Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Loneliness”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Loneliness and fear of intimacy among adolescents who were taught not to trust strangers during childhood.

This study explored feelings of loneliness and fear of intimacy among adolescents as a function of whether they were taught not to trust strangers during childhood. Eighty college students and their parents completed the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale, both versions of the Fear of Intimacy Scale (FIS-D and FIS-F), and a background information questionnaire. It was found that students whose parents taught them not to trust strangers during childhood had greater fear of intimacy. Further, females who were taught to distrust strangers also experienced more loneliness than did their male counterparts, as well as females and males who were not taught to distrust strangers.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A symbolic tree: loneliness is the root; delusions are the leaves.

This particular case involving the suggested nursing intervention was very successful and rewarding. It is very important, however, that therapists realize that these seven steps were acceptable in this particular case, but steps four-to-seven may be modified with each couple. However, the first three steps are more than likely essential to any effective intervention dealing with loneliness. Aso, the excerpts from this case happen to illustrate the highlights that were related to loneliness. The therapists recognized that there were other issues and concerns that also needed to be dealt with and which were, but the need for intimacy seemed to have top priority. Loneliness rooted in the symbolic tree cannot be dealt with by plucking the leaves; it must be dug out by the roots. Psychotherapy needs nursing psychotherapists who will contribute to this digging.

Delusions↗
PubMed1980

Loneliness in old age.

The author describes, in connection with 100 cases, a pathological syndrome of isolation, the absolute loneliness. This pathological condition is deemed to be dangerous for old people. Most typical is the superposition or total lack of emotional responses. Loneliness is a disease leading ultimately to death. 48 old subjects aged 65 to 82 were examined for immuno-globulin status (IgG, IgA, IgM), they were divided into groups of lonely and partly lonely subjects. In the case of lonely old subjects a more vigorous decline of immuno-globulin level was found than with non-lonely ol people - a fact pointing to negative psychic nervous influences have an adverse influence on immuno-globulin production. Over a period of 5 years, the group of lonely old subjects exhibited a higher mortality rate than the group of non-lonely people. The author puts forward a proposal of therapy to mitigate the absolute loneliness: social and individual care and therapy by physicians of gerontological outlook (psycho-pharmacons, procain, products, multivitamins etc.).

Aged↗
PubMed1996

Social determinants of loneliness among older Americans.

To further understand loneliness among older persons, a conceptual model, predicated on a social-support perspective, was examined. Results were based on 1,071 participants in the congregate and home-delivered meal programs of the Senior Citizens Nutrition and Activities Program in Hillsborough County, Florida. A series of stepwise multiple regression analyses showed that loneliness was greater among men, those with no children, those with no friends, those more physically disabled, those who subjectively felt that their health was poorer, and those who subjectively felt that their economic condition was inadequate. Not related directly to loneliness but with indirect influence were age, race, education, marital status, and poverty status. Those variables with no direct or indirect effect included rural or urban location, identification of emotional closeness with existing children or friends, and living alone. Theoretically, the results do not fully support the social-support perspective but point to the impact of a broad spectrum of demographic, health, economic, and social factors.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Loneliness, health and social network among elderly people--a follow-up study.

The purpose of this study is to describe and follow up the existence of experienced loneliness, subjective health and social network among elderly people during a period of 10 years. The study is based on interviews (with structured questions) with persons, aged 75 years and over, performed by trained nurses at a baseline (in 1987) and three follow-ups. Descriptive statistics (frequency) and chi2 tests were used to study significant differences of the variables experienced loneliness, subjective health, housing, satisfaction with friend contacts and having a good friend to talk to, over time. The results showed that most elderly people tended to report high satisfaction with friend contacts over the study time, despite the decrease in having a good friend to talk to. The satisfaction with social contacts was very close connected with feelings of loneliness. Therefore, a greater understanding for the meaning of having a good friend/friends to talk to (meaningful contacts) seems to be important in caring for elderly people.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1992

Self-esteem, anxiety, and loneliness in preadolescent girls who have experienced sexual abuse.

This study sought to clarify and extend existing knowledge of the negative sequelae of sexual abuse by comparing levels of self-esteem, anxiety, and loneliness in abused and nonabused girls. Comparisons indicated that sexually abused children had lower levels of self-esteem than nonabused children, but that levels of anxiety and loneliness did not differ between the groups. These findings empirically confirm one of the sequelae of sexual abuse commonly cited in the clinical literature and point to the need for interventions designed to redress this adverse effect.

Anxiety Disorders↗
PubMed1994

Loneliness, emotional repression, marital quality, and major life events in women who develop breast cancer.

Women awaiting mammograms at a breast clinic were given questionnaires to investigate the role of psychosocial variables in the development of breast cancer while controlling for established breast cancer risk factors. Questionnaires to determine loneliness, emotional repression, marital quality, and major life changes were completed by 826 female volunteers who were later classified into groups according to their diagnoses. The total emotional repression score showed a hierarchy of most repression to least repression for the most-diseased to the most-healthy subjects. A breakdown of the emotional repression scale revealed that each group was significantly different from the other in suppression of anger and unhappiness. Women in the new cancer group showed significantly more loneliness than the women in the fibrocystic and normal groups. The newly diagnosed cancer group also had a higher proportion of women who experienced the death of a spouse or close family member within the past two years compared to the other groups.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Intimacy, loneliness and sexual offenders.

As part of a general theory of sexual offending, it is suggested that the failure to achieve intimacy in relations with adults produces emotional loneliness, which leads to an aggressive disposition, and a tendency to pursue sex with diverse partners in the hope of finding intimacy through sexuality or through less threatening partners. The development of intimacy and its benefits are described, as are the consequences that befall those who fail to achieve it. The history of sexual offenders illustrates why they fail to develop the attitudes and skills necessary to attain intimacy, and why this failure leads to sexual abuse. Finally, suggestions are made for the modification of programs for the assessment and treatment of sexual offenders, in order to include problems of intimacy and loneliness.

Humans↗
PubMed1994

Island living: the experience of loneliness in a psychiatric hospital.

The purpose of this study was to examine perceptions of loneliness among psychiatric patients. The sample included 12 adults receiving treatment in a psychiatric facility. Data consisted of audiotaped semistructured interviews. Ten empirical categories resulted. Further analysis of empirical data provided a description of psychiatric patient's experiences of loneliness. The metaphor of living on an island illustrated the core category. Subcategories included escape attempts and surviving tidal waves.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed2004

"They don't come to listen": the experience of loneliness among older people in Kwahu, Ghana.

This article describes life conditions of elderly people in a rural community of Ghana. It deals with the paradoxical situation of elderly people who are still engaged in social activities and yet experience loneliness. It is argued that in spite of the respect given to them, elderly people are denied what they regard as the most valuable proof of respect and companionship: listening to their wisdom and advice. Their loss of that ultimate respect constitutes an experience of loneliness. The article is part of broader anthropological study on social and cultural meanings of growing old in a rural Ghanaian community.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Social support versus companionship: effects on life stress, loneliness, and evaluations by others.

In recent years, much interest has focused on delineating and contrasting specific functions of social relationships that contribute to psychological well-being. Five studies contrasted the roles of companionship and social support in buffering the effects of life stress, in influencing feelings of loneliness and social satisfaction, and in affecting others' judgments. Study 1 analyzed data from a community survey and found that companionship had a main effect on psychological well-being and a buffering effect on minor life stress, whereas social support had only a buffering effect on major life stress. Studies 2, 3, and 4 analyzed data from two college student samples and a different community survey to evaluate how companionship and social support contributed to relationship satisfaction and feelings of loneliness. The results of these studies indicated that companionship was the strongest predictor of these dimensions of social satisfaction. Study 5 used an experimental design to test the hypothesis that a deficit of companionship elicits more negative reactions from others than does a deficit of social support. This hypothesis received partial support. Considered together, the results of these studies suggest that companionship plays a more important and more varied role in sustaining emotional well-being than previous studies have acknowledged.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

The perceived causal structure of loneliness.

Two studies examined the way people represent the causes of loneliness as a semantic space and as a causal network. In a multidimensional scaling task, the results of Michela, Peplau, and Weeks (1982) were replicated and the causes wee classified according to locus and stability. In a 2nd study, 44 people judged the likelihood that these causes were interconnected. From these data, a causal network or perceived causal structure (Kelley, 1983) was derived by means of network analysis. The structure revealed a complex lay theory of loneliness in which personality influenced group behavior, which in turn influenced psychological states and beliefs. States and beliefs were also affected by physical features and situational factors.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

The role of loneliness and social support in adjustment to loss: a test of attachment versus stress theory.

A longitudinal study of a matched sample of 60 recently widowed and 60 married men and women tested predictions from stress and attachment theory regarding the role of social support in adjustment to bereavement. Stress theory predicts a buffering effect, attributing the impact of bereavement on well-being to stressful deficits caused by the loss and assuming that these deficits can be compensated through social support. In contrast, attachment theory denies that supportive friends can compensate the loss of an attachment figure and predicts main effects of marital status and social support. Attachment theory further suggests that marital status and social support influence well-being by different pathways, with the impact of marital status mediated by emotional loneliness and the impact of social support mediated by social loneliness. Results clearly supported attachment theory.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1993

Loneliness, depression, stress, and social supports in neglectful families.

Comparisons of neglectful with non-neglectful low-SES parents revealed that the neglectful parents reported more life stresses, greater depression and loneliness, and weaker informal social supports. In the neglectful families, loneliness was positively associated with life stresses and negatively associated with network supports, but not with caseworker-assessed social isolation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1982

Loneliness as a function of parent-child and peer relations.

It was hypothesized that those who reportedly did not have a satisfactory relationship with their parents, and those who were not able to establish a meaningful interpersonal relationship with their peers during childhood were more likely to experience loneliness with greater intensity in adulthood. The UCLA Loneliness Scale and a personal data sheet were administered to two groups of subjects independently: 232 Iranian college students (156 males, 76 females) studying in American universities and 305 Iranian students (168 males, 137 females) studying in Iranian universities. The hypothesis were confirmed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Surviving and coping with loneliness.

Content analysis of 526 verbatim reports of loneliness revealed both helpful and nonhelpful coping strategies. The helpful strategies were grouped into three clusters that represent three distinct phases of the coping process. Eleven factors were subsumed under the three clusters. Four additional factors comprised the cluster of destructive and nonbeneficial coping strategies. The present study highlights the complexity and variety of coping strategies as well as the frequency with which they are used and their utility in helping people to survive loneliness and alienation.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1999

Cultural background and coping with loneliness.

The present study is an examination of the influence of cultural background on an individual's ability to cope with loneliness. Participants were from 3 cultural backgrounds: North American, South Asian, and West Indian. A total of 679 participants (318 men and 361 women) answered an 18-item loneliness questionnaire. Results revealed significant differences in the coping strategies that the participants used. Gender differences were also found across the cultures and within each culture.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1977

Loneliness: an interdisciplinary approach.

Psychological motivations, reasons why human nature is what it is, principles by which we may 'explain', understand, sympathize, or empathize with other human beings--and ourselves--what a variety of possible principles has been offered by philosophers and psychologists! All men seek happiness, announces Aristotle (Ethics). Just as all men delight in imitation (Poetics), and human beings universally take pleasure in knowing (Metaphysics), in that same sense it may be said that the arche of human conduct or action derives from the self-evident fact that all men desire to be happy. According to Hobbes, each human atom is motivated by self-interest, not to say selfishness, and every individual strives for his own 'good' through power over others. Bentham, on the other hand, regards man as under the sovereign twin masters of pleasure and pain, whose dominion extends over the entirety of human conduct. Freud retraces the path of our problematic symptoms to a fund of repressed sexual and libidinal energy, whose fettered strivings results in overt neuroses. Adler employs a Schopenhauerian and Nietzschean 'will to power' as a model for understanding a universal feeling of inferiority, whose ultimate origin is grounded in the inadequacy of the infant. And Jung cavalierly splits the human race into the extrovertish and the introvertish, the cosmopolitans and the islanders. What I have chosen as my concern, in the foregoing, is not a rough survey of conceptions of human nature--whether man is good, bad, or indifferent; a rational creature or essentially a sentient one; whether man's nature has ever been the same' or whether 'man makes himself', creatively. Rather, I am interested in what 'motivates' man, I am searching for a universal principle through which we may 'understand' why man does what he does, why man is what he is. Obviously, however, the commitment we make in regard to a theory of human motivation will itself necessarily be found to entail a corresponding view of human nature. Confronted with this impressive variety of interpretations, I don't know if I am able to offer a comparable general principle, but I shall try. In a word, that principle is loneliness. Thus, I wish to hold that once man has satisfied his more obviously physiological and biologic drives and comfortably secured the necessities of air, water, and food, he then strives to alleviate his desperate loneliness. It is not so much, then, a fact--correcting Jung, for instance--that we are to be dichotomized into extroverts and introverts, but rather that we all begin by aspiring toward human communion and affection and friendship but that, unfortunately, many of us fail; we who fail are the frustrated extroverts, the retreating introverts; if we cannot enjoy the company of others and command from them the recognition we (abnormally) feel for ourselves, well, then we shall cultivate our own company.

Culture↗