Kim Eric S, Wilkinson Renae, Holt-Lunstad Julianne, VanderWeele Tyler J
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Human Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
Human Flourishing Program, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
J Adolesc Health. 2025 Jul;77(1):66-75. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.12.011. Epub 2025 Jan 20.
Intergovernmental organizations, such as the World Health Organization, policymakers, scientists, and the public alike are recognizing the importance of loneliness for health/well-being outcomes. However, it remains unclear if loneliness in adolescence shapes health/well-being in adulthood. We examined if increase in loneliness during adolescence was associated with worse health/well-being in adulthood, across 41 outcomes.
We conducted a longitudinal study using data from Add Health-a prospective and nationally representative cohort of community-dwelling U.S. adolescents. Using regression models, we evaluated if an increase in loneliness over 1 year (between Wave I, 1994-1995 and Wave II, 1996) was associated with worse health/well-being outcomes 11.37 years later (in Wave IV, 2008; N = 11,040) or 20.64 years later (in Wave V, 2016-2018; N = 9,003). Participants were aged 15.28 years at study onset and aged 28.17 or 37.20 years during the final assessment.
Participants with the highest (vs. lowest) loneliness had worse outcomes on 4 (of 7) mental health outcomes (e.g., higher likelihood of depression (relative risk= 1.25, confidence interval [CI] = 1.06, 1.49, p = .010), 3 (of 4) psychological well-being outcomes (e.g., lower optimism [β = -0.12, 95% CI = -0.23, -0.01, p = .030]), 2 (of 7) social outcomes (e.g., lower romantic relationship quality (β = -0.10, 95% CI = -0.19, 0.00, p = .043), one (of 13) physical health outcomes (e.g., higher likelihood of asthma (relative risk= 1.24, 95% CI = 1.01, 1.53, p = .041), and 0 (of 9) health behavior outcomes and 0 (of 2) civic/prosocial outcomes.
These findings suggest the promise of testing scalable loneliness interventions and policies during adolescence to better determine their impact on various outcomes.
政府间组织，如世界卫生组织、政策制定者、科学家以及公众都逐渐认识到孤独对健康/幸福状况的重要性。然而，目前尚不清楚青少年时期的孤独是否会影响成年后的健康/幸福状况。我们研究了青少年时期孤独感的增加是否与成年后41项健康/幸福状况指标变差有关。
我们使用“青少年健康纵向研究”（Add Health）的数据进行了一项纵向研究，该研究是一个具有全国代表性的美国社区青少年前瞻性队列。我们采用回归模型评估在1年时间内（1994 - 1995年的第一波调查和1996年的第二波调查之间）孤独感的增加是否与11.37年后（2008年的第四波调查；N = 11,040）或20.64年后（2016 - 2018年的第五波调查；N = 9,003）健康/幸福状况变差有关。研究开始时参与者的年龄为15.28岁，最终评估时年龄为28.17岁或37.20岁。
孤独感最高（与最低相比）的参与者在7项心理健康指标中的4项（如抑郁可能性更高（相对风险 = 1.25，置信区间[CI] = 1.06, 1.49，p = 0.010））、4项心理幸福感指标中的3项（如乐观程度较低[β = -0.12, 95% CI = -0.23, -0.01，p = 0.030]）、7项社会指标中的2项（如恋爱关系质量较低（β = -0.10, 95% CI = -0.19, 0.00，p = 0.043））、13项身体健康指标中的1项（如患哮喘的可能性更高（相对风险 = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.01, 1.53，p = 0.041））上表现较差，而在9项健康行为指标中的0项以及2项公民/亲社会指标中的0项上没有差异。
这些发现表明在青少年时期测试可扩展的孤独干预措施和政策具有前景，以便更好地确定它们对各种结果的影响。
