Lonely in Different Relationships: Bidirectional Effects between Parent- and Peer-Related Loneliness in Adolescence

Flore Geukens; Annette Spithoven; Margot Bastin; Janne Vanhalst; Marlies Maes

doi:10.3390/ijerph19127014

Lonely in Different Relationships: Bidirectional Effects between Parent- and Peer-Related Loneliness in Adolescence

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jun 8;19(12):7014. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19127014.

Authors

Flore Geukens¹, Annette Spithoven¹, Margot Bastin¹, Janne Vanhalst², Marlies Maes³

Affiliations

¹ School Psychology and Development in Context, KU Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
² Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.
³ Youth Studies, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Although it is assumed that loneliness in one relationship might put one at risk of experiencing loneliness in another relationship, this association has rarely been examined as such. In this longitudinal study, we examined the associations between peer- and parent-related loneliness in a sample of 3391 adolescents across three waves (M_{age Wave 1} = 14.53; 59.3% female). Using random intercept cross-lagged panel models, parent- and peer-related loneliness were found to be stable over time and were concurrently related to each other. Moreover, the state of peer-related loneliness predicted the state of parent-related loneliness one year later. Thereby, the current study provides limited evidence of a carry-over effect between relation-specific types of loneliness.

Keywords: loneliness; parents; peers; random intercept cross-lagged panel model.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions*
Female
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Loneliness*
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Peer Group

Grants and funding

This research was funded by KU Leuven Research Council, grant number C14/16/040. The APC was funded by KU Leuven Research Council, grant number GOA/12/009.