Loneliness as experienced by adolescents and young adults: an explorative qualitative study
Open accessAbstract
Mental health problems among adolescents and young adults are increasing worldwide together with loneliness, which is considered a global public health problem. The aim of this study was to explore loneliness through adolescents’ and young adults’ own descriptions and experiences. The research questions were: (1) How do adolescents and young adults describe and experience loneliness?, (2) What types of loneliness do adolescents and young adults describe? Data were collected through interviews with fifteen Swedish-speaking Finns aged 17–30. Content analysis was used for data analysis. Loneliness was linked to earlier negative experiences, mental illness or physical disorders, self-centred society, social norms and social media. Three different types of loneliness were identified: social loneliness, emotional loneliness and existential loneliness. It is important that adults and professionals are able to identify, interpret and understand signs that adolescents and young adults are experiencing negative feelings, which may indicate underlying loneliness.
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A failure to form intimate relationships during adolescence can heighten the risk of experiencing loneliness.
“A failure to form such intimate relationships during this developmental stage can heighten the risk of experiencing loneliness [24, 25].”
From The prospective association of adolescent loneliness and low resilience with anxiety and depression in young adulthood: The HUNT study (2025) · cites this paper as [25]
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“A failure to form such intimate relationships during this developmental stage can heighten the risk of experiencing loneliness [24, 25].”
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The relationship between self-oriented perfectionism and athlete burnout: a longitudinal study
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Self-citationAdaptation Processes to Loneliness Among Older Adults: A Qualitative Study
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- Authors
- Hemberg, J., Östman, L., Korzhina, Y., Groundstroem, H., Nyström, L., & Nyman-Kurkiala, P.
- Affiliations
- Åbo Akademi University (FI)
- Luleå Municipality (SE)
- Corresponding author
- Hemberg, Jessica
- Venue
- International Journal of Adolescence and Youth
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2022-08-10
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 362-384
- ISSN
- 0267-3843 (ISSN-L)
- 2164-4527
- OpenAlex
- W4297830787
- Cited by
- 75
- References
- 106
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 24 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 10.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- International Journal of Adolescence and Youth (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Åbo Akademi University Research Portal (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Högskolestiftelsen i Österbotten, Svensk-Österbottniska samfundet and Aktiastiftelsen i Vasa
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychology and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Keywords
- loneliness, adolescents, young adults, social loneliness, emotional loneliness, existential loneliness, mental health, social media, social norms, mental illness
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