The role of school connectedness and friend contact in adolescent loneliness, and implications for physical health

Yixuan Zheng; Margarita Panayiotou; Dorothy Currie; Keming Yang; Charlotte Bagnall; Pamela Qualter; Joanna Inchley

doi:10.1007/s10578-022-01449-x

The role of school connectedness and friend contact in adolescent loneliness, and implications for physical health

Yixuan Zheng^*, Margarita Panayiotou, Dorothy Currie, Keming Yang, Charlotte Bagnall, Pamela Qualter, Joanna Inchley

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The current study investigated how adolescents' loneliness relates to school connectedness, classmate support, teacher support, and offline and online communication with friends. We also examined the association between loneliness, physical health, and sleep. Data came from the Scottish Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC). The total sample was 2983 adolescents (F = 1479 [49.6%]) aged 14-17 years (M = 15.66, SD = 0.39) from 117 secondary schools in Scotland. Results showed that (1) higher teacher support, classmate support, and offline contact with friends predicted lower levels of loneliness, (2) online friendship engagement predicted higher levels of loneliness, and (3) poor health and sleep were positively associated with loneliness. The study offers new findings, highlighting the role played by classmates/peers and teachers in reducing loneliness. Supporting previous research, we also found associations between loneliness, poor sleep, and worse physical health.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	851–860
Number of pages	10
Journal	Child Psychiatry and Human Development
Volume	55
Early online date	19 Oct 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-022-01449-x
Publication status	Published - Jun 2024

Keywords

Loneliness
School connectedness
Peer contact
Adolescents
Friendship
Physical health

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Cite this

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title = "The role of school connectedness and friend contact in adolescent loneliness, and implications for physical health",

abstract = "The current study investigated how adolescents' loneliness relates to school connectedness, classmate support, teacher support, and offline and online communication with friends. We also examined the association between loneliness, physical health, and sleep. Data came from the Scottish Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC). The total sample was 2983 adolescents (F = 1479 [49.6%]) aged 14-17 years (M = 15.66, SD = 0.39) from 117 secondary schools in Scotland. Results showed that (1) higher teacher support, classmate support, and offline contact with friends predicted lower levels of loneliness, (2) online friendship engagement predicted higher levels of loneliness, and (3) poor health and sleep were positively associated with loneliness. The study offers new findings, highlighting the role played by classmates/peers and teachers in reducing loneliness. Supporting previous research, we also found associations between loneliness, poor sleep, and worse physical health.",

keywords = "Loneliness, School connectedness, Peer contact, Adolescents, Friendship, Physical health",

author = "Yixuan Zheng and Margarita Panayiotou and Dorothy Currie and Keming Yang and Charlotte Bagnall and Pamela Qualter and Joanna Inchley",

note = "Funding: JI was supported by the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/1) and the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (SPHSU16). The HBSC 2013/14 study in Scotland was funded by NHS Health Scotland (now Public Health Scotland).",

year = "2024",

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doi = "10.1007/s10578-022-01449-x",

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AU - Panayiotou, Margarita

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AU - Yang, Keming

AU - Bagnall, Charlotte

AU - Qualter, Pamela

AU - Inchley, Joanna

N1 - Funding: JI was supported by the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/1) and the Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office (SPHSU16). The HBSC 2013/14 study in Scotland was funded by NHS Health Scotland (now Public Health Scotland).

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N2 - The current study investigated how adolescents' loneliness relates to school connectedness, classmate support, teacher support, and offline and online communication with friends. We also examined the association between loneliness, physical health, and sleep. Data came from the Scottish Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC). The total sample was 2983 adolescents (F = 1479 [49.6%]) aged 14-17 years (M = 15.66, SD = 0.39) from 117 secondary schools in Scotland. Results showed that (1) higher teacher support, classmate support, and offline contact with friends predicted lower levels of loneliness, (2) online friendship engagement predicted higher levels of loneliness, and (3) poor health and sleep were positively associated with loneliness. The study offers new findings, highlighting the role played by classmates/peers and teachers in reducing loneliness. Supporting previous research, we also found associations between loneliness, poor sleep, and worse physical health.

AB - The current study investigated how adolescents' loneliness relates to school connectedness, classmate support, teacher support, and offline and online communication with friends. We also examined the association between loneliness, physical health, and sleep. Data came from the Scottish Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC). The total sample was 2983 adolescents (F = 1479 [49.6%]) aged 14-17 years (M = 15.66, SD = 0.39) from 117 secondary schools in Scotland. Results showed that (1) higher teacher support, classmate support, and offline contact with friends predicted lower levels of loneliness, (2) online friendship engagement predicted higher levels of loneliness, and (3) poor health and sleep were positively associated with loneliness. The study offers new findings, highlighting the role played by classmates/peers and teachers in reducing loneliness. Supporting previous research, we also found associations between loneliness, poor sleep, and worse physical health.

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KW - Peer contact

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The role of school connectedness and friend contact in adolescent loneliness, and implications for physical health

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Keywords

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