A 2022 survey conducted in 16 countries found that feelings of loneliness tend to decrease with age. That year, nearly 60 percent of young adults between 18 and 24 years reported negative effects on wellbeing from feelings of loneliness, while around 22 percent of respondents aged 65 and older reported the same. This statistic shows the percentage of people worldwide who reported negative effects on wellbeing from feelings of loneliness in 2022, by age group.

A survey from 2022 found that around 33 percent of adults in the United States felt anxious always or often in the past 12 months. This statistic shows the percentage of adults in the United States who stated they always or often felt anxious, depressed, or lonely in the past 12 months as of 2022.

A survey from 2022 found that around 39 percent of adults in the United States with a household income of less than 40,000 U.S. dollars a year felt anxious always or often in the past 12 months. This statistic shows the percentage of adults in the United States who stated they always or often felt anxious, depressed, or lonely in the past 12 months as of 2022, by household income.

Personal well-being, loneliness and what people in Great Britain felt were important issues; indicators from the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN).

A survey from 2022 found that around ** percent of LGBT adults in the United States felt anxious always or often in the past 12 months. This statistic shows the percentage of adults in the United States who stated they always or often felt anxious, depressed, or lonely in the past 12 months as of 2022, by LGBT identity.

Percentage of persons aged 15 years and over by frequency with which they feel lonely, by gender, for Canada, regions and provinces.

This dataset contains quantitative data of adults (N = 45) collected between November 2022 and August 2023 using Experience Sampling Method Software (PIEL Survey). Variables are age, gender, occupation, living situation, loneliness (DJG-scale), and satisfaction with relationships. The questionnaire and SPSS syntax are included. IBM SPSS Statistics, Version 29

According to a global survey, about 33 percent of adults experienced feelings of loneliness worldwide. Brazil had the highest percentage of people experiencing this, with 50 percent of respondents declaring that they felt lonely either often, always, or sometimes. Turkey, India, and Saudi Arabia followed, with 43 percent to 46 percent of respondents having experienced loneliness at least sometimes. On the contrary, the Netherlands, Japan, Germany, and Russia registered the largest share of interviewees which did not feel lonely.

Coping with loneliness during the pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic has suddenly cut off people from all over the world from their social life, and the lack of companionship has been a difficult situation for many to cope with. In the United States, people who experienced lack of company were, unsurprisingly, individuals living alone, and unemployed, disabled, or unemployed people. In relation to mental health, Americans who reported more symptoms of depression were by far more likely to feel lonely.

Impact of mental health According to a survey conducted in 2021 among G7 countries, about seven in 10 people experienced a worsening of their psychological health during the pandemic. A study on clinician-reported changes in selected health behaviors in the United States showed that during the pandemic patients have suffered more from feelings of loneliness, depression or anxiety, and burnout. Also nutrition and other habits have been impacted. The study reported an increase in alcohol consumption, smoking cigarettes, poor nutrition, and use of other substances.

Youth loneliness is common and associated with poorer health and wellbeing. Chronic loneliness could arise from a cognitive bias towards forming threatening over benign interpretations of social situations, leading to a behavioural bias favouring social withdrawal over social approach, thereby facilitating and maintaining persistent loneliness. We have developed an age-appropriate assessment tool, the Social Response Biases in Loneliness for Young Adults (SRBL-YA), for measuring these cognitive and behavioural biases. The SRBL-YA consists of 12 open-ended ambiguous loneliness-relevant scenarios that are followed by both a negative and a positive resolution to the scenario. When completing the SRBL-YA, one rates the likelihood of each of the resolutions occurring, on a 5-point Likert scale, from “extremely unlikely” to “extremely likely”.

The data presented here consists of an online survey, collected for the purpose of examining the psychometric properties of the SRBL-YA. Specifically, the factor structure of the SRBL-YA and its association with loneliness, depression, anxiety and social anxiety were examined in a sample of University students (n=416).

Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that a 7-item scale may improve upon the 12-item version, however, the reliability of both versions was somewhat low (α = 0.68-0.81). Both versions of the SRBL-YA showed convergent validity with loneliness, even when accounting for depressive, anxiety and social anxiety symptoms, but require further validation in independent samples.

In a survey conducted in September 2022 among young LGBTQ people in Japan, over ** percent of respondents aged 12 to 19 reported feeling lonely sometimes or often. While about ** percent of people aged 12 to 19 felt isolated frequently, close to ** percent of respondents in their thirties reported the same frequency of feeling lonely.

This is the README file for the scripts of the preprint "Self-Perceived Loneliness and Depression During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Two-Wave Replication Study" by Carollo et al. (2022) Access the pre-print here: https://ucl.scienceopen.com/document/read?vid=0769d88b-e572-48eb-9a71-23ea1d32cecf Abstract: Background: The global COVID-19 pandemic has forced countries to impose strict lockdown restrictions and mandatory stay-at-home orders with varying impacts on individual’s health. Combining a data-driven machine learning paradigm and a statistical approach, our previous paper documented a U-shaped pattern in levels of self-perceived loneliness in both the UK and Greek populations during the first lockdown (17 April to 17 July 2020). The current paper aimed to test the robustness of these results by focusing on data from the first and second lockdown waves in the UK. Methods: We tested a) the impact of the chosen model on the identification of the most time-sensitive variable in the period spent in lockdown. Two new machine learning models - namely, support vector regressor (SVR) and multiple linear regressor (MLR) were adopted to identify the most time-sensitive variable in the UK dataset from wave 1 (n = 435). In the second part of the study, we tested b) whether the pattern of self-perceived loneliness found in the first UK national lockdown was generalizable to the second wave of UK lockdown (17 October 2020 to 31 January 2021). To do so, data from wave 2 of the UK lockdown (n = 263) was used to conduct a graphical and statistical inspection of the week-by-week distribution of self-perceived loneliness scores. Results: In both SVR and MLR models, depressive symptoms resulted to be the most time-sensitive variable during the lockdown period. Statistical analysis of depressive symptoms by week of lockdown resulted in a U-shaped pattern between week 3 to 7 of wave 1 of the UK national lockdown. Furthermore, despite the sample size by week in wave 2 was too small for having a meaningful statistical insight, a qualitative and descriptive approach was adopted and a graphical U-shaped distribution between week 3 and 9 of lockdown was observed. Conclusions: Consistent with past studies, study findings suggest that self-perceived loneliness and depressive symptoms may be two of the most relevant symptoms to address when imposing lockdown restrictions. In particular, the folder includes the scripts for the pre-processing, training, and post-processing phases of the research. ==== PRE-PROCESSING WAVE 1 DATASET ==== - "01_preprocessingWave1.py": this file include the pre-processing of the variables of interest for wave 1 data; - "02_participantsexcludedWave1.py": this file include the script adopted to implement the exclusion criteria of the study for wave 1 data; - "03_countryselectionWave1.py": this file include the script to select the UK dataset for wave 1. ==== PRE-PROCESSING WAVE 2 DATASET ==== - "04_preprocessingWave1.py": this file include the pre-processing of the variables of interest for wave 2 data; - "05_participantsexcludedWave1.py": this file include the script adopted to implement the exclusion criteria of the study for wave 2 data; - "06_countryselectionWave1.py": this file include the script to select the UK dataset for wave 2. ==== TRAINING ==== - "07_MLR.py": this file includes the script to run the multiple regression model; - "08_SVM.py": this file includes the script to run the support vector regression model. ==== POST-PROCESSING: STATISTICAL ANALYSIS ==== - "09_KruskalWallisTests.py": this file includes the script to run the multipair and the pairwise Kruskal-Wallis tests.

This dataset was collected through an online survey conducted from November 23 to 24, 2022. The respondents were 286 residents of Japan, recruited through the crowdsourcing platform CrowdWorks. Each respondent was assigned to one of three conditions of a simulated e-commerce site and accessed the site. After freely browsing the site and experiencing a simulated purchase process, the respondents provided their responses regarding customer satisfaction with the experience on a survey screen created in Qualtrics. Additionally, they completed a loneliness scale (20 items) and answered questions regarding demographic attributes.

Mixed methods tested the acceptability and feasibility of measuring loneliness, mental health and wellbeing in Sheds The collection includes information related to the project and documentation. The collection does not include research data. The project did not ask for explicit consent about uploading / archiving anonymised data. Collecting retrospective consent was not possible.Over 1 million older adults are chronically lonely. Loneliness is associated with a range of negative physical and mental health outcomes. The UK government has invested in social prescribing schemes to tackle loneliness and its associated health impacts. Social prescribing refers people with health problems into community-based support and initiatives to enable group and peer support. Men’s Sheds are one example of a community organisation with involvement in social prescribing and has an overarching aim to tackle loneliness. The Sheds aim to bring people together, to tackle loneliness through ‘making environments’, where men (and women) come together in a social space, doing practical activities (e.g. woodwork). Working closely with Men’s Sheds, the aims of this project were: To understand what is acceptable and feasible in terms of evaluating the mental health, loneliness and social isolation of members of Men’s Sheds (Shedders). To explore different methods of ‘referral’ (e.g., social prescribing) to Sheds. To understand the mechanisms, process and relationships associated with mental health outcomes in Sheds. Methods Mixed methods tested the acceptability and feasibility of measuring loneliness, mental health and wellbeing in Sheds, using acceptability questionnaires, outcome measures (loneliness, mental health and wellbeing) measured at baseline and follow-up. A subset of participants were invited for interview to understand acceptability and explore the role of social prescribing and referral processes into Sheds. Findings 93 Shedders completed the first questionnaire, with 80% (n=74) follow-up completion and 21 Shedders were interviewed. The questionnaire and outcome measures were acceptable and there was an above 90% completion response to all outcome measures. Often joining a Shed was associated with significant changes to personal circumstances (e.g., bereavement, retirement, medical diagnosis) and the Shed provided space for a mutual exchange of skills and support, with valued male company. There were some positive experiences of social prescribing in Sheds, referrals worked well when there were established relationships and Shed-specific approach. Concerns were raised around the themes of ‘responsibility’, ‘we care but we’re not carers’ and ‘I don’t want it to destroy our Shed’. Suggestions for social prescribing in Sheds were provided. Conclusion Men’s Sheds create a unique space for men (and women) to support and share both skills and personal experiences in a shoulder-to-shoulder approach. There are mutual aims between social prescribing and Sheds to reduce loneliness and social isolation. There have been some good practice examples of social prescribing in Sheds, but many concerns exist and further evaluation is needed to enable a collaborative and community-focused relationship in the future. Mixed methods tested the acceptability and feasibility of measuring loneliness, mental health and wellbeing in Sheds, using acceptability questionnaires, outcome measures (loneliness, mental health and wellbeing) measured at baseline and follow-up. A subset of participants were invited for interview to understand acceptability and explore the role of social prescribing and referral processes into Sheds.

AbstractThis dataset was collected from first-generation immigrants between 2022 and 2023. Over a 28-day period, 39 participants aged 18 to 65, fluent in English and experiencing loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale score ≥ 28) contributed to the study. Data collection utilized Samsung Watch Active 2, Oura Ring, AWARE, and Centralive smartphone application. This dataset contains raw data from photoplethysmogram (PPG), inertial measurement unit (IMU) readings, air pressure, and processed data on heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep metrics (bedtime, stages, quality), physical activity (steps, active calories, activity types), and smartphone usage patterns (screen time, notifications, call and message logs). Participants also completed ecological momentary assessments (EMA) and weekly surveys, including instruments like the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), Perceived Stress Scale, Sense of Coherence Scale, Social Connectedness Scale, Twente Engagement with E-Health Technologies questionnaire, and the UCLA Loneliness Scale. This dataset can be used to study the interplay between loneliness, mental well-being, and daily behaviors of immigrants in a real-world context. MethodsDesign and set up This study was designed to create a longitudinal dataset capturing physiological, behavioral, and psychological data from first-generation immigrants living in Finland. The dataset aims to support research on the relationship between mental health and daily lifestyle factors, providing a foundation for further detection algorithm development. To achieve this, the study collected multimodal data over a 28-day period from every participant. Objective data were gathered from wearable devices, which recorded sleep patterns, physical activity, and cardiovascular health metrics and raw PPG signals. Passive smartphone data, such as screen usage, notifications, calls, and messages, were also collected to capture digital behavior patterns. Subjective data were collected through EMAs delivered via push notifications and weekly self-report surveys. These assessments measured daily emotional states—loneliness, stress, depression, and social connectedness. By integrating multiple data sources, this dataset allows researchers to explore the complex interactions between mental health and lifestyle behaviors under free-living conditions. Data collection To facilitate continuous data collection and remote monitoring, the Centralive was used. Centralive is a digital health platform designed for continuous data collection, data storage, real-time monitoring, and remote management of participant engagement throughout the study. Data was collected using different applications, and wearable devices all centralized to the Centralive system. Then the collected data was transferred and stored in the Centralive’s cloud server. The Centralive’s dashboard was used to monitor the collected data to monitor participant’s engagement during data collection. To collect the subjective daily EMAs and weekly surveys, the Centralive prompted the daily EMAs at 8 a.m., 2 p.m., 5 p.m., 8 p.m., and 10 p.m. to every participant. The daily EMA contains questions focusing on their current emotions including feelings of loneliness, social connectedness, and affect. The weekly EMA was open from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. and prompted participants every Sunday. Samsung watch active 2, equipped with Tizen open-source Operating System (TizenOS) was used to collect objective physiological signals. The device recorded photoplethysmography (PPG), accelerometer, and gyroscope data at a sampling rate of 20 Hz, while air pressure measurements were captured at 10 Hz. Data collection was scheduled at two-hour intervals, with each recording session lasting 12 minutes. The Oura Ring was used to track participants' sleep and activity patterns throughout the study. Data collected by the Oura Ring, including sleep, activity metrics, and cardiac metrics including heart rate and heart rate variability sensed during sleep. Centralive utilized Open Authentication to securely access and retrieve these data, making them available to researchers on a daily basis for further analysis. The AWARE framework was used to collect passive phone activity data. The AWARE app ran in the background on participants’ smartphones, continuously logging data without requiring active user input. The collected data included battery usage patterns, recording charging events and power consumption to monitor device usage trends. Call logs were also recorded, tracking incoming and outgoing calls with metadata such as timestamps and call duration, but without capturing conversation content. Similarly, message logs documented sent and received text messages, preserving metadata while ensuring privacy. Notifications data provided insights into participants’ digital engagement by logging received notifications, including app source and timestamps. Screen usage patterns were...

In 2022, slightly over 33 percent of people aged 75 and older in Israel reported feeling lonely. This age group had the largest share of individuals who had this feeling. Moreover, nearly 24 percent of the respondents between the ages of 65 and 74 said they felt the same way. The youngest age group surveyed, those between the ages of 20 and 44, had a share of nearly 19 percent.

This dataset was produced in a 4 week randomised control trial of the Circles app v2, from the SERVICE project (https://serviceproject.org.uk/) funded by the EPSRC.

The SERVICE project is a non-profit academic effort to understand and support the emotional needs of older adults impacted by COVID-19.

We seek to understand experiences of the pandemic among older people and their supporters.

We are creating a non-profit and open-source digital platform which helps people support each other while respecting and protecting their privacy and security.

Our planned academic contributions are:

To share multi-method datasets, presentations, and publications on older people’s experiences of COVID-19, well-being, loneliness, emotion regulation, and social support.

This dataset contains 1) csv file with pre, mid, and end point survey data (0, 2 weeks, 4 weeks) captured from January 2022, and the documentation accompanying the surveys including the qualtrics files. 2) anonymised app data collected by the Circles app over the 4 week trial. 3) screenshots of the Circles app. The code for the app itself is available on Github: https://github.com/OU-STEM-SIES/SERVICE_server and https://github.com/OU-STEM-SIES/SERVICE_mobile

All data have been anonymised and are not linkable to participant personal information.

This study was approved by the ethics comittees at the collaborating institutions (Nottingham Trent University, University of Exeter, and the Open University).

Study Design: An online mixed methods 4-week randomised 2 x 3 trial with an app using group compared to a wait list control. The app group also completed post-trial interviews (transcripts have not been made available).

Methods: Older adults (N=102, aged 50+) completed three surveys with quantitative measures of loneliness, wellbeing, mental health. Participants in the app using group were encouraged to use the app daily to log their wellbeing, loneliness, activities, social connections and time spent in different locations.

United Kingdom % of Adults: Feeling Lonely Often or Some of The Time data was reported at 12.000 % in 02 Jun 2024. This stayed constant from the previous number of 12.000 % for 19 May 2024. United Kingdom % of Adults: Feeling Lonely Often or Some of The Time data is updated weekly, averaging 12.000 % from Mar 2020 (Median) to 02 Jun 2024, with 142 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 21.000 % in 29 Mar 2020 and a record low of 10.000 % in 03 Jul 2022. United Kingdom % of Adults: Feeling Lonely Often or Some of The Time data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office for National Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.H091: Opinions and Lifestyle Survey: Social Impacts of COVID-19 on Great Britain (Discontinued). [COVID-19-IMPACT]

IntroductionMedical students experience significantly more mental burdens compared to the general public. This circumstance was further exacerbated by the pandemic, particularly with regard to loneliness. While previous studies have identified risk factors for loneliness among students of different subjects, recent data focusing on medical students during the late stages of the pandemic remain insufficient. This study aims to address this gap.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional study at a German Medical School, consisting of two online surveys conducted in winter 2021/22 and summer 2022. The study sample, composed of 283 undergraduate students in winter 2021/22 (231 in summer 2022), answered five well-established scales for measuring loneliness (R-UCLA3), distress (DT-NCCN), anxiety (GAD-2), depression (PHQ-2), and perceived stress (PPS-4). Additionally, we evaluated burdensome aspects of students' current situation through qualitative analysis. Longitudinal analyses were conducted for 80 medical students who participated in both surveys.ResultsAround 20% of all students responded to each survey. In winter 2021/22, 55.1% of students reported loneliness above the cut-off (M = 5.77 [2.02]; decreasing to 45.0% by summer 2022 (M = 5.22 [1.90]). Lonely students reported significantly higher levels of depression, anxiety, and self-perceived stress in both survey periods. Overall distress increased substantially throughout our study (Cohen's d = −0.54). Binary regression models indicated a shift in loneliness risk factors: in winter 2021/22, being single, higher self-perceived stress levels, and decreased study motivation were associated with increased loneliness. Lower peer connectedness emerged as the sole significant factor associated with loneliness in summer 2022. While the pandemic-related burden on students' study motivation lessened, issues related to exam preparation and lack of study organization through the faculty increased, varying significantly depending on students' study year.ConclusionOur data suggest that loneliness among German medical students decreased in the late stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, other mental burdens persisted at high levels compared to other data in the general public and medical students. Students' responses underscore the need for improved academic support by eased study program structure, improved counseling, and tailored services for students of different study years.

Although research suggests Chinese International Students (CIS) in UK universities are at higher risk of suffering from loneliness and social isolation, limited research has focused on understanding what loneliness means to CIS and how they experience this feeling. Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), as an intervention that addresses maladaptive social cognition, is effective in reducing loneliness in university students (Teoh et al., 2021; Zhang et al., 2018). However, whether or how well it works for CIS has not been studied. Using a Participatory Action Research(PAR) approach, we aim to : 1. understand how Chinese International Students experience and understand loneliness in UK universities; 2. explore how MBCT can be culturally adapted to meet the needs of CIS. We interviewed 15 CIS (with optional use of images/photos) to explore their understanding and experiences of loneliness. The participants were then invited to attend a 2-hour MBCT workshop. Three focus groups (4-5 participants in each group) were conducted to explore the participants’ opinions on how to culturally adapt MBCT for CIS experiencing loneliness. Data were thematically analysed (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2019) Three themes emerged from the interview data: Navigating feelings of withdrawal, isolation and disconnection; The journey of adaptation and belongingness abroad; Withholding feelings and preference for self-reliant, problem-focused coping. The themes that emerged from the focus group data were: The need to focus on oneself and find “inner peace”; Unfamiliarity of MBCT, and reluctance towards help-seeking; Preference for an efficient, practical, and collaborative learning approach. For university support services, it might be helpful to: Proactively support CIS’s adaptation; Provide high-quality, accessible self-help material, ideally in Chinese; Help CIS explore how to balance the needs of self and others; Provide support programmes that emphasise developing skills and facilitating personal growth (e.g., MBCT); Consider changing the term “therapy” in the title, when offering MBCT (e.g., just “Mindfulness for Life”); Offer shorter versions of MBCT (Halladay et al., 2019; Chiodelli et al., 2020); Develop mindfulness teachers’ cultural competence so that the interventions can be more culturally sensitive and appropriate (having Chinese-speaking teachers would be especially helpful).This project aims to: 1. understand how Chinese International Students (CIS) experience and understand loneliness in UK universities; 2. explore how Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) can be culturally adapted to meet the needs of CIS. We interviewed 15 CIS (with optional use of images/photos) to explore their understanding and experiences of loneliness. The participants were then invited to attend a 2-hour MBCT workshop. Three focus groups (4-5 participants in each group) were conducted to explore the participants’ opinions on how to culturally adapt MBCT for CIS experiencing loneliness.

This project aimed to explore the impact of therapeutic community gardening on the loneliness, life satisfaction and wellbeing of individuals with mental health problems and to explore the barriers and facilitators to wider use and prescription of community gardening for individuals with mental ill health. This information is essential to support increased availability and access to therapeutic community gardening as a Green Social prescription. The aims were explored through quantitative surveys with attendees at a therapeutic community garden and interviews and focus groups with a range of key stakeholders.