High-school students' loneliness in relation to friends, family and love partners

Authors

  • Vera Ćubela University of Zadar
  • Marina Nekić University of Zadar

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15291/radovifpsp.2602

Abstract

In studying a group of 483 high-school students from Zadar, the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA, DiTommaso & Spinner, 1993) was administered to assess the level of loneliness in three domains: friendships, family, and romantic relationships.The main aim of the study was to examine if three scales of the SELSA could be used as reliable measures of these aspects of loneliness during this period of adolescence as well. The results suggest that social and family scales can be considered as reliable measures of adolescents' loneliness in friendships and family, whereas items of romantic scale defined two unrelated dimensions, labeled unsatisfaction with actual status and desire for intimacy. However, in some subgroups, these dimensions were positively or negatively associated, depending on subjects' gender, grade level, and/or actual romantic involvement. The pattern of correlations among the SELSA's scales, obtained in this sample, is in line with the previous research findings, suggesting that the assumed validity of the SELSA in assessing Weiss' concepts of social and emotional loneliness, has no adequate support in empirical data.

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Published

2018-04-20

Issue

Section

Original scientific paper