School Psychology and Development in Context, KU Leuven, Tiensestraat 102 box 3717, Leuven, 3000, Belgium.
Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), Brussels, Belgium.
J Youth Adolesc. 2018 Jan;47(1):148-161. doi: 10.1007/s10964-017-0685-5. Epub 2017 May 4.
Adolescents are particularly vulnerable to experiencing feelings of loneliness. Changes in different social contexts and the inability to cope with these changes can result in different types of loneliness. According to the multidimensional view on loneliness, loneliness can be experienced in relationships with peers and parents and can be placed in a broader perspective by taking into account attitudes toward aloneness (i.e., positive and negative). However, we do not yet know how loneliness and attitudes toward aloneness develop across adolescence. These developmental trends were examined in two samples of Flemish adolescents consisting of 834 adolescents (61.9% girls, M = 14.84; Sample 1), and 968 adolescents (58.6% girls, M = 14.82; Sample 2), respectively. Adolescents filled out the Loneliness and Aloneness Scale for Children and Adolescents (LACA) during regular school hours on three (Sample 1) and four (Sample 2) measurement occasions with a 1-year interval. Latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) was applied. In line with theoretical notions, adolescents' parent-related loneliness and positive attitude toward aloneness were expected to increase, and adolescents' peer-related loneliness and negative attitude toward aloneness were expected to decrease. Clear evidence was found for the hypotheses regarding attitudes toward aloneness. The results regarding peer-related loneliness were inconsistent across samples and parent-related loneliness decreased, which was in contrast with theoretical expectations. In general, the two types of loneliness and attitudes toward aloneness changed in different directions during adolescence, suggesting the added value of a multidimensional view on loneliness.
青少年特别容易感到孤独。在不同的社会环境中发生的变化，以及无法应对这些变化，可能会导致不同类型的孤独。根据孤独的多维观点，孤独可以在与同伴和父母的关系中体验到，并通过考虑对独处的态度（即积极和消极）将其放在更广泛的视角中。然而，我们还不知道孤独感和对独处的态度在整个青春期是如何发展的。这两种发展趋势在两个佛兰芒青少年样本中进行了研究，样本一包括 834 名青少年（61.9%为女生，M = 14.84），样本二包括 968 名青少年（58.6%为女生，M = 14.82）。青少年在正常上学时间，在三个（样本一）和四个（样本二）测量点，每个测量点之间间隔一年，填写儿童和青少年孤独与独处量表（LACA）。采用潜在增长曲线模型（LGCM）进行分析。根据理论概念，预计青少年与父母相关的孤独感和对独处的积极态度会增加，而青少年与同伴相关的孤独感和对独处的消极态度会减少。对关于对独处的态度的假设，得到了明确的证据支持。关于同伴相关的孤独感的结果在两个样本中不一致，且父母相关的孤独感下降，这与理论预期相反。总的来说，在青春期，两种孤独感和对独处的态度朝着不同的方向变化，这表明孤独的多维观点具有附加价值。
