The DOI matches its Crossref record; 231 of the 231 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The clinical significance of loneliness: A literature review
Abstract
Satisfying social relationships are vital for good mental and physical health. Accordingly, we recommend that the alleviation and prevention of social relationship deficits be a key focus of clinicians. In this review, we focus on loneliness as a crucial marker of social relationship deficits and contend that loneliness should command clinicians' attention in its own right--not just as an adjunct to the treatment of other problems such as depression. With a particular focus on the adolescent developmental period, this review is organized into five sections: Drawing on developmental and evolutionary psychology theories, the nature of social relationships and the function they serve is first discussed. In the second section, loneliness is introduced as an exemplar of social relationship deficits. Here a definition of loneliness is provided, as well as an explanation of why it may pose a situation of concern. This is followed by a review of the prototypic features of loneliness through examination of its affective, cognitive, and behavioral correlates. The fourth section includes a review of theories related to the antecedent and maintenance factors involved in loneliness. Finally, methodological and theoretical considerations are addressed, and conclusions and proposals for future research directions are put forth.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“The research evidence is unequivocal that feeling lonely is associated with a myriad of mental health and psychosocial problems (e.g., Cacioppo et al., 2002, 2006; Heinrich & Gullone, 2006; Houghton et al., 2016).”
From Adolescents' longitudinal trajectories of mental health and loneliness: The impact of COVID‐19 school closures (2022) · cites this paper as Heinrich & Gullone, 2006
In the citing paper
“and predicts self‐harming, suicide ideation, and more lethal suicide attempts (Gvion et al., 2014; Heinrich & Gullone, 2006; Qualter et al., 2013).”
From Adolescents' longitudinal trajectories of mental health and loneliness: The impact of COVID‐19 school closures (2022) · cites this paper as Heinrich & Gullone, 2006
In the citing paper
“The strict interconnection between self-esteem and loneliness was probably due to the fact that loneliness is often related to negative self-evaluations, and feelings of being worthless, inferior, or unlovable (Heinrich and Gullone, 2006).”
From The Anxiety-Buffer Hypothesis in the Time of COVID-19: When Self-Esteem Protects From the Impact of Loneliness and Fear on Anxiety and Depression (2020) · cites this paper as Heinrich and Gullone, 2006
In the citing paper
“These results are in line with previous scientific literature highlighting that self-esteem can be a mediator in the relationship between loneliness, anxiety, and depression (Brage and Meredith, 1994; Heinrich and Gullone, 2006; Çivitci and Çivitci, 2009).”
From The Anxiety-Buffer Hypothesis in the Time of COVID-19: When Self-Esteem Protects From the Impact of Loneliness and Fear on Anxiety and Depression (2020) · cites this paper as Heinrich and Gullone, 2006
In the citing paper
“Research show that fear can threaten self-evaluation (Greenberg et al., 1986), and that people experiencing higher feelings of loneliness also have a worse self-evaluation (Heinrich and Gullone, 2006).”
From The Anxiety-Buffer Hypothesis in the Time of COVID-19: When Self-Esteem Protects From the Impact of Loneliness and Fear on Anxiety and Depression (2020) · cites this paper as Heinrich and Gullone, 2006
In the citing paper
“self-esteem not only is able to influence individuals’ levels of anxiety and depression, but it is itself influenced by negative psychological experiences – such as fear and loneliness – activating negative cognitions and emotions that significantly affect the idea of oneself (Greenberg et al., 1986; Heinrich and Gullone, 2006; Sowislo and Orth, 2013).”
From The Anxiety-Buffer Hypothesis in the Time of COVID-19: When Self-Esteem Protects From the Impact of Loneliness and Fear on Anxiety and Depression (2020) · cites this paper as Heinrich and Gullone, 2006
In the citing paper
“The risk7–10 and protective effects11–15 of percieved social support on depression have been widely studied.”
In the citing paper
“unsatisfying social relationships have important implications for physical and mental health (Heinrich and Gullone, 2006).”
From Does loneliness contribute to mild cognitive impairment and dementia? A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies (2019) · cites this paper as Heinrich and Gullone, 2006
Citations
Cites
The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation.
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037//0033-2909.117.3.497 · Cited by 23,245
(1969) · Cited by 18,340
(1968) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 15,136
Erikson, E. H. (2026) · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · doi:10.5281/zenodo.18614668 · Cited by 13,081
Attachment and Loss. Vol. 1. Attachment
Rever, G. W. (1972) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/00006842-197211000-00011 · Cited by 8,446
Social Relationships and Health
House, J. S., Landis, K. R., & Umberson, D. (1988) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.3399889 · Cited by 7,073
UCLA loneliness scale (version 3): reliability, validity, and factor structure
Russell, D. W. (1996) · Journal of Personality Assessment · doi:10.1207/s15327752jpa6601_2 · Cited by 5,800
The Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry
Sullivan, H. S., Perry, H. S., Gawel, M. L., & Cohen, M. D. M. B. (2013) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315014029 · Cited by 5,280
The Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: concurrent and discriminant validity evidence
Russell, D., Peplau, L. A., & Cutrona, C. E. (1980) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.39.3.472 · Cited by 5,173
The Structure of Psychological Well-Being.
Mechanic, D., & Bradburn, N. M. (1970) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.2307/2093340 · Cited by 4,925
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 12
- Davis, 1992, The relationship between optimism–pessimism, loneliness, and level of self-esteem in college students, College Student Journal, 26, 244
- Hojat, 1987, A psychodynamic view of loneliness and mother–child relationships: A review of theoretical perspectives and empirical findings, Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2, 89
- Jones, 1987, Research and theory on loneliness: A response to Weiss' reflections, Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2, 27
- Jones, 2003, The experience of loneliness: Objective and subjective factors, The International Scope Review, 5, 41
- Parlee, 1979, The friendship bond, Psychology Today, 13, 43
- Rokach, 2000, The effects of culture on the causes of loneliness, Psychology: A Journal of Human Behavior, 25, 6
- Rubenstein, 1979, Loneliness, Human Nature, 2, 38
- Snodgrass, 1987, The relationships of differential loneliness, intimacy, and characterological attributional style to duration of loneliness, Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2, 173
- Solano, 1987, Loneliness and perceptions of control: General traits versus specific attributions, Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2, 201
- Spitzberg, 1987, The relationship of interpersonal competence and skills to reported loneliness across time, Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2, 157
- Stokes, 1987, On the usefulness of phenomenological methods, Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2, 57
- Weiss, 1987, Reflections on the present state of loneliness research, Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2, 1
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Loneliness matters: a theoretical and empirical review of consequences and mechanisms
Hawkley, L. C., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2010) · Annals of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/s12160-010-9210-8 · Cited by 4,782
“For as many as 15–30% of the general population, however, loneliness is a chronic state [10, 11].”
Leigh-Hunt, N., Bagguley, D., Bash, K., Turner, V., Turnbull, S., Valtorta, N., & Caan, W. (2017) · Public Health · doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2017.07.035 · Cited by 2,158
Uchino, B. N. (2009) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1111/j.1745-6924.2009.01122.x · Cited by 1,506
“As reviewed earlier, the literature that examines these factors separately in relation to the early family environment is consistent with such a positive profile (Heinrich & Gullone, 2007; Repetti et al., 2002; T.W. Smith & Gallo, 2001).”
BackgroundResultLoneliness in the general population: prevalence, determinants and relations to mental health
Beutel, M. E., Klein, E. M., Brähler, E., Reiner, I., Jünger, C., Michal, M., Wiltink, J., Wild, P. S., Münzel, T., Lackner, K. J., et al. (2017) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-017-1262-x · Cited by 1,223
“Loneliness has been associated with many negative mental health outcomes [13, 14] such as depression, suicidality, reduced positive emotions, poor sleep quality and general health, as well as physiological changes (e.”
BackgroundLoneliness: clinical import and interventions
Cacioppo, S., Grippo, A. J., London, S., Goossens, L., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2015) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/1745691615570616 · Cited by 1,206
“There is now considerable evidence showing that loneliness and depression are separable and that loneliness increases the risk for depression ( J. T. Cacioppo et al., 2006; Heinrich & Gullone, 2006).”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Heinrich, L. M., & Gullone, E.
- Affiliations
- Monash University (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Heinrich, Liesl M.
- ORCID
- Heinrich, Liesl M.
- Venue
- Clinical Psychology Review
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2006-10
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 695-718
- ISSN
- 0272-7358 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1974322420
- Cited by
- 1,986
- References
- 221
- Citations by year
- 2026: 135 · 2025: 158 · 2024: 183 · 2023: 201 · 2022: 198 · 2021: 170 · 2020: 132 · 2019: 113 · 2018: 106 · 2017: 100 · 2016: 83 · 2015: 91 · 2014: 75 · 2013: 69 · 2012: 54
- FWCI
- 2.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Clinical Psychology Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- loneliness, interpersonal relationships, adolescents, evolutionary psychology, developmental psychology, mental health, physical health
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Affect, Anxiety Disorders, Depressive Disorder, Biological Evolution, Health Services, Health Services Needs and Demand, Health Status, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Loneliness, Motivation, Psychophysiologic Disorders, Self Concept, Social Behavior, Prevalence
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
