Demographic and coping predictors of severe forms of loneliness in young people aged 12-25 years

Abstract

Loneliness is common in young people and predicts a range of concurrent psychiatric conditions. Yet, young people feel there are few resources to support them. Who develops severe forms of youth loneliness and which modifiable psychological correlates are associated with loneliness severity could help in developing resources to support groups of young people who are most vulnerable. Here, we explored which demographic characteristics (age, gender, minority ethnic status, and indices of socioeconomic status) predicted more severe forms of loneliness. Based on strategies that young people said they would recommend to a friend to manage loneliness, we also explored whether specific coping strategies and coping flexibility predicted severe loneliness. We explored these questions using loneliness data gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when social restriction policies heightened loneliness experiences. Latent class growth analysis identified five loneliness trajectory classes. Among these was a “high stable” group (11% of the sample) who reported frequent loneliness that also endured across time-points. Other groups included a moderate decreasing (15%), a low increasing (16%), a moderate stable (23%), and a low stable (35%) group. The high stable loneliness class also reported significantly lower wellbeing scores compared to the many of the other groups. Entry into the high stable loneliness group was predicted by being female. Recommendation of approach coping strategies predicted lower likelihood of being in the high stable loneliness group. Future research and clinical work should explore the utility of coping strategies to manage loneliness to reduce the impact on well-being and psychiatric outcomes.