Undesirable social relations as risk factors for loneliness among 14-year-olds in the UK: Findings from the Millennium Cohort Study
Open accessAbstract
In the current study, data collected from Wave 6 of the Millennium Cohort Study ( n = 11,872), a nationally representative sample survey of youth aged 14 years in the UK, are used to examine the prevalence of loneliness among this age-group, investigate the feelings associated with the experience of loneliness among youth, explore the risk factors for loneliness among young people, and learn how they coped with loneliness. Given recent findings that youth are vulnerable to loneliness, the study assesses the prevalence of loneliness among adolescents across some important sociodemographic characteristics, such as nation of residence, gender, and ethnicity. We also identify the kinds of social experiences that accompany loneliness during adolescence, exploring friendship, relations with parents, social support, and bullying. Our key finding is that, in addition to the absence of desired social relationships, which has been typically identified as the ultimate source of loneliness, the presence of undesirable and even harmful social relationships is a major source of loneliness. This study uniquely brings together psychological and sociological perspectives to understand the experience of youth loneliness.
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Cross-sectional studies indicated that poor physical or psychological health, low economic status, poor friendship quality, bad relationships in family, being bullied, and lack of social and emotional support were linked to more severe loneliness among adolescents.
“Cross-sectional studies indicated that poor physical or psychological health, low economic status, poor friendship quality, bad relationships in family, being bullied, and lack of social and emotional support were linked to more severe loneliness among adolescents.”
From A Longitudinal Study of Loneliness Before the End of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Trajectories, Predictors, and Impact on Chinese Adolescent Mental Health (2024) · cites this paper as [26]
The Results section (‘Exploring Negative Feelings and Social Relationships as Potential Risk Factors for Loneliness’; page unavailable) links loneliness among UK 14-year-olds to negative feelings, arguments with parents, having no close friend, and bullying. The social-support correlations in Table 5 (page unavailable) also support the lack-of-support component. The paper does not establish the claimed links with poor physical health or low economic status, and it measures whether adolescents have a close friend rather than friendship quality. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredPrior studies have shown an association between bullying victimization during adolescence and loneliness in adolescence or young adulthood.
“Previous studies have shown an association between bullying victimization during adolescence and loneliness in adolescence [14] or young adulthood [19, 20].”
From Predictors of chronic loneliness during adolescence: a population-based cohort study (2022) · cites this paper as [14]
The single-item measure of loneliness has been used in other large-scale studies and was shown to capture the context of social relationships.
“Furthermore, it has been used in other large-scale studies [14, 30] and was shown to capture the context of social relationships [14].”
From Predictors of chronic loneliness during adolescence: a population-based cohort study (2022) · cites this paper as [14]
A study from the UK using the same single-item measurement reported the prevalence of loneliness to be 34% among 14-year-olds, higher than the figure in this study (12% in the age 14 survey).
“A study from the UK using the same single-item measurement reported the prevalence of loneliness to be 34% among 14-year-olds, higher than the figure in our study (12% in the age 14 survey) [14].”
From Predictors of chronic loneliness during adolescence: a population-based cohort study (2022) · cites this paper as [14]
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- Authors
- Yang, K., Petersen, K. J., & Qualter, P.
- Affiliations
- Durham University (GB)
- University of Manchester (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Yang, Keming
- Venue
- International Journal of Behavioral Development
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2020-10-20
- Volume
- 46
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 3-9
- ISSN
- 0165-0254 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-0651
- OpenAlex
- W3093591070
- Cited by
- 58
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 10
- FWCI
- 3.74
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Behavioral Development (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (acceptedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression
- Keywords
- loneliness, adolescents, risk factors, bullying, friendship, parent-child relationship, social support, coping with loneliness, sociodemographic differences, gender differences, ethnicity, Millennium Cohort Study
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