Citation

Eccles AM, Qualter P, Madsen KR, Holstein BE. Scand. J. Public Health 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Associations of Public Health in the Nordic Countries Regions, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1403494819865429

PMID

31969070

Abstract

Aims: We examined the relationship between loneliness and health among young adolescents. We also investigated the validity of a single-item measure of loneliness by comparing this to a composite score. Methods: The current data come from a nationally representative sample of 11- to 15-year-old adolescents (N=3305; F=52%) from Denmark collected in 2014 as part of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) collaborative cross-national survey. Results: A series of binary logistic regressions showed that higher loneliness among adolescents, whether measured using the single- or multi-item measurement, was associated with poorer self-rated health, higher frequency of headache, stomach ache, backache, difficulties sleeping, greater sleep disturbance and more instances of feeling tired in the morning. Those associations were relatively consistent across sex and age groups. Conclusions:Loneliness is associated with poorer self-reported health and sleep problems among young adolescents. Those findings are similar across two measures of loneliness, suggesting robust findings. The development of interventions and health-education efforts to fight loneliness in adolescence is important.

Language: en

Keywords

HBSC; Loneliness; adolescence; health; measurement; sleep