The Children’s Loneliness Scale : factor structure and construct validity in Belgian children

The present study examined the factor structure and construct validity of the Children's Loneliness Scale (CLS), a popular measure of childhood loneliness, in Belgian children. Analyses were conducted on two samples of fifth and sixth graders in Belgium, for a total of 1,069 children. A single-factor structure proved superior to alternative solutions proposed in the literature, when taking item wording into account. Construct validity was shown by substantial associations with related constructs, based on both self-reported (e.g., depressive symptoms and low social self-esteem), and peer-reported variables (e.g., victimization). Furthermore, a significant association was found between the CLS and a peer-reported measure of loneliness. Collectively, these findings provide a solid foundation for the continuing use of the CLS as a measure of childhood loneliness

Reliability and validity of the Roberts UCLA Loneliness Scale (RULS-8) with Dutch-speaking adolescents in Belgium

The internal consistency and construct validity of the RULS-8, a brief measure of loneliness for use with adolescents, was examined in three samples of Dutch-speaking adolescents in Belgium (for a total of 'N' = 6,236). The measure showed high levels of internal consistency (ranging between .80 and .82), strong convergence with the original 20-item instrument ('r' = .92; Sample 1; 'N' = 282), excellent fit with its hypothesized factor structure through confirmatory factor analysis (Sample 2; 'N' = 1,144), measurement invariance across gender, and significant correlations in the expected direction with a set of indicators of psychological adaptation and maladaptation (Sample 3; 'N' = 4,810). Based on these results, the 8-item short form is recommended for use with Dutch-speaking adolescents when administration of the full form seems less advisable due to time constraints. Suggestions for potential use of the short form and for future research on its reliability and validity are outlined

Parent-Adolescent Discrepancies Regarding Adolescents' Peer-Related Loneliness:Associations with Adolescent Adjustment

Because loneliness is a subjective experience, it is often examined using self-reports. Yet, researchers have started to use other-reports to examine loneliness. As previous research suggests that discrepancies between self- and other views might have important implications for adolescents' mental health, the current study examines discrepancies in multi-informant reports on adolescents' loneliness in relation with prosocial behavior, aggression, and adolescents' parent-related loneliness. The sample consisted of 374 mother-adolescent dyads and 318 father-adolescent dyads (41.80% male, M (age) = 15.67 years, SD = 1.25). Results indicated that informants used different reference points to assess adolescents' peer-related loneliness, but were otherwise comparable. Moreover, informant discrepancies were associated with greater adolescents' reported parent-related loneliness. The current study did not provide evidence that discrepancies were related to prosocial or aggressive behavior. The current study adds to the notion that other-reports on loneliness show substantial convergence with self-reports. In addition, this study indicates that the discrepancy between other- and self-reports on loneliness holds valuable information for adolescent socio-emotional adjustment.</p

Does General Parenting Context Modify Adolescents' Appraisals and Coping with a Situation of Parental Regulation? The Case of Autonomy-Supportive Parenting

Theory and research suggest that adolescents differ in their appraisals and coping reactions in response to parental regulation. Less is known, however, about factors that determine these differences in adolescents’ responses. In this study, we examined whether adolescents' appraisals and coping reactions depend upon parents’ situation-specific autonomy-supportive or controlling communication style (i.e., the situation) in interaction with adolescents’ past experiences with general autonomy-supportive parenting (i.e., the parenting context). Whereas in Study 1 (N = 176) adolescents’ perceived general autonomy-supportive parenting context was assessed at one point in time, in Study 2 (N = 126) it was assessed multiple times across a 6-year period, allowing for an estimation of trajectories of perceived autonomy-supportive parenting context. In each study, adolescents read a vignette-based scenario depicting a situation of maternal regulation (i.e., a request to study more), which was communicated in either an autonomy-supportive or a controlling way. Following this scenario, they reported upon their appraisals and their anticipated coping reactions. Results of each study indicated that both the autonomy-supportive (relative to the controlling) situation and the perceived autonomy-supportive parenting context generally related to more positive appraisals (i.e., more autonomy need satisfaction, less autonomy need frustration), as well as to more constructive coping responses (i.e., less oppositional defiance and submission, more negotiation and accommodation). In addition, situation × context interactions were found, whereby adolescents growing up in a more autonomy-supportive context seemed to derive greater benefits from the exposure to an autonomy-supportive situation and reacted more constructively to a controlling situation

Sociotropic differentiation: Differential anticipatory reactions to rejection by close versus distal others predict well-being

This study introduces the construct of sociotropic differentiation - the figurative array of people whose acceptance and rejection matter to a person - and examines whether differences in sociotropic differentiation predict social and emotional well-being during the transition to college. A total of 104 freshmen (40% men) participated in a two-wave study with assessments at the beginning and end of the first semester at college. Sociotropic differentiation was operationalized by the relative tendency to be upset by rejection by close others, acquaintances, and distal others. Results indicated that being upset when rejected by close others predicted better well-being (i.e., higher perceived belonging, fewer aggressive urges, and lower depressive symptoms), whereas being upset when rejected by distal others predicted poorer well-being (i.e., lower perceived belonging, more time spent alone, more aggressive urges, more depressive symptoms, and lower positive affect). Moreover, similar reactions to rejection by close and distal others predicted decreased belonging and increased hostility over time. Together, findings suggest that people who differentiate close from distal relationships fare better in new social environments. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future studies are outlined. © 2014.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Sociotropic differentiation: Differential anticipatory reactions to rejection by close versus distal others predict well-being journaltitle: Personality and Individual Differences articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2014.04.004 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.status: publishe

Loneliness

status: Published onlin

Lonely adolescents exhibit heightened sensitivity for facial cues of emotion

Contradicting evidence exists regarding the link between loneliness and sensitivity to facial cues of emotion, as loneliness has been related to better but also to worse performance on facial emotion recognition tasks. This study aims to contribute to this debate and extends previous work by (a) focusing on both accuracy and sensitivity to detecting positive and negative expressions, (b) controlling for depressive symptoms and social anxiety, and (c) using an advanced emotion recognition task with videos of neutral adolescent faces gradually morphing into full-intensity expressions. Participants were 170 adolescents (49% boys; Mage = 13.65 years) from rural, low-income schools. Results showed that loneliness was associated with increased sensitivity to happy, sad, and fear faces. When controlling for depressive symptoms and social anxiety, loneliness remained significantly associated with sensitivity to sad and fear faces. Together, these results suggest that lonely adolescents are vigilant to negative facial cues of emotion.peerreview_statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope. aims_and_scope_url: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=pcem20status: publishe

Loneliness and depressive symptoms: The mediating and moderating role of uncontrollable ruminative thoughts

Although feelings of loneliness often are accompanied by depressive symptoms, little is known about underlying mechanisms in this association. The present study sampled 370 college freshmen and investigated whether rumination (and its components of Uncontrollability, Causal Analysis, and Understanding) functioned as a mediator or moderator in the relationship between 2 types of loneliness (as experienced in the relationship with parents and with peers, respectively) and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that rumination partially mediated the relationship between peer-related loneliness and depressive symptoms and moderated the relationship between parent-related loneliness and depressive symptoms. In addition, the uncontrollable nature, rather than the content, of these ruminative thoughts about parent- and peer-related loneliness was particularly harmful in the development of depressive symptoms. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.status: publishe