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Publication
Loneliness profiles in adolescence: Associations with sex and social adjustment to the peer group
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Loneliness is a complex feeling associated with socio-emotional adjustment difficulties, particularly during adolescence.
Such construct is often treated as unidimensional rather than multidimensional, moreover, studies consisting of both peer and
family contexts, are very scarce. Adopting a multidimensional and person-centered approach, our study aimed to identify
distinct clusters of adolescents with similar patterns of social and emotional loneliness with peers and family and to examine
their differences in peer reported social adjustment, controlling for sex. Self-report and peer nomination data were collected
from 691 participants (48.36% boys) aged between 11 and 16 years (M = 12.95, SD = 1.15). After controlling for age and
preference for solitude, results revealed four clusters with specific configurations of loneliness forms and with different
associations with positive or negative features of social adjustment to peer group. Two clusters exhibited adaptive profiles
(lower vulnerability to maladjustment): less-lonely, and family-related loneliness profile, in which adolescents were viewed
by peers as exhibiting more prosocial behaviors. The other two clusters displayed maladaptive profiles (higher vulnerability
to maladjustment): more-lonely, and peer-related loneliness profile, in which adolescents were more likely viewed by their
peers as socially withdrawn, peer-excluded, and peer-victimized. Additionally, our results revealed sex differences, with
girls in the more-lonely profile showing significant higher social loneliness related to peer group, and higher social and
emotional loneliness in family context. Our results highlight the importance of recognizing different forms of loneliness
given the differences in adjustment to social contexts observed, shedding further light on this complex construct
Description
Keywords
Social loneliness Emotional loneliness Cluster analysis Peer exclusion Peer victimization
Citation
Ribeiro, O., Freitas, M., Rubin, K. H., & Santos, A. J. (2022). Loneliness Profiles in Adolescence: Associations with Sex and Social Adjustment to the Peer Group. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02472-1
Publisher
Springer