Living Alone in Family-Centered Societies: Structural Topic Modeling of Loneliness, Identity, and Coping on Reddit

• In Event: Reimagining Families: Singlehood, Childfree, and Chosen Families

Abstract

In the United States, one-person households have increased from about 8% of households in 1940 to 28% in 2020, and nearly 30% of adults age 65+ and 10% of young adults ages 18–34 lived alone in 2022. Globally, solo households have also risen across many countries. Although living alone is often treated as synonymous with loneliness, social isolation and loneliness are distinct and reflect objective lack of contact versus a subjective emotional experience, respectively. We conceptualize solo living as a heterogeneous life course outcome shaped by diverse pathways as well as various identity and coping strategies. To explore these, we analyze loneliness narratives among members of the living alone subreddit. On January 7, 2026, we scraped comments responding to threads containing the keyword “lonely,” yielding 21,370 comments after filtering and preprocessing. Using structural topic modeling, we identified ten themes, including social activities, emotional struggles, trust and boundaries, pets, independent routines, boredom, gender dynamics, resilience, and home/tradition. We also examine topic sentiment using comment scores. Findings highlight how participants negotiate autonomy, stigma, and connection and illustrate the heterogeneity of solo living as well as the value and limits of digital communities for understanding loneliness among those who live alone.

Authors

• Christine A. Mair, University of Maryland-Baltimore County

• Steve McDonald, North Carolina State University