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Loneliness in childhood and adolescence. On the prevalence of a risk factor for mental health

  • Background: Loneliness is an increasingly present topic in both public and health psychology discourse. There is increasing research on the prevalence and health-related correlates of loneliness in adults. There are only a few findings on loneliness in childhood and adolescence in Germany. Therefore, this study aims to present findings on the prevalence of loneliness among 11- to 15-year-old German schoolchildren and examines associations with socio-demographic characteristics. Methods: The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study is a global research collaboration under the auspices of the World Health Organization. In the state of Brandenburg, the study used a cross-sectional design to collect data from 3,819 children and adolescents at general education schools in grades 5, 7, and 9 (Mage = 13.5, SD = 1.6). Loneliness was assessed using the University of California Los Angeles Scale (UCLA). Calculations were made using SPSS 29. Bivariate correlations were tested using a cross-tabulation and Chi2 test, and logistic regressionBackground: Loneliness is an increasingly present topic in both public and health psychology discourse. There is increasing research on the prevalence and health-related correlates of loneliness in adults. There are only a few findings on loneliness in childhood and adolescence in Germany. Therefore, this study aims to present findings on the prevalence of loneliness among 11- to 15-year-old German schoolchildren and examines associations with socio-demographic characteristics. Methods: The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study is a global research collaboration under the auspices of the World Health Organization. In the state of Brandenburg, the study used a cross-sectional design to collect data from 3,819 children and adolescents at general education schools in grades 5, 7, and 9 (Mage = 13.5, SD = 1.6). Loneliness was assessed using the University of California Los Angeles Scale (UCLA). Calculations were made using SPSS 29. Bivariate correlations were tested using a cross-tabulation and Chi2 test, and logistic regression was used for multivariate validation of the correlations. Findings: 10.8 % of the respondents stated that they felt lonely. Loneliness was more pronounced among girls and non-binary (χ² (2) = 72.72, p < 0.001), as well as among older adolescents (χ² (2) = 35.21, p < 0.001, V = 0.107) and students with lower socioeconomic status (χ² (2) = 16.94, p < 0.001). Discussion: The findings indicate that loneliness is widespread among children and adolescents. The fact that girls, older pupils and children and adolescents with lower family wealth are more lonely is consistent with findings from other countries and provides starting points for planning prevention measures. Further research is needed in Germany on possible health-related correlates of loneliness.show moreshow less

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Author: Raphael SchützORCiD, Ludwig BilzORCiD
URL:https://2023.ehps.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/EHPS_2023_Abstracts_UPLOAD.pdf
Title of the source (English):Book of Abstracts, 37th Annual Conference of the European Health Psychology Society
Publisher:Universität Bremen
Place of publication:Bremen
Document Type:Conference publication peer-reviewed
Language:English
Year of publication:2023
First Page:S.368
Fundername (not EU):MBJS, MSGIV, AOK Nordost
Way of publication:Open Access
Faculty/Chair:Fakultät 4 Humanwissenschaften (bis 2023 Soziale Arbeit, Gesundheit und Musik) / FG Pädagogische Psychologie in Gesundheitsberufen
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