Prevalence and Social Inequality in Youth Loneliness in the UK
Open accessAbstract
Using data from the English arm of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, we examined the prevalence of loneliness for school-aged adolescents and how it is linked to social inequalities. The HBSC study collects data from 11-, 13-, and 15-year-olds, and is repeated every four years, allowing the exploration of prevalence rates of loneliness pre COVID-19 pandemic for comparison. We also explored whether loneliness was associated with socio-economic status (SES) and linked to academic attainment and health complaints. The total sample was 14,077 from 156 schools in England. Findings revealed a stable prevalence rate of 8.2% for loneliness from 2006 to 2014. We also found, across all survey years, (1) those aged 15 years were significantly lonelier than younger peers, (2) those who reported lower SES were lonelier than their more well-off peers, and (3) higher loneliness was associated with being '"below average" academically and reporting more health complaints. Conclusions: These prevalence data enable researchers, policymakers, and others to make comparisons with prevalence rates during the COVID-19 pandemic to explore whether there have been increases in loneliness among school-aged adolescents. Loneliness was consistently related to social inequalities, suggesting that targeted interventions that include whole systems changes are needed.
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Adolescents and young adults are more likely to report often feeling lonely relative to older adults.
“Furthermore, adolescents and young adults are also more likely to report that they often feel lonely, relative to older adults. 7 , 8”
From Social media use, online experiences, and loneliness among young adults: A cohort study (2025) · cites this paper as [8]
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Loneliness in Young People with ADHD: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
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Social media use, online experiences, and loneliness among young adults: A cohort study
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- Authors
- Qualter, P., Hennessey, A., Yang, K., Chester, K. L., Klemera, E., & Brooks, F.
- Affiliations
- University of Manchester (GB)
- Durham University (GB)
- University of Hertfordshire (GB)
- University of Kent (GB)
- University of Technology Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Qualter, Pamela
- Venue
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2021-10-03
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 19
- Pages
- 10420
- ISSN
- 1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8507796
- OpenAlex
- W3203582205
- Cited by
- 53
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 4.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- University of Hertfordshire Research Archive (University of Hertfordshire) (acceptedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- University of Hertfordshire Research Archive (University of Hertfordshire) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Keywords
- loneliness, youth loneliness, social inequality, socioeconomic status, adolescents, school-aged children, prevalence, academic performance, health complaints, age differences, COVID-19 pandemic, Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adolescent, Child, United Kingdom, Humans, Loneliness, Socioeconomic Factors, Prevalence, Pandemics
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