Natural Science Division, Seaver College, Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA, USA.
College of Health and Human Services, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA.
Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2020 Feb;25(1):21-27. doi: 10.1111/camh.12358. Epub 2019 Dec 16.
Loneliness is a common health problem among the elderly but is not well understood in the adolescent population, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Adolescent loneliness can have adverse impacts on short- and long-term health status.
This study examined rates of self-reported loneliness and friendlessness among 76,982 secondary school students in 25 LMICs in Latin America and the Caribbean who participated in the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS). After calculating the rates of reported loneliness and lack of close friends separately for nationally representative samples of boys and girls from each country, we used meta-analysis to pool results for prevalence rates and associations across all 25 countries and territories.
About 1 in 6 students (18.1% [95% CI: 16.4%, 20.0%]) reported being lonely most or all of the time and/or having no close friends, including 19.9% of girls and 16.2% of boys. Girls were more likely than boys to report being lonely most or all of the time (14.6% vs. 9.2%, p < .05), but boys were more likely than girls to report that they had zero close friends (8.7% vs. 7.2%, p < .05). However, the majority of students who reported being lonely did not report having no close friends, and the majority of students who reported having no close friends did not report being lonely most or all of the time.
Asking adolescents about both loneliness and friendships may capture the burden of social isolation among males and females better than a single question about loneliness. Successful interventions for reducing social isolation must be rooted in communities and integrated into comprehensive school and community health plans.
孤独是老年人中常见的健康问题，但在青少年人群中，尤其是在中低收入国家（LMICs）并不为人所理解。青少年孤独感会对短期和长期健康状况产生不利影响。
本研究调查了 25 个拉丁美洲和加勒比地区中低收入国家的 76982 名中学生自我报告的孤独感和无朋友感的发生率，这些学生参与了全球学校学生健康调查（GSHS）。在分别计算了每个国家代表性样本中男孩和女孩报告的孤独感和缺乏亲密朋友的发生率后，我们使用荟萃分析汇总了所有 25 个国家和地区的流行率和关联结果。
约有 1/6 的学生（18.1%[95%CI：16.4%，20.0%]）报告大多数或所有时间都感到孤独和/或没有亲密朋友，其中包括 19.9%的女孩和 16.2%的男孩。女孩比男孩更有可能报告大多数或所有时间感到孤独（14.6%比 9.2%，p<0.05），但男孩比女孩更有可能报告没有亲密朋友（8.7%比 7.2%，p<0.05）。然而，大多数报告感到孤独的学生并不报告没有亲密朋友，而大多数报告没有亲密朋友的学生并不报告大多数或所有时间感到孤独。
询问青少年关于孤独感和友谊的问题可能比单一的孤独感问题更能捕捉到男性和女性的社交孤立负担。减少社交孤立的成功干预措施必须扎根于社区，并整合到全面的学校和社区卫生计划中。
