Loneliness in the United States: A 2018 National Panel Survey of Demographic, Structural, Cognitive, and Behavioral Characteristics

Abstract

Purpose: To inform health behavior intervention design, we sought to quantify loneliness and its correlates, including social media use, among adults in the United States. Design: Cross-sectional research panel questionnaire. Setting: Responses were gathered from individuals in all 50 states surveyed via Internet from February 2018 to March 2018. Participants: A total of 20 096 US panel respondents aged 18+. Measures: The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale (theoretical score range = 20-80) was administered along with demographic, structural, cognitive, and behavioral items. Analysis: After calibrating the sample to population norms, we conducted multivariable linear regression analysis. Results: The overall mean survey-weighted loneliness score was 44.03 (standard error = 0.09). Social support (standardized β [sβ] = −0.19) and meaningful daily interactions (sβ = −0.14) had the strongest associations with lower loneliness, along with reporting good relationships, family life, physical and mental health, friendships, greater age, being in a couple, and balancing one’s daily time. Social anxiety was most strongly associated with greater loneliness (sβ = +0.20), followed by self-reported social media overuse (sβ = +0.05) and daily use of text-based social media (sβ = +0.03). Conclusion: Our findings confirm that loneliness decreases with age, and that being in a relationship as well as everyday behavioral factors in people’s control are most strongly related to loneliness. Population health promotion efforts to reduce loneliness should focus on improving social support, decreasing social anxiety, and promoting healthy daily behaviors.

Loneliness, Mental Health, and Substance Use among US Young Adults during COVID-19

“…And while only 22% of the sample reported using drugs, 38% of users reported severe drug use. These results reveal heightened levels compared to previously documented prevalence of loneliness (mean scores of 48.87 for 18-25-year-olds and 44.92 for 26-34-year-olds on the UCLA Loneliness Scale) (Bruce et al 2019), anxiety (6.2% reporting scores of some type of anxiety disorder) (Kessler et al 2012), and depression (7.7% of adults with depression) (Brody, Pratt, and Hughes 2018). Comparisons with Monitoring the Future data also reveal higher prevalence in alcohol use (29.3% reporting use in the past month) and binge drinking (25% college-age students and non-students reporting binge drinking) (Schulenberg et al 2019).…”

The young Australian loneliness survey Understanding loneliness in adolescence and young adulthood

“…Our findings broadly reflect those by Qualter et al (2015) who reported adolescents were less loney when compared with young adults [8]. To our knowledge, only two studies [76,77] have administered the comprehensive 20-item UCLA-LS to examine loneliness. Bruce et al [76] [77] .…”

“…To our knowledge, only two studies [76,77] have administered the comprehensive 20-item UCLA-LS to examine loneliness. Bruce et al [76] [77] . They quantified high loneliness as one standard deviation above their sample mean of 32.82 (SD = 9.43) and noted that…”

Has loneliness increased during COVID-19? Comment on “Loneliness: A signature mental health concern in the era of COVID-19”

“…In this letter, we compare the loneliness data of Killgore and colleagues to a more recent, nationally representative sample to re-evaluate their conclusion. Specifically, Bruce and colleagues (2019) used the UCLA Loneliness Scale-3, which is the exact same measure used by Killgore and colleagues, on a nationally representative sample in 2018. Bruce and colleagues reported mean loneliness by age group that allows for more direct comparisons with the sample surveyed during the pandemic than the comparison group used by Killgore and colleagues.…”