.

STIGMA OF LONELINESS SCALE: TURKISH VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY STUDY

Bu çalışmanın amacı Yalnızlık Damgası Ölçeği’nin (YDÖ) Türkçe’ye uyarlama ve geçerlik güvenirlik çalışmasının yapılmasıdır. Çalışma örnekleminin yaş aralığı 18 ile 57 (21.79±3.60) olan 285 (%59) kadın, 196 (%40.6) erkek ve 2 (%0.4) diğer olmak üzere toplam 483 üniversite öğrencisinden oluşmuştur. Psikoloji bölümü öğrencisi olan 33 kişilik bir katılımcı grubuna 3 hafta arayla test-tekrar test uygulaması yapılmıştır. Ölçüt geçerliliği kapsamında 239 katılımcıya YDÖ ile birlikte UCLA Yalnızlık Ölçeği, Depresyon-Anksiyete-Stres Ölçeği (DASS-21), Kısa Psikolojik Sağlamlık Ölçeği (KPSÖ) uygulanmıştır. Ölçeğin faktör yapısını belirlemek amacıyla açımlayıcı ve doğrulayıcı faktör analizleri (AFA ve DFA) yapılmış, varimax döndürme yönteminin kullanıldığı AFA’da orijinal çalışmada olduğu gibi özdeğeri 1’in üzerinde olan iki boyutlu bir yapının oluştuğu saptanmıştır. DFA sonucunda ise iki faktörlü yapının herhangi bir modifikasyon yapılmadan doğrulandığı ve uyum indekslerinin kabul edilebilir bir düzeyde olduğu görülmüştür. Ölçek güvenirliği kapsamında YDÖ’nün Cronbach alfa iç tutarlılık katsayısı hesaplanmış, toplam ölçek için Cronbach alfa katsayısı .91, alt boyutlar için ise Cronbach alfa iç tutarlılık katsayıları .80 ve .91 olarak tespit edilmiştir. Ölçeğin testtekrar test korelasyon katsayısı toplam ölçek için r=.47, öz-damgalama için r=.58 ve sosyal damgalama için r=.45 olarak bulunmuştur. YDÖ’nün ölçüt geçerliği için yapılan korelasyon analizleri sonucunda anlamlı ilişkiler saptanmıştır. Sonuçlar ölçeğin Türkçe versiyonunun geçerli ve güvenilir olduğunu göstermiştir.

Loneliness across time and space

People feel lonely when their social needs are not met by the quantity and quality of their social relationships. Most research has focused on individual-level predictors of loneliness. However, macro-level factors related to historical time and geographic space might influence loneliness through their effects on individual-level predictors. In this Review, we summarize empirical findings on differences in the prevalence of loneliness across historical time and geographical space and discuss four groups of macro-level factors that might account for these differences: values and norms, family and social lives, technology and digitalization, and living conditions and availability of individual resources. Regarding historical time, media reports convey that loneliness is on the rise, but the empirical evidence is mixed, at least before the COVID-19 pandemic. Regarding geographical space, national differences in loneliness are linked to differences in cultural values (such as individualism) but might also be due to differences in the sociodemographic composition of the population. Research on within-country differences in loneliness is scarce but suggests an influence of neighbourhood characteristics. We conclude that a more nuanced understanding of the effects of macro-level factors on loneliness is necessary because of their relevance for public policy and propose specific directions for future research.