The purpose of this paper was to use the revised Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory as a framework to understand loneliness. We expected higher loneliness to be associated with high reward sensitivity and low punishment sensitivity. We tested how reward and punishment sensitivity could affect loneliness by exploring potential mediators including shyness, sociability, communal orientation, and acc...

BACKGROUND Loneliness and depression are very common in the aged population. Both have negative impacts on cognition in the elderly. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of loneliness and depression on total as well as specific cognitive domains in cognitively normal male subjects. MATERIAL/METHODS A total of 189 cognitively normal male subjects were recruited and underwent Cogni...

Although, previous studies show overwhelming evidence that loneliness is negatively correlated with prosocial behavior, some theories and research have implied that under certain situations, loneliness plays a positive role in an individual's social functioning. The two studies reported in this article examined loneliness and its associations with prosocial behavior in Chinese adults using subj...

This interpretive study explored older people's understanding of loneliness and what they considered appropriate and effective ways of dealing with it. Thirty elderly people were interviewed in-depth; 12 described themselves as "lonely" and 18 as "not lonely." We found a striking difference in the way "lonely" and "not lonely" people talked about loneliness. The "not lonely" participants descri...

BACKGROUND Loneliness is one of the most significant problems during aging. This research has been done to determine the effect of a multi-strategy program based on Pender's Health Promotion model to prevent loneliness of elderly women by improving social relationships. METHODS In this quasi-experimental study done in 2013 from January to November, 150 old women suffering medium loneliness re...

Although research has shown that loneliness in adolescents leads to higher rates of depressive symptoms, the presumed protective factor of social connectedness has not been studied in conjunction with these two constructs. The aim of the present study was to determine if social connectedness would predict lower loneliness and depressive symptoms over time in a large sample of adolescents. A lar...

BACKGROUND Loneliness has a significant influence on both physical and mental health. Few studies have investigated the possible associations of loneliness with mortality risk, impact on men and women and whether this impact concerns the situation of being alone (social isolation), experiencing loneliness (feeling lonely) or both. The current study investigated whether social isolation and feel...

BACKGROUND Loneliness involves subjective, rather than objective, social isolation and has a range of negative effects on mental and physical functioning. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of loneliness in psychotic disorders and its association with symptoms and cognitive performance. METHOD Data were drawn from the second Australian National Survey of Psychosis and com...

the aim of this study was investigating the role of self-esteem, humorous styles and shyness in prediction of loneliness in students. the research method was descriptive-correlational and the population was all high school students in the city of damghan. the sample included 250 students (125 boys, and 125 girls) selected through cluster random sampling. to collect the data, four instruments we...

Definition of Loneliness Some of the early definitions of loneliness characterized it as a lack of social intimacy or as a deficiency in social relationships. Loneliness is often described as a subjective feeling of isolation, not belonging, or lacking companionship. Steptoe et al contend that loneliness is frequently considered as “the psychological embodiment of social isolation.” Other exper...