Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Loneliness and Depression or Depression-Related Factors Among Child Welfare-Involved Adolescent Females

  • Published:
Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

While there are well-documented connections between loneliness and depression, it is unclear whether loneliness leads to depression, whether depression leads to loneliness, or whether the relationship is bidirectional. This study therefore sought to disentangle the relationship: (1) between loneliness and depression, and (2) between loneliness and factors that are potentially related to depression, including school disengagement (e.g., depression-related lack of motivation or energy for schoolwork) and low future expectations (e.g., depression-related lack of hope or optimism). Child welfare-involved adolescents were studied, for in relation to other adolescents, they can have higher rates of both loneliness and depression, and females were studied because they can be lonelier and more depressed than males. Utilizing the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II (N = 5,872 in Wave II: 2009–2011), adjusted logistic regression was used to predict depression in Wave II from loneliness in Wave I (18 months earlier), and then to predict loneliness in Wave II from depression in Wave I. Next, the same bidirectional analysis was repeated for loneliness and school disengagement, and for loneliness and low future expectations. Findings suggest that there are statistically significant and fairly substantial bidirectional relationships between loneliness and depression, between loneliness and school disengagement, and between loneliness and low future expectations. Interventions for child welfare-involved adolescent females are needed that screen for and treat depression (or depression-related factors of school disengagement or low future expectations) in order to help prevent loneliness, and that screen for and treat loneliness in order to prevent depression or depression-related factors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Academic Pediatric Association Task Force on Child Poverty. (2013). A strategic road-map committed to bringing the voice of pediatricians to the most important problem facing children in the US today (online resource). Retrieved from http://academicpeds.org/public_policy/pdf/APA_Task_Force_Strategic_Road_Mapver3.pdf

  • Adam, E. K., Chyu, L., Hoyt, L. T., Doane, L. D., Boisjoly, J., Duncan, G. J., et al. (2011). Adverse adolescent relationship histories and young adult health: Cumulative effects of loneliness, low parental support, relationship instability, intimate partner violence, and loss. Journal of Adolescent Health, 49(3), 278–286.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Allen, N. B., & Sheeber, L. B. (Eds.). (2009). Adolescent emotional development and the emergence of depressive disorders. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Asher, S., & Paquette, J. (2003). Loneliness and peer relations in childhood. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12, 75–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asher, S. R., Parkhurst, J. T., Hymel, S., & Williams, G. A. (1990). Peer rejection and loneliness in childhood. In S. R. Asher & J. D. Coie (Eds.), Peer rejection in childhood. Cambridge studies in social and emotional development (pp. 253–273). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandy, B. S., Andrews, K. M., & Moore, K. A. (2012). Disadvantaged families and child outcomes: the importance of emotional upport for mothers (online resource). Retrieved from http://www.aypc.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Child_Trends-2012_03_21_RB_MaternalSupport1.pdf.

  • Bearman, P., Jones, J., & Udry, J. R. (1997). The national longitudinal study of adolescent health: Research design. Chapel Hill: Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for the beck depression inventory-II. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broadhead, W. E., Gehlbach, S. H., DeGruy, F. V., & Kaplan, B. H. (1988). The Duke-UNC functional social support questionnaire: Measurement of social support in family medicine patients. Medical Care, 26(7), 709–723.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cassidy, J., & Asher, S. R. (1992). Loneliness and peer relations in young children. Child Development, 63, 350–365.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cicchetti, D., Rogosch, F. A., & Toth, S. L. (1994). A developmental psychopathology perspective on depression in children and adolescents. In W. M. Reynolds & H. F. Johnston (Eds.), Handbook of depression in children and adolescents (pp. 123–141). New York: Plenum Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Cicchetti, D., Rogosch, F. A., & Toth, S. L. (1997). Ontogenesis, depressotypic organization, and the depressive spectrum. In S. S. Luthar, J. A. Burack, D. Cicchetti, & J. R. Weisz (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Perspectives on adjustment, risk, and disorder (pp. 273–313). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (1998). The development of depression in children and adolescents. American Psychologist, 53, 221–241.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Coyne, J. C. (1976). Toward an interactional description of depression. Psychiatry-Interpersonal and Biological Processes, 39, 28–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eberhart, N. K., & Hammen, C. L. (2006). Interpersonal predictors of onset of depression during the transition to adulthood. Personal Relationships, 13(2), 195–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heikkinen, R. L., & Kauppinen, M. (2004). Depressive symptoms in late life: A 10-year follow-up. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 38, 239–250.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Heinrich, L. M., & Gullone, E. (2006). The clinical significance of loneliness: A literature review. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 695–718.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ivarsson, T., Svalander, P., & Litlere, O. (2006). The Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI) as a measure of depression in Swedish adolescents. A normative study. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry, 60, 220–226.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, J., & Cochran, S. D. (1990). Loneliness and psychological distress. The Journal of Psychology, 125, 257–262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, A. C., Schinka, K. C., van Dulmen, M. H., Bossarte, R. M., & Swahn, M. H. (2011). Changes in loneliness during middle childhood predict risk for adolescent suicidality indirectly through mental health problems. Journal of Clinical Child Adolescent Psychology, 40(6), 818–824.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kerr, D. C., Preuss, L. J., & King, C. A. (2006). Suicidal adolescents’ social support from family and peers: Gender-specific associations with psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34(1), 103–114.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koenig, L. J., & Abrams, R. F. (1999). Adolescent loneliness and adjustment: A focus on gender differences. In K. J. Rotenberg & S. Hymel (Eds.), Loneliness in childhood and adolescence (pp. 296–322). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kovacs, M. (1985). The Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI). Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 21, 995–998.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lasgaard, M., Goossens, L., & Elklit, A. (2011). Loneliness, depressive symptomatology, and suicide ideation in adolescence: Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 39, 137–150.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lempers, J. D., Clark-Lempers, D., & Simons, R. L. (1989). Economic hardship, parenting, and distress in adolescence. Child Development, 60, 25–39.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mahon, N. E., Yarcheski, A., & Yarcheski, T. J. (2004). Social support and positive health practices in early adolescents: A test of mediating variables. Clinical Nursing Research, 13, 216–236.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mahon, N. E., Yarcheski, A., Yarcheski, T. J., Cannella, B. L., & Hanks, M. M. (2006). A meta-analytic study of predictors for loneliness during adolescence. Nursing Research, 55(5), 308–315.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McDade, T. W., Chyu, L., Duncan, G. J., Hoyt, L. T., Doane, L. D., & Adam, E. K. (2011). Adolescents’ expectations for the future predict health behaviors in early adulthood. Social Science and Medicine, 73(3), 391–398.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, T. P., Allen, R. I., Westerfelt, A., & Pillavin, I. (1997). Assessing the long term effects of foster care. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nangle, D. W., Erdley, C. E., Newman, J. E., Mason, C., & Carpenter, E. M. (2003). Popularity, friendship quantity, and friendship quality: Interactive influences on children’s loneliness and depression. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32, 546–555.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • National Center for School Engagement. (2006). Quantifying School Engagement: Research Report. Denver, CO: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect [NSCAW]. (2011). The National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. Retrieved October, 2012 from http://www.ndacan.cornell.edu/ndacan/Datasets/Abstracts/DatasetAbstract_NSCAW-General.html.

  • National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect [NSCAW] I Research Group (1999). NSCAW school engagement [Instrument adapted from the Drug Free Schools (DFSCA) Outcome Study]. Research Triangle Park, NC: Research Triangle Institute.

  • Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Ahrens, C. (2002). Age differences and similarities in the correlates of depressive symptoms. Psychology and Aging, 17, 116–124.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nurmi, J. E. (1991). How do adolescent see their future? A review of the development of future orientation and planning. Developmental Review, 11, 1–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peplau, L. A., & Perlman, D. (1982). Perspectives on loneliness. In L. A. Peplau & D. Perlman (Eds.), Loneliness: A sourcebook of current theory, research and therapy (pp. 1–18). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perlman, D., & Landolt, M. A. (1999). Examination of loneliness in children–adolescents and in adults: Two solitudes or a unified enterprise? In K. J. Rotenberg & S. Hymel (Eds.), Loneliness in childhood and adolescence (pp. 325–347). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Prinstein, M. J., & La Greca, A. M. (1999). Links between mothers’ and children’s social competence and associations with maternal adjustment. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 28, 197–210.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robbins, R. N., & Bryan, A. (2004). Relationships between future orientation, impulsive sensation seeking, and risky behavior among adjudicated adolescence. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19, 428–445.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rotenberg, K. J. (1999). Parental antecedents of children’s loneliness. In K. J. Rotenberg & H. Shelley (Eds.), Loneliness in childhood and adolescence (pp. 176–200). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Rotenberg, K. J., & Hymel, S. (1999). Loneliness in childhood and adolescence. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rotenberg, K. J., McDougall, P., Boulton, M. J., Vaillancourt, T., Fox, C., & Hymel, S. (2004). Cross-sectional and longitudinal relations among peer-reported trustworthiness, social relationships, and psychological adjustment in children and early adolescents from the United Kingdom and Canada. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 88, 46–67.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rotenberg, K. J., & Morrison, J. (1993). Loneliness and college achievement: Do loneliness scale scores predict college drop-out? Psychological Reports, 73, 1283–1288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rouse, C. E. (2005). The labor market consequences of an inadequate education. In H. M. Levin (Ed.), Symposium on the social costs of inadequate education conducted at Teachers College. New York: Columbia University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell, D., Peplau, L. A., & Ferguson, M. L. (1978). Developing a measure of loneliness. Journal of Personality Assessment, 42, 290–294.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Trommsdorff, G. (1986). Future orientation and its relevance for development as action. In R. K. Silbereisen, K. Eyferth, & G. Rudinger (Eds.), Development as action in context: Problem behavior and normal youth development (pp. 121–136). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Urquiza, A.J., & Winn, C. (1994). Treatment for abused and neglected children: Infancy to age 18. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Retrieved February 6, 2013 from https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanuals/treatmen/treatmen.pdf

  • Vanhalst, J., Klimstra, T. A., Luyckx, K., Scholte, R. H. J., Engels, R. C. M. E., & Goossens, L. (2012). The interplay of loneliness and depressive symptoms across adolescence: Exploring the role of personality traits. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41, 776–787.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weeks, D. G., Michela, J. L., Peplau, L. A., & Bragg, M. E. (1980). Relation between loneliness and depression: A structural equation analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 1238–1244.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This document includes data from the National Survey on Child and Adolescent Well-Being II, which was developed under contract with the Administration on Children, Youth, and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (ACYF/DHE-(S). The data have been provided by the National Data Archive on Child Abuse and Neglect. The information and opinions expressed herein reflect solely the position of the author(s). Nothing herein should be construed to indicate the support or endorsement of its content by ACYF/DHHS. This manuscript has not been published elsewhere, and is not under consideration by any other journal.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, The City University of New York, 2180 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10035, USA

    Marina Lalayants & Jonathan D. Prince

Authors
  1. Marina Lalayants
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jonathan D. Prince
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonathan D. Prince.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lalayants, M., Prince, J.D. Loneliness and Depression or Depression-Related Factors Among Child Welfare-Involved Adolescent Females. Child Adolesc Soc Work J 32, 167–176 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-014-0344-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-014-0344-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation