Forgeron Paula A, Stinson Jennifer, Birnie Kathryn, Finley G Allen, Jordan Abbie, Qualter Pamela, Candido Ligyana, Lamont Michelle, Bradley Cassidy, Linkiewich Delane, Lowthian Trinity, McNally Samuel, Trehan Natasha, Dick Bruce
School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
Child Health Evaluative Sciences (CHES) in the Research Institute, SickKids Pain Centre The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada.
Can J Pain. 2024 Oct 28;8(1):2404615. doi: 10.1080/24740527.2024.2404615. eCollection 2024.
Loneliness, the perception that one's social relationships do not meet the desire for social connection, is a risk factor for poor mental and physical health. Adolescents with chronic pain experience higher rates of peer loneliness which persists over time. Previous studies used a single loneliness measure, limiting our understanding of the nature of their loneliness. This study describes the types of peer loneliness (intimate, relational, and collective) experienced by these adolescents and the impact that peer loneliness has on pain-related outcomes.
A cross-sectional online survey was completed by 128 Canadian adolescents aged 12-18 years who experienced pain for at least 3 months. Validated measures captured demographics, pain-related characteristics, types of peer-related loneliness, measures of social well-being, and mental and physical health outcomes.
Friedman's tests of z-scores indicate that participants equally experienced dyadic, relational, and collective peer loneliness. MANCOVA revealed that those who identify as Black were lonelier after controlling for socioeconomic status. Multiple regression showed that loneliness was a robust predicter of worse scores on social well-being and mental health outcomes with males and females equally impacted by loneliness. Despite moderate correlations between loneliness and pain interference and pain intensity, loneliness did not predict school absences, suggesting that loneliness' influence on physical pain outcomes may be temporally earlier (e.g. contribute to pain chronification).
Peer loneliness among adolescents with chronic pain negatively impacts their social well-being and mental health outcomes. Interventions addressing loneliness to target all three types of peer loneliness may be key to improving pain-related outcomes.
孤独感，即认为自己的社会关系无法满足对社会联系的渴望，是心理健康和身体健康不佳的一个风险因素。患有慢性疼痛的青少年经历同伴孤独的比例更高，且这种孤独会随着时间持续存在。以往的研究使用单一的孤独感测量方法，限制了我们对他们孤独本质的理解。本研究描述了这些青少年所经历的同伴孤独的类型（亲密型、关系型和集体型）以及同伴孤独对疼痛相关结果的影响。
128名年龄在12至18岁、经历疼痛至少3个月的加拿大青少年完成了一项横断面在线调查。经过验证的测量方法涵盖了人口统计学特征、疼痛相关特征、同伴相关孤独的类型、社会幸福感测量以及心理健康和身体健康结果。
弗里德曼z分数检验表明，参与者同等程度地经历了二元、关系型和集体型同伴孤独。协方差分析显示，在控制社会经济地位后，那些自我认同为黑人的青少年更孤独。多元回归表明，孤独是社会幸福感和心理健康结果得分较差的一个有力预测因素，男性和女性受孤独的影响程度相同。尽管孤独与疼痛干扰和疼痛强度之间存在中等程度的相关性，但孤独并不能预测学校缺勤情况，这表明孤独对身体疼痛结果的影响可能在时间上更早（例如导致疼痛慢性化）。
患有慢性疼痛的青少年中的同伴孤独对他们的社会幸福感和心理健康结果产生负面影响。针对所有三种同伴孤独类型来解决孤独问题的干预措施可能是改善疼痛相关结果的关键。
