loneliness

Purpose: Extreme dependence on virtual social networks has devastating consequences such as academic underachievement, sleep disorder, and social isolation, clearly highlighting the need for research in this area. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of rumination, social support, loneliness and social anxiety on dependence on virtual social networks with an emphasis on the mediating role of self-regulation. Methodology: The statistical population included all female upper secondary school students in Tehran who studied in the academic year of 2017-18. Six hundred (600) students were selected by multistage random cluster sampling. Research data was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings: The results indicated that the model had a good fit. Also the direct and indirect effects of social anxiety and social support, as well as the direct impact of loneliness on the dependence on virtual social networks, are rejected at the alpha level of 0/05 and are not significant. Discussion: Rumination and self-regulation variables were significant in direct effect. Rumination and loneliness variables were also significantly correlated with self-regulation mediation in indirect effect.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a structural model of psychological well-being based on fear of negative evaluation mediating feelings of loneliness in adolescent girls with psychosocial problems. Methodology: The present study was applied in terms of purpose and in terms of quantitative method and survey-correlation method. The statistical population consisted of female adolescent students with mental health problems who were studying in the second grade of secondary education in Mashhad Nursing School District 2 in the academic year of 2017-18. The method was multistage cluster sampling, so that a list of all secondary schools for girls in the second district of Mashhad was composed of 24 schools that were classified as 4 schools per cluster with respect to government and nonprofit and number of students. One cluster was randomly selected and at the second stage of each school and at each grade level, a total of 3 classes from each school were selected and the students were given questionnaires. The tools of the present study were Psychosocial Well-being Scales (Ryff, 1980), Fear of Negative Evaluation (Leary, 1983), and Dehshiri et al., 2008), Psychosomatic Complaints (Takata & Sakata, 2004). In the present study, SPSS software version 24 and SmartPLS2 software were used. Findings: The results showed that fear of negative evaluation with sense of loneliness had a positive relationship with psychological well-being and negative relationship with fear of negative evaluation with psychological well-being, according to GOF value of 0.595 indicating strong fit of model. It had a lot of research; it had some mediating effect. Conclusion: In order to improve the psychological well-being of adolescent female students, the present study demonstrates the importance of self-expression planning and training and communication skills to reduce feelings of loneliness and screening of students with negative evaluation to provide appropriate psychological treatment for this group of adolescents. Reminds students of education.

Objective: Hemodialysis patients suffer many problems including feelings of loneliness, fatigue, and low lifestyle quality. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of online existential consciousness therapy on these patients’ loneliness, fatigue, and lifestyle. Methods: The research method was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest and follow-up design with a control group. The research population was all hemodialysis patients who were referred to the dialysis center of Nikan Hospital in Tehran. Using the convenience sampling method, 30 participants were selected as study samples. Research instruments for collecting data were the Rasel’s Loneliness Questionnaire (1978), the Fieck’s Fatigue Impact Questionnaire (1944), and the Corona Virus Lifestyle Scale (Ali Akbari Dehkordi, et al., 2020). For the experimental group, ten 90-minutes sessions were performed through Sky-room. Results: MANCOVA and ANCOVA showed that existential consciousness training reduced the feeling of loneliness in the sub-components of not having a close friend, lack of loneliness, and isolation, but was not effective in the sub-component of sociability. This intervention also reduced the fatigue in the cognitive and social components but did not affect the physical component. It was also effective on the happy lifestyle but did not affect on the healthy lifestyle. Conclusions: Existential consciousness therapy was effective in reducing the loneliness feeling, fatigue impact, and lifestyle changes of hemodialysis patients during home quarantine. Therefore, this method can be used as a new therapeutic approach to reduce the loneliness and fatigue impact caused by hemodialysis and change patients' lifestyles during quarantine in medical centers and psychological services.

This study was designed to explore the role of gender, parental raring behavior, friendship quality and shyness in the feeling of loneliness during adolescence through the ecological model of human development and the contextual-developmental perspective. 211 adolescents’ students ( 133 females, 78 males ) from five high schools in Tehran (Iran) participated in correlational research design (a non-experimental study) and completed the self-report scales including: Loneliness Scale, Short EMBU, Revised Cheek–Buss Shyness Scale, and Friendship–Unfriendship Attachment Inventory (SACRAL) . The results showed that parenting behavior, shyness, and friendship quality were correlated with loneliness. Moreover, the findings indicated that the low level of friendship quality and high level of parenting behavior in both rejection and over-controlling had a positive correlation with the high level of loneliness in adolescents. In addition, the result showed that male adolescents feel lonelier than female adolescents. The results obtained from the current study provide a number of implications, which can be beneficial in proposing intervention efforts directed toward promoting ideal development and growth during teenage years.

Loneliness is a sad and even painful emotional experience that is thought to be caused by a lack in the quantity or quality of one's social relationships. The aim of the present study was to predict the loneliness based on perceived parenting style and self-esteem in adolescents by moderating the role of gender. The research population included all male and female students of 12-17 years of age studying in the academic year of 1400-1401 in Tehran, and 250 of these students responded to the online questionnaire related to the research. The method of the current research was step-by-step multivariate regression correlation, and in order to collect data, Asher and Wheeler's loneliness questionnaire (1985), Rosenberg's self-esteem questionnaire (1965) and Bury's parenting questionnaire (1992) were used. The obtained results showed that there is an inverse relationship between permissive and authoritative parenting styles with feelings of loneliness and a direct relationship between authoritarian parenting styles and feelings of loneliness, and no significant relationship was seen between self-esteem and feelings of loneliness. Authoritative parenting style was able to predict the feeling of loneliness in the whole sample and by gender, and the amount of predicting the feeling of loneliness based on the authoritative parenting style was seen more in the group of girls than in boys. According to the findings, it can be said that authoritative parenting style can reduce the feeling of loneliness of teenagers and it is necessary to take these results into consideration in training for parents and clinical counselors.

Purpose: Individuals going through adolescence faced a significant number of changes from biological, and cognitive to social and emotional. Due to the changes experienced by adolescents, it is susceptible for adolescents to experience a high level of loneliness. The correlation between loneliness and impulsivity and the association between impulsivity and self-harm as well as self-injurious behaviors puts adolescents in a vulnerable position in performing undesirable acts or behaviors. On the other hand, resilience plays a significant role in an individual’s ability to cope with an adverse situation or bounce back quickly after the undesired situation in order to maintain or regain mental health. Therefore, the objective of this study is to run review research through contemporary studies to summarize accumulative documents in the area of resilience, loneliness, and impulsivity among adolescents to investigate the mediating role of resilience. Methodology: For this, a search was carried out on the Web of Science, Google Scholar, and PubMed. Thus, a set of keywords was used, followed by filtering main keywords, resulting in a review of 99 articles published a decade ago. Findings: The results demonstrated that the number of adolescents having mental illness increased significantly over the years, and adolescents aged 16 and above are at risk of mental disorders. Besides that, this research revealed that adolescents in Malaysia are at risk of peer and social rejection, which is highly associated with loneliness and also has a correlation with aggression and impulsivity. Conclusion: It was seen that loneliness and impulsivity are essential risk factors for adolescents’ mental health and resilience can consider effective cognitive and coping skills for adolescents. It was also perceived that most of the papers focus on the investigation of the correlation between loneliness, impulsivity, and resilience, being necessary to develop more experimental studies on the effectiveness of resilience therapy for adolescents’ enrichment. These results serve as a source of reference for future research.

Loneliness is a distressing experience and has destroying psychological consequences for children. This paper explored the effectiveness of instructing philosophy for children on children’s loneliness after controlling the role of the social-emotional learning. This study adopted a quasi-experimental method. The statistical population included sixth grade primary school male students of Urmia (N=50) chosen by cluster random sampling method and then randomly assigned to the experimental (N=25) and Control (N=25) groups. The experimental group participated in 12 sessions of philosophy for children instruction while the control group did not receive any special instruction. Children loneliness questionnaire by Asher and Wheeler (1985) and the Social-Emotional Learning scale of Coryn et al. (2009) were administrated. The results of this study showed the same patterns as Westerns studies. After controlling the role of covariates variables (the pre-test and social-emotional learning) on loneliness by ANCOVA test, instructing philosophy for children has a significant effect on loneliness. Moreover, after instructing philosophy for children, the experimental group showed lower levels of loneliness than the control group (P<0.001). Although there were two covariate variables, pre-test, and social-emotional learning, instructing philosophy for children had an effect on loneliness, accordingly these findings highlight the importance of philosophy for children in mitigating children’s loneliness. This findings may be helpful for school psychologists in schools.

Objective: The present study aimed to predict loneliness based on the perceived parenting styles and parent-child conflict resolution tactics in adolescent girls.Methods: The research used a descriptive-correlational method. The research participants included girls aged 14 to 18 in the lower and upper secondary schools of the east of Tehran in the academic year of 2021-2022. A total of 267 samples were selected using multi-stage cluster sampling. The participants responded to the Loneliness Scale (UCLA) by Russell (1996), the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) by Buri (1991), and the Parent-Child Conflict Scale by Fine, Moreland & Schwebel (1983), which were presented online by teachers and researchers.Results: Based on the data analysis results, authoritative parenting style(R=-.341) at the level (p <.01).  inversely and authoritarian parenting style directly (R=.339) at the level (p <.01) predicted loneliness. Among conflict resolution tactics, reasoning inversely(R=-.180) at the level (p <.01), verbal aggression (R=.359) at the level (p <.01), and physical aggression (R=.223) at the level (p <.01) directly predicted loneliness. Additionally, the perceived parenting style and parent-child conflict resolution tactics greatly affected loneliness in adolescent girls.Conclusion: Teaching authoritative parenting style and conflict resolution tactics prevented loneliness. Meanwhile, the development of interventions and ensuring parental participation had a significant effect on the reduction and prevention of loneliness.

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the structural model of loneliness and marital commitment with an attitude toward extra-marital relationships, with the mediation of identity styles in married women and men. Methods: For the research design, we used correlation and structural equation modeling. Statistical population including all married women and men of Ramsar City, among whom 230 individuals were selected through convenience sampling and responded to the Loneliness Scale Russell et al., (1980), Marital Commitment Questionnaire Adams & Jones (1997), Extra-marital Relationships Attitudes Questionnaire Wheatley's, (2008), and Identity Styles Scale Berzonsky (1989). All data were analyzed using SPSS 26, AMOS 24, and Macro Preacher & Hayes' (2008) program. Results: The findings indicated that loneliness and diffuse-avoidant identity styles have a significant and positive effect on the attitude toward extra-marital relationships, while marital commitment and commitment identity style have a significant and negative effect on the attitude toward extra-marital relationships. Bootstrapping results showed that information identity style, diffuse-avoidant identity styles, and commitment identity style play a mediating role in the relationships between loneliness and the attitude toward extra-marital relationships. Marital commitment indirectly affects the attitude toward extra-marital relationships through information identity style and commitment identity style. Conclusion: The research findings, by confirming the influential role of loneliness, marital commitment, and identity styles on extra-marital relationships, provide appropriate implications for work in the field of extra-marital relationships for practitioners in the family domain.

Introduction: Whenever there is an outbreak of infectious diseases, psychosocial impact has been observed on individual and social levels globally. The psychological and social effects of the COVID-19 epidemic are potential and widespread, which affect people's mental health in the long term. The present study aimed to investigate the role of neuroticism in predicting psychological distress through perceived stress and loneliness in covid-19.Method: This research was carried out in the form of correlation and structural equations. The statistical population of the research was all the students of Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, 300 of whom were selected through convenience sampling, and the neuroticism scale was from the short form of the Neo questionnaire, the Cohen et al.'s perceived stress questionnaire, the Kessler psychological distress questionnaire, and the loneliness scale. Social Emotional Assessment for Adults (SELSA-S) was administered to them. Then the obtained data were analyzed using Spss26 and Amos22 software.Results: The results showed that neuroticism is related to psychological distress through loneliness and perceived stress. Also, there is a positive and significant relationship between the components of loneliness, perceived stress, and neuroticism with stress, anxiety, and depression.Conclusion: Therefore, considering the increasing spread of psychological distress, it is necessary to reduce people's psychological distress by teaching self-care skills and stress management.

This study aimed to examine the relationship between social cognition and loneliness in gifted underachievers, with a specific focus on the mediating role of rejection sensitivity. A descriptive correlational design was employed with a sample of 399 gifted underachieving adolescents from Argentina, selected according to Morgan and Krejcie's (1970) sample size table. Standardized tools were used to assess social cognition, rejection sensitivity, and loneliness. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS-27 and AMOS-21. Pearson correlation was used to evaluate bivariate relationships between variables, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was applied to test the proposed mediational model. Fit indices, including χ², RMSEA, GFI, CFI, and TLI, were reported to evaluate model adequacy. Results indicated that social cognition was significantly and negatively correlated with both rejection sensitivity (r = –.43, p < .01) and loneliness (r = –.39, p < .01). Rejection sensitivity showed a significant positive correlation with loneliness (r = .58, p < .01). SEM analysis confirmed the mediating role of rejection sensitivity in the relationship between social cognition and loneliness. The indirect path from social cognition to loneliness via rejection sensitivity was significant (β = –.28, p < .001), and the total effect of social cognition on loneliness was substantial (β = –.49, p < .001). Model fit indices indicated a good fit (χ²/df = 2.22, CFI = 0.96, RMSEA = 0.054). These findings suggest that deficits in social cognition contribute to heightened feelings of loneliness in gifted underachievers, primarily through increased sensitivity to perceived rejection. Interventions aimed at reducing rejection sensitivity may mitigate the impact of social cognitive difficulties on emotional well-being in this vulnerable group.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of self-compassion training on reducing loneliness and improving health-related quality of life in infertile women. Methods: A randomized controlled trial design was used, involving 30 infertile women recruited from a specialized infertility treatment center. Participants were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 15) receiving eight sessions of self-compassion training or a control group (n = 15) with no intervention. Assessments were conducted at baseline, post-intervention, and at a five-month follow-up using the Loneliness Questionnaire and the Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc tests. Findings: The experimental group showed significant reductions in loneliness from pre-test (M = 45.32, SD = 6.45) to post-test (M = 30.21, SD = 5.28) and follow-up (M = 31.12, SD = 5.34), while the control group remained stable. Health-related quality of life significantly improved in the experimental group from pre-test (M = 62.45, SD = 7.34) to post-test (M = 78.53, SD = 6.78) and follow-up (M = 77.95, SD = 6.65), with minimal changes in the control group. ANOVA results indicated significant time and group interactions for both loneliness (F(2, 56) = 67.03, p < .001, η² = .71) and health-related quality of life (F(2, 56) = 113.20, p < .001, η² = .80). Conclusion: Self-compassion training is effective in reducing loneliness and improving health-related quality of life in infertile women. These benefits were sustained at the five-month follow-up, highlighting the long-term potential of self-compassion interventions in supporting the psychological well-being of infertile women.

Introduction and Objective: Loneliness, a subjective feeling of social isolation and disconnection, has emerged as a significant public health concern with wide-ranging implications. This review aims to comprehensively examine loneliness as a public health issue, exploring its associated health risks, underlying mechanisms, and potential interventions. Research Methodology: A systematic literature review was conducted using various databases, including PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus. Studies investigating the health implications of loneliness, its underlying mechanisms, and potential interventions were included. Findings: The review highlights a strong association between loneliness and increased mortality risk, comparable to that of smoking and obesity. Loneliness is also linked to a heightened risk of various physical and mental health problems, including cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression, and anxiety. The underlying mechanisms linking loneliness to poor health outcomes involve dysregulation of the stress response system, impaired immune function, and unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. Interventions targeting social connection and support have shown promise in reducing loneliness and improving health outcomes. Discussion and Conclusion: Loneliness represents a significant public health challenge with serious consequences for individuals and society. Addressing loneliness requires a multi-faceted approach encompassing public awareness campaigns, community-based interventions, and healthcare provider training. Future research should focus on identifying effective interventions and tailoring them to diverse populations. It is imperative to recognize loneliness as a public health priority and implement comprehensive strategies to promote social connection and well-being.

Introduction and Objective: Emerging adulthood is a critical developmental period where individuals are particularly vulnerable to loneliness, a condition with significant mental health risks. While quantitative research has documented its prevalence, a synthesized understanding of the lived experience remains fragmented. This study aimed to address this gap by conducting the first meta-synthesis of qualitative research to develop a comprehensive, multi-layered model of the loneliness experience in emerging adults. Research Methodology: Following PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search of international and Iranian databases was conducted. From an initial pool of documents, nine primary qualitative studies met the inclusion criteria. The findings of these studies were analyzed and integrated using Thomas and Harden's thematic synthesis approach. Findings: The analysis yielded 11 descriptive themes and four higher-order analytical themes, revealing that the experience of loneliness is: (1) complex and ambiguous, (2) a fluctuating phenomenon, (3) characterized by diverse pathways, and (4) deeply intertwined with sociocultural pressures. Conclusion: Loneliness in emerging adults is a dynamic experience shaped by both intrapsychic factors and formidable social norms. This finding underscores the need for holistic interventions that move beyond social skills training to address relationship quality and the capacity to cope with normative pressures.

Aim: The objective of this study was to explore how marital conflict, mobile phone addiction, and parental loneliness can impact behavioral issues in elementary school students. Method: The research method was a descriptive-correlational approach. The study included 190 couples who visited the Qom Counseling Center in 2022, with 123 individuals selected as the research sample through convenience sampling. These participants completed questionnaires on Children's Behavioral Problems Scale (Yousefi and Shahim, 1999), Couple Conflict Scale (Sanei & Barati ,1996), The Smartphone Addiction Scale (Koo, 2009), and loneliness. Data analysis was carried out using Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis with the help of SPSS version 24 software. Results: findings showed that the regression slope for marital conflict (B=0.501), mobile phone addiction (B=0.46), and loneliness (B=0.314) are statistically significant at the 0.01 level. This indicates that all three variables have a significant predictive power on behavioral problems. Conclusion: The examination of the data uncovered a significant link between the average levels of conflict in marriages, addiction to mobile phones, feelings of loneliness in parents, and the behavioral challenges faced by students. Additionally, the findings from the step-by-step regression analysis suggested that the factors of marital conflict, mobile phone addiction, and parental loneliness were able to explain the variation in behavioral difficulties.

The present study aimed to predict guilt based on social anxiety and social-emotional loneliness in working women seeking divorce. This study is applied in terms of its purpose and descriptive correlation type. The statistical population of this study consisted of all working women seeking divorce in Tehran in 2024. 200 people were selected through purposive sampling from the family counseling centers of the judiciary. The research tools included the Guilt Inventory by Kugler and Jones (1992); the Social Phobia Inventory by Connor et al. (2000) and the UCLA Loneliness Scale by Russell (1996). The research data were analyzed using stepwise regression analysis and SPSS-22 software. The results showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between social anxiety and loneliness with guilt at the 0.01 level. Social anxiety (P=0.009, β=0.183) positively and at a significance level of 0.01 predicted guilt, and loneliness (P=0.005, β=0.197) positively and at a significance level of 0.01 predicted guilt. In general, the results showed that guilt feelings are predicted based on social anxiety and social-emotional loneliness in working women seeking divorce.