Existential isolation, loneliness, and attachment in young adults

Helm, Peter; Jimenez, Tyler; Bultmann, Michael N.; Lifshin, Uri; Greenberg, Jeff; Arndt, Jamie

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2020.109890

Cited by 45 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Our results are consistent with previous research: secure people, within a sensitive and reliable caregiving bond, have developed the ability to regulate emotions and related behaviours, therefore, they face stressful events relying on both others’ support and their own self-confidence [ 16 ]. Consequently, securely attached individuals are found to experience higher psychological wellbeing [ 30 , 52 , 65 ], lower perceptions of loneliness [ 1 , 24 ] and lower levels of anxiety [ 19 , 47 , 68 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attachment style and mental health during the later stages of COVID‐19 pandemic: the mediation role of loneliness and COVID-19 anxiety

2022

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Background An insecure attachment style is an important risk factor for psychological problems. The aim of this study was to use Bartholomew and Horowitz’s model (Bartholomew and Horowitz in J Pers Soc Psychol 61(2): 226, 2019) to test a sample of Italian individuals to determine the mediation role of loneliness and COVID-19-related anxiety symptoms in the relationship between attachment styles and mental health issues in the context of the pandemic. Method A cross-sectional research study was conducted using a sample of 330 Italian participants (82.1% women; mean age = 34.3 years; SD = 13.16) who completed online self-reported measures of attachment styles (RQ), loneliness (RULS), COVID-19-related anxiety symptoms (C-19ASS) and mental health problems (GHQ-12). Serial mediation analyses were performed, and bootstrap tests were included. Results Our results supported the hypothesized model with respect to each attachment style (p < 0.001). In particular, insecure attachment styles predict mental health problems both directly and indirectly, through loneliness and COVID-19-related anxiety symptoms. In addition, loneliness directly influences mental health problems and also mediates the relationship between insecure attachment styles and COVID-19-related anxiety symptoms which, in turn, positively predict mental health problems. Conclusions Our findings reinforce the importance of attachment in people’s processes of adapting to experiences during the coronavirus pandemic. The study makes an important contribution to developing effective prevention and intervention strategies to support people’s wellbeing in the context of the pandemic.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attachment style and mental health during the later stages of COVID‐19 pandemic: the mediation role of loneliness and COVID-19 anxiety

2022

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“…Interaction with others is a pivotal factor for academic performance since students who engage with colleagues and teachers tend to have more academic success than those who study by themselves (Torres-Díaz et al, 2016). Loneliness or social isolation is linked to anxiety and self-esteem (Helm et al, 2020), J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f leading to unhealthy smartphone use (Shen & Wang, 2019) and sedentary behaviours (Werneck, Collings, Barboza, Stubbs, & Silva, 2019), motivating us to posit the following.…”

Section: Lonelinessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of computers in students’ academic achievement

Simões

Oliveira

Nunes

2022

Heliyon

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“…However, whereas some of these findings would suggest that loneliness has decreased (e.g., increasing trends of self-esteem and extraversion; Twenge, 2001;Twenge & Campbell, 2001), others would suggest that loneliness has increased (e.g., decreasing trend in attachment security and dispositional empathy; Konrath et al, 2011Konrath et al, , 2014. However, in these reflections on changes over historical time in other psychological constructs associated with loneliness, at least two considerations should be kept in mind: First, loneliness and constructs such as extraversion, attachment security, or empathy are correlated but distinct constructs that share about 10-15% of the variance (estimated based on the correlations reported in Beadle et al, 2012;Helm et al, 2020). Second, loneliness and constructs such as extraversion, attachment security, and empathy can be cross-sectionally related in different historical years.…”

Section: Previous Evidence On Changes In Loneliness Over Historical Timementioning

confidence: 99%

Is Loneliness in Emerging Adults Increasing Over Time? A Preregistered Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

Buecker¹,

Mund²,

Chwastek³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Judged by the sheer amount of global media coverage, loneliness rates seem to be an increasingly urgent societal concern. From the late 1970s onward, the life experiences of emerging adults have been changing massively due to societal developments such as increased fragmentation of social relationships, greater mobility opportunities, and changes in communication due to technological innovations. These societal developments might have coincided with an increase in loneliness in emerging adults. In the present preregistered cross-temporal meta-analysis, we examined whether loneliness levels in emerging adults have changed over the last 43 years. Our analysis is based on 449 means from 345 studies with 437 independent samples and a total of 124,855 emerging adults who completed the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale between 1976 and 2019. Averaged across all studies, loneliness levels linearly increased with increasing calendar years (β = .224, 95% CI [.138, .309]). This increase corresponds to 0.56 standard deviations on the UCLA Loneliness Scale over the 43-year studied period. Overall, the results imply that loneliness can be a rising concern in emerging adulthood. Although the frequently used term “loneliness epidemic” seems exaggerated, emerging adults should therefore not be overlooked when designing interventions against loneliness.

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Existential isolation, loneliness, and attachment in young adults

Cited by 45 publications

References 29 publications

Attachment style and mental health during the later stages of COVID‐19 pandemic: the mediation role of loneliness and COVID-19 anxiety

Attachment style and mental health during the later stages of COVID‐19 pandemic: the mediation role of loneliness and COVID-19 anxiety

Influence of computers in students’ academic achievement

Is Loneliness in Emerging Adults Increasing Over Time? A Preregistered Cross-Temporal Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

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