Loneliness across the lifespan: A meta-analytic integration of the literature and the development of a comprehensive multidimensional measure

Loneliness is the unpleasant feeling that occurs when people are not satisfied with the amount or quality of their social relationships. Individuals around the world and of all ages may experience the emotional pain of loneliness. Loneliness is receiving increased attention from researchers, policy makers, and in the media, as it detrimentally affects people’s well-being. Research on loneliness is increasing, but the current literature is highly fragmented. Hence, the proposed project aims to advance the field by integrating the current literature to examine systematic differences in mean levels and correlates of loneliness across age, cohorts, and cultures. Furthermore, researchers increasingly stress the importance of distinguishing among different types of loneliness, because individuals may experience one type but not the other and different types are related to different problems. However, a good measure that captures all types is currently missing. Hence, the proposed project aims to develop a comprehensive loneliness measure that solves the problems in current loneliness measures, covers all types of loneliness, and can be used across the lifespan. This new instrument can be used to examine how loneliness changes over the life course, how the different types of loneliness are related to one another, and which risk and protective factors are important for which type, so that intervention programs can be better tailored to the needs of each individual.