Citation

Martín-Rodríguez A, Tornero-Aguilera JF, López-Pérez PJ, Clemente-Suarez VJ. Sustainability (Basel) 2022; 14(1): e168.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/su14010168

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Loneliness is a distressing feeling that can be a barrier to a student’s development and affect their mental health. This research aimed to analyse the effects of loneliness on psychological and behavioral factors among students aged 12–19 years in Spain. Loneliness, experiential avoidance, psychological inflexibility, physical activity, mobile phone use, and smoke habits were analysed in a sample of 110 men and 122 women assigned into two groups depending on their loneliness levels: higher loneliness group (HLG) and lower loneliness group (LLG).

RESULTS showed that experimental avoidance and psychological inflexibility were related with loneliness (r = 0.471; p = 0.000). Experiential avoidance and psychological inflexibility were higher in HLG than LLG. Regarding the use of mobile phones and smoking habits, LLG presented significantly higher values than HLG. Higher age correlated with lower loneliness values (r = −0.155; p = 0.017). The present research found how students with higher loneliness presented higher experiential avoidance and psychological inflexibility and lower age, use of mobile phone, and smoking habits. These findings reveal the importance of considering multiple social behaviours when examining adolescent mental health factors.

Language: en

Keywords

adolescence; experiential avoidance; loneliness; physical activity; psychological inflexibility