Poster #226 - Loneliness Profiles and Social Adjustment to Peer Group in Adolescence

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Social Relationships

Integrative Statement

Loneliness reflects an internal, subjective and emotional aspect of a person’s social life thus providing a global indicator of dissatisfaction of the quality and/or quantity of social relationships (Houghton et al., 2014), and occurs when someone perceives a discrepancy between desired and achieved levels of social relationships (Peplau & Perlman, 1982). Loneliness are expected to peak during early adolescence when peer groups become increasingly important and represent important sources of belonging and identity (Maes et al., 2016; Qualter et al., 2015). Adolescence, beyond a period of high risk for loneliness, is also a critical time for developing social skills and attitudes which may have lifelong effects on social and emotional development (Lasgaard et al., 2016). Adolescents who suffer from persistent loneliness are more likely to report psychopathology, depression, suicidal feelings, inadequacy in social skills (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010; Lasgaard et al., 2011; Schinka et al., 2012), and loneliness has been associated with difficulties in peer relationships such as adolescent’s social functioning in the peer group (Vanhalst, Luyckx, & Goossens, 2014). The purpose of this study was to identify different groups that share a similar pattern of scores across the different types of loneliness (social and emotional) into different social contexts (peer and family). Additionally, it was analyzed whether some of these groups are more vulnerable than others, in terms of adolescents’ peer group functioning.
817 participants (397 boys), aged between 11 and 17 years old (M = 13.14) were recruited from 3 Portuguese public junior high schools (grade 7 through 9) in Lisbon metropolitan area.
Relational Provision Loneliness Questionnaire (RPLQ; Hayden-Thomson, 1989): 28-item self-report instrument that assesses subjective feelings of loneliness through group integration and personal intimacy, experienced within the peer group and family.
Extended Class Play (ECP; Burgess et al., 2006): 37-item instrument that aims to assess peers’ evaluations of the participants’ social functioning.
An Hierarquical Cluster Analyses was conducted using Euclidian distances, and the Ward’s method on squared Euclidian distances to identify the clusters. An additional procedure was included (k-means method) to optimize the cluster solution. In order to analyze the differences between profiles a MANOVA was used, and in case of significant effects, ANOVAS and post-hoc tests (Tukey).
Four group were identified: Not lonely (n=396); Family related loneliness (n=214); Peer related loneliness (n=163), and Lonely (n=44). A significant multivariate effect was observed between the 4 profiles for perceived feelings of loneliness (V = 1.23, F(12,2436) = 140.09, p < .000, η2p = .41, π = 1.00). To test differences in adolescent’s social functioning by loneliness profiles considering sex, a MANOVA was used. A significant multivariate effect was found for loneliness profile (V = .08, F(18,2295) = 3.48, p < .000, η2p = .03, π = 1.00), and a significant interaction effect between loneliness profile and sex (V = .04, F(18,2295) = 1.70, p < .05, η2p = .01, π = .96). Results will be discussed in terms of the different loneliness profiles and in terms of the association with social adjustment (positive and negative features of social functioning) to peers and family.

Authors

• Olívia Ribeiro, William James Center for Research _ ISPA - Instituto Universitário
  Presenting Author

• Antonio Santos, William James Center for Research, ISPA-Instituto Universitário
  Non-Presenting Author

• Miguel Freitas, William James Center for Research
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kenneth H. Rubin, Department of Human Development & Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland
  Non-Presenting Author