Marlies Maes

Loneliness Across the Life Span

Most people have experienced loneliness and have been able to overcome it to reconnect with other people. In the current review, we provide a life-span perspective on one component of the evolutionary theory of loneliness—a component we refer to as the reaffiliation motive (RAM). The RAM represents the motivation to reconnect with others that is triggered by perceived social isolation. Loneliness is often a transient experience because the RAM leads to reconnection, but sometimes this motivation can fail, leading to prolonged loneliness. We review evidence of how aspects of the RAM change across development and how these aspects can fail for different reasons across the life span. We conclude with a discussion of age-appropriate interventions that may help to alleviate prolonged loneliness.

The Genetics of Loneliness: Linking Evolutionary Theory to Genome-Wide Genetics, Epigenetics, and Social Science

As a complex trait, loneliness is likely to be influenced by the interplay of numerous genetic and environmental factors. Studies in behavioral genetics indicate that loneliness has a sizable degree of heritability. Candidate-gene and gene-expression studies have pointed to several genes related to neurotransmitters and the immune system. The notion that these genes are related to loneliness is compatible with the basic tenets of the evolutionary theory of loneliness. Research on gene-environment interactions indicates that social-environmental factors (e.g., low social support) may have a more pronounced effect and lead to higher levels of loneliness if individuals carry the sensitive variant of these candidate genes. Currently, there is no extant research on loneliness based on genome-wide association studies, gene-environment-interaction studies, or studies in epigenetics. Such studies would allow researchers to identify networks of genes that contribute to loneliness. The contribution of genetics to loneliness research will become stronger when genome-wide genetics and epigenetics are integrated and used along with well-established methods in psychology to analyze the complex process of gene-environment interplay.

Loneliness in children and adolescents with chronic physical conditions: A meta-analysis

Objective This meta-analysis examines loneliness in children and adolescents with chronic physical conditions as compared with their peers. Multilevel meta-analyses were performed on 43 studies (69 samples), published between 1987 and 2015. A total of 2,518 individuals with chronic physical conditions and 1,463 control peers were included in the analyses. Children and adolescents with chronic conditions are, on average, somewhat lonelier than their peers without such conditions. Moreover, the link between chronic conditions and loneliness varied according to the recruitment procedure used for participant selection. Stronger links were found for studies that recruited from patient organizations as compared with clinical registers. Findings support the link between loneliness and chronic conditions. To take into account the heterogeneity within patient groups, we advocate an alternative approach that cuts across diagnostic boundaries and focuses on illness-related variables such as illness duration and visibility of the condition.

The Children’s Loneliness Scale Factor Structure and Construct Validity in Belgian Children

The present study examined the factor structure and construct validity of the Children’s Loneliness Scale (CLS), a popular measure of childhood loneliness, in Belgian children. Analyses were conducted on two samples of fifth and sixth graders in Belgium, for a total of 1,069 children. A single-factor structure proved superior to alternative solutions proposed in the literature, when taking item wording into account. Construct validity was shown by substantial associations with related constructs, based on both self-reported (e.g., depressive symptoms and low social self-esteem), and peer-reported variables (e.g., victimization). Furthermore, a significant association was found between the CLS and a peer-reported measure of loneliness. Collectively, these findings provide a solid foundation for the continuing use of the CLS as a measure of childhood loneliness.

Developmental Change in Loneliness and Attitudes Toward Aloneness in Adolescence

Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to experiencing feelings of loneliness. Changes in different social contexts and the inability to cope with these changes can result in different types of loneliness. According to the multidimensional view on loneliness, loneliness can be experienced in relationships with peers and parents and can be placed in a broader perspective by taking into account attitudes toward aloneness (i.e., positive and negative). However, we do not yet know how loneliness and attitudes toward aloneness develop across adolescence. These developmental trends were examined in two samples of Flemish adolescents consisting of 834 adolescents (61.9% girls, Mage = 14.84; Sample 1), and 968 adolescents (58.6% girls, Mage = 14.82; Sample 2), respectively. Adolescents filled out the Loneliness and Aloneness Scale for Children and Adolescents (LACA) during regular school hours on three (Sample 1) and four (Sample 2) measurement occasions with a 1-year interval. Latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) was applied. In line with theoretical notions, adolescents’ parent-related loneliness and positive attitude toward aloneness were expected to increase, and adolescents’ peer-related loneliness and negative attitude toward aloneness were expected to decrease. Clear evidence was found for the hypotheses regarding attitudes toward aloneness. The results regarding peer-related loneliness were inconsistent across samples and parent-related loneliness decreased, which was in contrast with theoretical expectations. In general, the two types of loneliness and attitudes toward aloneness changed in different directions during adolescence, suggesting the added value of a multidimensional view on loneliness.

Socio-emotional adjustment of adolescents with cochlear implants: Loneliness, emotional autonomy, self-concept, and emotional experience at the hospital:

Recent studies have reported contrasting results in the socio-emotional adjustment of Italian adolescents with cochlear implants (CIs). The aim of the present study is to explore the relationship between the socio-emotional adjustment of adolescents with CIs, the quality of their hospital stay, and their age at CI activation. The participants were 29 adolescents with CIs (CI group) and 29 typically developing adolescents (TD group). The Emotional Autonomy Scale, the Loneliness and Aloneness Scale for Children and Adolescents, and the Multidimensional Self-Concept Scale were administered to each participant. The emotional experience reported during the hospital stay was considered for each participant in the CI group. The adolescents with CIs displayed significantly higher levels of loneliness and lower levels of aversion toward aloneness than the TD group participants. Adolescents who had received the CI in preschool displayed a higher level of physical self-concept than adolescents who had received it later. The adolescents’ emotional experiences at the hospital were reported to be quite complex and related to their relationships with parents. In summary, the findings point to a specific type of fragility in socio-emotional adjustment—focused on loneliness/aloneness—rather than a general one.

A demonstration and evaluation of the use of cross-classified random-effects models for meta-analysis

It is common for the primary studies in meta-analyses to report multiple effect sizes, generating dependence among them. Hierarchical three-level models have been proposed as a means to deal with this dependency. Sometimes, however, dependency may be due to multiple random factors, and random factors are not necessarily nested, but rather may be crossed. For instance, effect sizes may belong to different studies, and, at the same time, effect sizes might represent the effects on different outcomes. Cross-classified random-effects models (CCREMs) can be used to model this nonhierarchical dependent structure. In this article, we explore by means of a simulation study the performance of CCREMs in comparison with the use of other meta-analytic models and estimation procedures, including the use of three- and two-level models and robust variance estimation. We also evaluated the performance of CCREMs when the underlying data were generated using a multivariate model. The results indicated that, whereas the quality of fixed-effect estimates is unaffected by any misspecification in the model, the standard error estimates of the mean effect size and of the moderator variables’ effects, as well as the variance component estimates, are biased under some conditions. Applying CCREMs led to unbiased fixed-effect and variance component estimates, outperforming the other models. Even when a CCREM was not used to generate the data, applying the CCREM yielded sound parameter estimates and inferences.

Differential Loneliness Scale

The term “loneliness” refers to the negative feelings that emerge when people experience their social relationships as deficient (Perlman and Peplau 1981). The Differential Loneliness Scale (DLS; Schmidt and Sermat 1983), which is only used as a research instrument, comprises 60 items, which are answered “true” or “false.” The scale measures loneliness in four kinds of relationships, that is, friendships, relationships with family members, romantic-sexual relationships, and relationships with larger groups or the community. Theoretical Background