Global time trends of perceived loneliness among adolescents from 28 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas

Abstract

Background Perceived loneliness in adolescence is associated with a plethora of adverse outcomes. However, data on its temporal trends are scarce. Therefore, we aimed to examine the temporal trend of perceived loneliness among school-going adolescents aged 12-15 years from 28 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas, where temporal trends of loneliness are largely unknown. Methods Cross-sectional data from the Global School-based Student Health Survey 2003-2017 were analyzed. Perceived loneliness referred to feeling lonely most of the time or always in the past 12 months. Crude linear trends of perceived loneliness by country were assessed by linear regression models. Results Data on 180,087 adolescents aged 12-15 years were analyzed [Mean (SD) age 13.7 (1.0) years; 51.4 % females]. The overall prevalence of perceived loneliness was 10.7 %. Among the 28 countries included in the study, significant increasing and decreasing trends were observed in six counties each, with stable trends found in 16 countries. The most drastic increase and decrease were observed in Egypt between 2006 (7.9 %) and 2011 (14.3 %), and in Samoa between 2011 (23.3 %) and 2017 (8.0 %), respectively. Stable trends with high prevalence across time were also common. Conclusion Our data suggest that perceived loneliness among adolescents is a global phenomenon, which has seen little improvement if any in recent years. It would be prudent to implement nationwide policies to combat loneliness globally.