Abstract
A multidimensional loneliness measure was administered to 444 subjects in the 11–17 age range. The four-scale instrument probes for loneliness in relationships with parents and peers, and for aversion to and affinity for aloneness. All subscales were shown to exhibit high reliability and excellent factorial validity. With regard to age effects, a marginally significant increase was found for parent-related loneliness, accompanied by a sudden drop at the seventh-grade level. A decreasing age trend emerged in both peer-related loneliness and aversion to aloneness. A set of variables pertaining to subjects' social integration (number of friends, quality of friendships) and psychological functioning (outlook on the future) accounted for a sizable portion of the variance in all four scales, particularly in peer-related loneliness. Implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions for future research are outlined.
References
Asher, S. R., Hymel, S., and Renshaw, P. D. (1984). Loneliness in children.Child Dev. 55: 1456–1464.
Avery, A. (1982). Escaping loneliness in adolescence: The case for androgyny.J. Youth Adoles. 11: 451–459.
Berndt, J. (1982). The features and effects of friendship in early adolescence.Child Dev. 53: 1447–1460.
Blyth, D., and Serafica, F. C. (eds.) (1985). Contemporary approaches to firendship and peer relations in early adolescence (Special issue).J. Early Adoles. 5(3).
Brennan, T. (1982). Loneliness at adolescence. In Peplau, L. A., and Perlman, D. (eds.),Loneliness: A Sourcebook of Current Research, Theory and Therapy, Wiley, New York.
Cooper, C. R., and Ayers-Lopez, S. (1985). Family and peer systems in early adolescence: New models of the role of relationships in development.J. Early Adoles. 5: 9–21.
Downey, K. I. (1984). An investigation of loneliness in adolescents: Prevalence, stability and correlates.Dissert. Abstr. Int. 45: 2306B.
Goswick, R., and Jones, W. (1982). Components of loneliness during adolescence.J. Youth Adoles. 11: 373–383.
Hunter, F. T., and Youniss, J. (1982). Changes in functions of three relations during adolescence.Develop. Psychol. 18: 806–811.
Kirk, R. E. (1982).Experimental Design: Procedures for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.), Brooks/Cole, Belmont, CA.
Larson, R., and Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1978). Experiential correlates of time alone in adolescence.J. Personal. 46: 677–693.
Larson, R., Csikszentmihalyi, M., and Graef, R. (1982). Time alone in daily experience: Loneliness or renewal? In Peplau, L. A., and Perlman, D. (eds.),Loneliness: A Sourcebook of Current Theory, Research and Therapy, Wiley, New York.
Marcoen, A., and Brumagne, M. (1985). Loneliness among children and young adolescents.Develop. Psychol. 21: 1025–1031.
Montemayor, R., and Adams, G. R. (eds.) (1985). Contemporary approaches to the study of families with adolescents (Special issue).J. Early Adoles. 5(1).
Moore, D., and Schultz, N. (1983). Loneliness at adolescence: Correlates, attributions, and coping.J. Youth Adoles. 12: 95–100.
Ostrov, E., and Offer, D. (1978). Loneliness and the adolescent.Adoles. Psychiatr. 6: 34–50.
Perlman, D., and Peplau, L. A. (1981). Towards a social psychology of loneliness. In Duck, S., and Gilmour, R. (eds.),Personal Relationships, Vol. 3, Academic Press, London.
Russell, D., Peplau, L. A., and Cutrona, C. E. (1980). The resised UCLA Loneliness Scale: Concurrent and discriminant validity evidence.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 39: 472–480.
Russell, D., Peplau, L. A., and Ferguson, M. L. (1978). Developing a measure of loneliness.J. Personal. Assess. 42: 290–294.
Russell, D., Cutrona, C. E., Rose, J., and Yurko, K. (1984). Social and emotional loneliness: An examination of Weiss's typology of loneliness.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 46: 1313–1321.
Schmitt, J. P., and Kurdek, L. A. (1985). Age and gender differences in and personality correlates of loneliness in different relationships.J. Personal. Assess. 49: 485–496.
Schmidt, N., and Sermat, V. (1983). Measuring loneliness in different relationships.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 44: 1038–1047.
Serafica, F. C., and Blyth, D. A. (1985). Continuities and changes in the study of friendship and peer groups during early adolescence.J. Early Adoles. 5: 267–283.
Suedfeld, P. (1982). Aloneness as a healing experience. In Peplau, L. A., and Perlman, D. (eds.),Loneliness: A Sourcebook of Current Theory, Research and Therapy. Wiley, New York.
Weiss, R. S. (1973).Loneliness: The Experience of Emotional and Social Isolation. M. I. T. Press, Cambridge, MA.
Williams, E. G. (1983). Adolescent loneliness.Adolescence 18: 51–66.
Youniss, J. (1980).Parents and Peers in Social Development: A Sullivan-Piaget Perspective, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Author information
Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Received his Ph.D. from that university in 1973. Current interests include loneliness in children and adolescents and life-span psychology.
Current interests are cognitive development in adolescence and its concomitants in the social and personality realms.
Current interests include adolescent loneliness.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Marcoen, A., Goossens, L. & Caes, P. Lonelines in pre-through late adolescence: Exploring the contributions of a multidimensional approach. J Youth Adolescence 16, 561–577 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02138821
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
Keywords
- Health Psychology
- School Psychology
- High Reliability
- Social Integration
- Psychological Functioning