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Loneliness in adolescence: Personal, biological, and social factors

Boek - Dissertatie

Loneliness is a negative feeling that arises when people experience a discrepancy between the social relationships they want to have and the social relationships they actually have (Peplau & Perlman, 1982). Although loneliness is a negative feeling, the Evolutionary Theory of Loneliness proposes that it has some adaptive features as well (Cacioppo & Cacioppo, 2018). That is, loneliness motivates us to rebuild social relationships and to protect ourselves from potential social threat. This theoretical framework proposes a number of psychological, biological, and social processes that are associated with loneliness. The goal of the present dissertation was to examine psychological processes, biological processes, and processes in the social environment that could be associated with loneliness according to the Evolutionary Theory of Loneliness in adolescent samples. Adolescents are particularly susceptible for experiencing feelings of loneliness (Qualter et al., 2015) and adolescent loneliness is associated with a wide range of maladaptive outcomes. In the first part of this dissertation, we examined psychological processes that play an important role in the development of loneliness. We focused on fear of negative evaluation and self-esteem as theoretically relevant constructs in this regard. Our findings suggested indeed that both constructs co-develop with adolescent loneliness and that high fear of negative evaluation and low self-esteem could be barriers on the road to successful reconnection to others. In the second part of this dissertation, we studied biological processes related to adolescent loneliness. Specifically, we examined the association between loneliness and the human stress response system, both at the endocrinological and physiological level. We found that higher levels of loneliness were associated with a blunted endocrinological response and were not associated at all with responses at the physiological level. Loneliness was also associated with more perceived stress. In the third part of this dissertation, we examined the role of adolescents' social environments. A longitudinal analysis of the association between loneliness and friendship quality revealed that both constructs were associated with one another at one point in time, but they did not predict one another over time. Additionally, we found, contrary to our expectations, that the transition from primary to secondary school was not associated with increases in loneliness. Finally, we found that significant others at school are somewhat sensitive to adolescents' feelings of loneliness, but caution is needed when relying on teacher and peer reports of students' loneliness. In sum, the present dissertation provided limited support for the Evolutionary Theory of Loneliness in adolescents. Although important issues in loneliness research were addressed, other questions still remain unanswered. In the closing chapter of this dissertation, we reflect upon the contribution of our work to the extant literature and these unanswered questions. We hope that the present work will inspire future loneliness researchers.
Jaar van publicatie:2021
Toegankelijkheid:Open