Presentation Type

Poster

Presentation Type

Submission

Keywords

Loneliness; undergraduates; national assessment; cross-temporal data; counseling

Department

Psychology

Major

Psychology

Abstract

Loneliness is a painful awareness that one’s social relationships are less numerous or meaningful than one desires (Peplau & Perlman, 1982). To feel lonely is to feel excluded from a group, unloved by those surrounding oneself, unable to share one’s private concerns, or alienated from others (Myers & Twenge, 2019).

Since Fall 2008, the American College Health Association has collected data on loneliness from an average of 44,888 college students in its fall and spring administrations of the National College Health Assessment (NCHA). In this study, we report the rates of loneliness among undergraduates from Fall 2008 to Spring 2022.

Prior to Fall 2019, the NCHA measured loneliness by asking students whether they had felt “very lonely” in the past 12 months. In Fall 2008, 61% reported feeling very lonely; by Spring 2019, 67.4% did so.

Since Fall 2019, the NCHA has used three items (Hughes et al., 2004, ? = .72) from the revised 20-item UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell et al., 1980, ? = .94) to measure loneliness. The correlation between the 3-item scale and the 20-item scale is high (r = .82). The three items included: “How often do you feel that you lack companionship?”, “How often do you feel left out?”, and “How often do you feel isolated from others?” Responses included: 1(hardly ever), 2(some of the time), and 3 (often). Respondents’ scores for these three items were summed (min = 3, max = 9). A total score of 3 – 5 was classified as the absence of loneliness, whereas a total score of 6 – 9 was classified as the presence of loneliness. In Fall 2019, 50.3% of undergraduates were lonely. By Spring 2022, the rate rose to 53.6%.

Regardless of whether undergraduates self-identify themselves as feeling very lonely or are classified as lonely based on a 3-item measure of loneliness, over half of undergraduates are lonely, and the rates have been creeping up. We will discuss the implications of these findings.

Faculty Mentor

Dr. Khanh Bui

Funding Source or Research Program

Academic Year Undergraduate Research Initiative

Location

Waves Cafeteria

Start Date

24-3-2023 2:00 PM

End Date

24-3-2023 4:00 PM

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Mar 24th, 2:00 PM Mar 24th, 4:00 PM

Loneliness Rates among Undergraduates from 2008 to 2022, according to Data from the National College Health Assessment

Waves Cafeteria

Loneliness is a painful awareness that one’s social relationships are less numerous or meaningful than one desires (Peplau & Perlman, 1982). To feel lonely is to feel excluded from a group, unloved by those surrounding oneself, unable to share one’s private concerns, or alienated from others (Myers & Twenge, 2019).

Since Fall 2008, the American College Health Association has collected data on loneliness from an average of 44,888 college students in its fall and spring administrations of the National College Health Assessment (NCHA). In this study, we report the rates of loneliness among undergraduates from Fall 2008 to Spring 2022.

Prior to Fall 2019, the NCHA measured loneliness by asking students whether they had felt “very lonely” in the past 12 months. In Fall 2008, 61% reported feeling very lonely; by Spring 2019, 67.4% did so.

Since Fall 2019, the NCHA has used three items (Hughes et al., 2004, ? = .72) from the revised 20-item UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell et al., 1980, ? = .94) to measure loneliness. The correlation between the 3-item scale and the 20-item scale is high (r = .82). The three items included: “How often do you feel that you lack companionship?”, “How often do you feel left out?”, and “How often do you feel isolated from others?” Responses included: 1(hardly ever), 2(some of the time), and 3 (often). Respondents’ scores for these three items were summed (min = 3, max = 9). A total score of 3 – 5 was classified as the absence of loneliness, whereas a total score of 6 – 9 was classified as the presence of loneliness. In Fall 2019, 50.3% of undergraduates were lonely. By Spring 2022, the rate rose to 53.6%.

Regardless of whether undergraduates self-identify themselves as feeling very lonely or are classified as lonely based on a 3-item measure of loneliness, over half of undergraduates are lonely, and the rates have been creeping up. We will discuss the implications of these findings.

 

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