Experience of loneliness among adolescent girls and boys: Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 study

When an individual's socio-emotional needs are not being adequately met, the subjective and negative feeling of loneliness occurs. Study assessed the experiences of loneliness of 16-year-olds in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (n=7014). Most (70.4%) adolescents reported not feeling lonely, 26.4% reported feeling somewhat and 3.2% reported feeling very lonely. Girls reported more loneliness than boys. Multinomial logistic regression was employed to describe the association of selected social, emotional, contextual and health and well-being factors between not lonely and somewhat lonely and between not lonely and very lonely adolescents. All factors grouped as emotional and health and well-being were associated with loneliness experiences, social factors related to family were not. Among girls, an association was found between being somewhat lonely and living in rural areas. Associated factors (not having close friends, feeling unliked, victim of bullying, avoiding company, feeling unhappy, sad, depressed, dissatisfaction with life, poor self-rated health) were similar to somewhat and very lonely, but very lonely adolescents, especially girls, experience them more strongly. It is important to recognise lonely individuals early on to prevent more serious social, emotional and health and well-being problems which loneliness may cause.