Stickley Andrew, Koyanagi Ai, Koposov Roman, Schwab-Stone Mary, Ruchkin Vladislav
Stockholm Centre on Health of Societies in Transition (SCOHOST), Södertörn University, 141 89 Huddinge, Sweden.
BMC Public Health. 2014 Apr 16;14:366. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-14-366.
For some adolescents feeling lonely can be a protracted and painful experience. It has been suggested that engaging in health risk behaviours such as substance use and sexual behaviour may be a way of coping with the distress arising from loneliness during adolescence. However, the association between loneliness and health risk behaviour has been little studied to date. To address this research gap, the current study examined this relation among Russian and U.S. adolescents.
Data were used from the Social and Health Assessment (SAHA), a school-based survey conducted in 2003. A total of 1995 Russian and 2050 U.S. students aged 13-15 years old were included in the analysis. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between loneliness and substance use, sexual risk behaviour, and violence.
After adjusting for demographic characteristics and depressive symptoms, loneliness was associated with a significantly increased risk of adolescent substance use in both Russia and the United States. Lonely Russian girls were significantly more likely to have used marijuana (odds ratio [OR]: 2.28; confidence interval [CI]: 1.17-4.45), while lonely Russian boys had higher odds for past 30-day smoking (OR, 1.87; CI, 1.08-3.24). In the U.S. loneliness was associated with the lifetime use of illicit drugs (excepting marijuana) among boys (OR, 3.09; CI, 1.41-6.77) and with lifetime marijuana use (OR, 1.79; CI, 1.26-2.55), past 30-day alcohol consumption (OR, 1.80; CI, 1.18-2.75) and past 30-day binge drinking (OR, 2.40; CI, 1.56-3.70) among girls. The only relation between loneliness and sexual risk behaviour was among Russian girls, where loneliness was associated with significantly higher odds for ever having been pregnant (OR, 1.69; CI: 1.12-2.54). Loneliness was not associated with violent behaviour among boys or girls in either country.
Loneliness is associated with adolescent health risk behaviour among boys and girls in both Russia and the United States. Further research is now needed in both settings using quantitative and qualitative methods to better understand the association between loneliness and health risk behaviours so that effective interventions can be designed and implemented to mitigate loneliness and its effects on adolescent well-being.
对于一些青少年来说，感到孤独可能是一种持久而痛苦的经历。有人认为，从事诸如物质使用和性行为等健康风险行为可能是应对青少年时期因孤独而产生的痛苦的一种方式。然而，迄今为止，孤独与健康风险行为之间的关联鲜有研究。为了填补这一研究空白，本研究调查了俄罗斯和美国青少年中的这种关系。
使用了2003年进行的一项基于学校的社会与健康评估（SAHA）调查的数据。分析纳入了1995名俄罗斯学生和2050名13 - 15岁的美国学生。采用逻辑回归分析孤独与物质使用、性风险行为及暴力行为之间的关联。
在调整了人口统计学特征和抑郁症状后，在俄罗斯和美国，孤独均与青少年物质使用风险显著增加相关。孤独的俄罗斯女孩使用大麻的可能性显著更高（优势比[OR]：2.28；置信区间[CI]：1.17 - 4.45），而孤独的俄罗斯男孩在过去30天内吸烟的几率更高（OR，1.87；CI：1.08 - 3.24）。在美国，孤独与男孩终身使用非法药物（不包括大麻）（OR，3.09；CI，1.41 - 6.77）、终身使用大麻（OR：1.79；CI：1.26 - 2.55）以及女孩过去30天饮酒（OR，1.80；CI，1.18 - 2.75）和过去30天暴饮（OR，2.40；CI，1.56 - 3.70）相关。孤独与性风险行为之间唯一的关联存在于俄罗斯女孩中，孤独与曾怀孕几率显著更高相关（OR，1.69；CI：1.12 - 2.54）。在这两个国家中，孤独与男孩或女孩的暴力行为均无关联。
在俄罗斯和美国，孤独与青少年健康风险行为在男孩和女孩中均有关联。现在需要在这两种背景下进一步开展定量和定性研究以更好地理解孤独与健康风险行为之间的关联，从而设计并实施有效的干预措施来减轻孤独及其对青少年幸福感的影响。
