Addressing loneliness is a key public health concern. However, few studies have examined risk factors for momentary fluctuations of loneliness, limiting our understanding of how social contexts and perceptions in daily life maintain loneliness. In the current ecological momentary assessment study, participants (N = 32; mean age = 25) reported on momentary loneliness and qualities of social interactions four times per day for seven days using a smartphone application. Our primary aim was to evaluate existing mechanistic models of loneliness in daily life. We found that hypervigilance to social threat (perceiving criticism/rejection, preferring to be alone when around others) was related to momentary loneliness. We also found that feeling connected to others when alone was related to more loneliness in-the-moment, but predicted less loneliness in the future. We did not find support that being alone was related to loneliness, or that loneliness predicted a lower likelihood of interacting with others in the future. These results suggest that specific factors related to hypervigilance to social threat may be unique predictors of momentary loneliness, making them a potential treatment target for just-in-time interventions.

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