Prevalence and psychiatric correlates of loneliness in UK university students

Abstract University students remain vulnerable to the experience of loneliness and comorbid psychiatric difficulties, as evidenced in countries worldwide. Despite this, few studies provide data concerning these factors amongst those studying at institutions in the UK. In the present study, we examined the prevalence of loneliness among UK university students whilst assessing the association between multiple psychiatric risk factors. Here, N=1408 students completed eight validated measures were used: Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale; Patient Health Questionnaire; The Mood Disorder Questionnaire; The Sleep Condition Indicator; The Perceived Stress Scale; Suicidal Behaviours Questionnaire-Revised; The Prodromal Questionnaire 16; and the University of California Loneliness Scale. Moderate to severe levels of loneliness was reported by approximately two thirds of students (67.2%). Loneliness was significantly associated with each psychiatric symptom. After accounting for shared variance between symptoms, linear regression analyses determined loneliness to be significantly related to perceived stress, depression, psychotic like experiences and suicidal ideation. We demonstrate the exceedingly high prevalence of loneliness amongst large sample of UK university students, whilst highlighting the prominent role of depresion, psychotic experiences, perceived stress, and suicidal ideation. Whilst highlighting the primacy of tailored interventions for lonely students, future work should explore contextual factors faced by UK university students.