Conceptualising Loneliness in Adolescents: Development and Validation of a Self-report Instrument
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This paper reports the development and psychometric evaluations of a multidimensional model of loneliness in Australian adolescents. In the first study a new instrument was designed and administered to 1,074 adolescents (ages 10-18 years, M = 13.01). An exploratory factor analysis from data supplied by 694 of these participants yielded a 4-factor structure (friendship, isolation, negative attitude to solitude, and positive attitude to solitude). Competing measurement models were then evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis with data from the remaining 380 participants; strong support was demonstrated for the conceptual model. Significant main effects were evident for geographical location (rural remote/urban), age and sex. In a second study, involving 235 Australian adolescents (ages 10.0-16 years, M = 13.8) the superiority of the first-order model represented by four correlated factors was confirmed. The findings have clinical and practical implications for professional groups represented by child and adolescent psychiatry, pediatric and clinical psychology services, researchers, and educators. Specifically, the new self-report instrument identifies adolescents who are at risk of loneliness and its associated adverse outcomes and in doing has the potential to offer new insights into prevention and intervention.
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The PALs is a validated 24-item self-report measure composed of four correlated factors.
“The Perth A‐loneness scale (PALs: Houghton et al., 2014) was used to measure adolescent loneliness. This validated 24‐item self‐report measure is composed of four correlated factors, each with six items.”
From Adolescents' longitudinal trajectories of mental health and loneliness: The impact of COVID‐19 school closures (2022) · cites this paper as Houghton et al., 2014
Females tend to make plans with nonfamily members more often than males do and have greater quality of friendships.
“Females tend to make plans with nonfamily members more often than males do and have greater quality of friendships (de Jong Gierveld & Van Tilburg, 2010; Houghton et al., 2014).”
From Adolescents' longitudinal trajectories of mental health and loneliness: The impact of COVID‐19 school closures (2022) · cites this paper as Houghton et al., 2014
Self-report is an effective means of obtaining an accurate insight into subjective dispositions that can be difficult to obtain from third parties such as parents and teachers.
“Although the optimal recommended strategy is to use two or more sources (Antshel et al., 2012), self‐report is an effective means of obtaining an accurate insight into the subjective dispositions (such as mental health and loneliness) that can be difficult to obtain from third parties such as parents and teachers (Baldwin & Dadds, 2007; Houghton et al., 2014).”
From Adolescents' longitudinal trajectories of mental health and loneliness: The impact of COVID‐19 school closures (2022) · cites this paper as Houghton et al., 2014
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References 86 · Cited by 60
- Authors
- Houghton, S., Hattie, J., Wood, L., Carroll, A., Martin, K., & Tan, C.
- Affiliations
- The University of Western Australia (AU)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Nanyang Technological University (SG)
- Corresponding author
- Houghton, Stephen
- Venue
- Child Psychiatry & Human Development
- Published
- 2013-12-15
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 604-616
- ISSN
- 0009-398X (ISSN-L)
- 1573-3327
- OpenAlex
- W2072776094
- Cited by
- 60
- References
- 86
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 4
- FWCI
- 2.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Licence
- Locations
- Child Psychiatry & Human Development (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Minerva Access (University of Melbourne) (submittedVersion)
- NIE Digital Repository (National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Healthway (23347)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Keywords
- loneliness, adolescents, self-report measures, loneliness measurement, friendship, social isolation, multidimensional model, psychometric validation, urban-rural differences, loneliness prevention
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Psychology, Adolescent, Australia, Child, Factor Analysis, Statistical, Female, Humans, Loneliness, Male, Psychometrics, Friends, Self Report
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