Psychological studies of loneliness are comparatively new. This study examined influences of attachment style, family functions and gender differences on loneliness in Japanese university students. The following questionnaires were administered: University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale, Internal Working Model Scale for assessing attachment, and Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III. Stepwise multiple regression analyses were employed to examine relationships between loneliness as the dependent variable, and gender, attachment style and family functions as independent variables. Results showed that gender differences significantly influenced loneliness. Furthermore, loneliness was positively influenced by avoidant and ambivalent attachment styles and negatively influenced by stable attachment style and family cohesion. A significant interaction was also observed between secure attachment style and family cohesion. These results indicated that a stable attachment style might reduce loneliness. On the other hand, in spite of an unstable attachment style, loneliness can be decreased if family cohesion is high.

In recent decades, social network sites (SNSs) have become more popular and SNSs addiction has become a serious social problem. However, few studies have examined the effect of a person's internal working model (IWM) on addiction, which determine how attachment processes operate throughout the life course. This study aims at investigating the influence of IWMs and the psychological state, particularly loneliness and interpersonal trust, and of gender differences on addiction of SNSs in Japanese university students. Participants were 284 undergraduates in Japan (130 males, 154 females) who were evaluated with an original questionnaire about SNSs addiction, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, Interpersonal Trust Scale, and Internal Working Model Scale. We conducted multiple regression analyses by setting the entry method, one of which was forced entry, to examine the relationship between the dependent variable (SNSs addiction) and the independent variables (other factors) in each gender. The results show that SNSs addiction is influenced by an ambivalent attachment style (males, β = .19; females β = .36) and utilization time (males, β = .32; females β = .32) in both genders. To compare gender differences, we examined the structural equation modeling. The results show that only the influence of an ambivalent attachment style is significantly different between males and females (z = 5.04, p < .01), suggesting that such an attachment style predicts SNSs addiction. Because females tend to use SNSs as interaction tools, those with a high ambivalent style may become preoccupied with peer group membership. To prevent * Corresponding author. A. Fujimori et al. 1833 SNSs addiction, it is important that children form stable attachment relationships with parents/ caregivers when young. Regarding clinical implications, if counseling or psychotherapy is employed for people with SNSs addiction, it is important to assess the attachment style, and that therapy work toward changing an ambivalent style to a stable one.

This study aimed to clarify ego functions of the university students having a tendency to atypical depression by comparing those with other students having a tendency to melancholic depression and borderline personality disorder. The answers to the questionnaires were obtained from 278 university students. The results showed that no difference was found in the total scores of ego functions and the scores of the sub-scales such as "synthetic-integrative functioning," "sense of reality," "control of impulses," "objective relation," "stimulus barrier," and "autonomous functioning" between the students having a tendency to atypical depression and those having a tendency to melancholic depression; while the scores of the "defensive functioning," one of the ego functions, were significantly higher in the students having a tendency to atypical depression than in those having a tendency to melancholic depression. This suggested that the students having a tendency to atypical depression may have a higher function of protecting their ego from conflicts than those having a tendency to melancholic depression.

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