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Understanding adolescents' loneliness: testing for developmental differences in the experience of loneliness in adolescence Weatherby, Maria
Abstract
Is the experience of loneliness dependent or independent of one's developmental stage? Parkhurst and Hopmeyer's (1999) model of'Developmental Changes in the Sources of Loneliness in Childhood and Adolescence' was utilized in an attempt to address this fundamental question. Their model of loneliness specified five distinct stages. The five stages were identified by grade level. Parkhurst and Hopmeyer's rationale suggested that for each stage, one's unique social group preferences, social needs, and understanding of loneliness, influences their sources of loneliness. For the purpose of this present study, two of the five stages were operationalized and presented in a questionnaire. One of the stages tested was upper elementary to junior high school. Twenty-seven grade eight and forty-three grade nine Physical Education students represented the upper elementary to junior high school stage. The other stage tested was high school to college. Fifty-two grade twelve, English students represented the high school to college stage. Overall, results from the questionnaire suggested that developmental stage did not significantly influence the loneliness experience for grade eight to twelve students, in the direction predicted by Parkhurst and Hopmeyer. However, since the measures used to assess Parkhurst and Hopmeyer's model fit existing research surrounding sex differences in loneliness, sex differences were also an area of investigation in the present study. The results indicated that females valued intimate social needs such as 'being able to share emotions and feelings' and 'being able to trust their friends'. Furthermore, females rated social situations that suggested inadequate intimacy, that is, 'feeling misunderstood' and 'not being to share emotions and feelings', as more lonely 'things' than the males. However, although females perceived that failing to obtain these intimate 'things' would make them feel lonely, in actuality, these intimate 'things' were not significantly associated with higher levels of loneliness for the females. On the other hand, males' social needs included 'having friends to do things with' and 'having friends that make you feel like you belong in the group'. Furthermore, males rated the social situations that suggested they had inadequate levels of social status within their group, that is, 'if nobody stuck up for them', 'if they weren't popular enough to belong to their group of choice' or 'if they were embarrassed of their group of friends', as more lonely 'things' than the females. However, although males perceived all of these three 'things' that suggested a lack of social status to cause them to be lonely, in actuality, males had higher levels of loneliness from only one 'thing', that is, 'not feeling like they belonged in a group'.
Item Metadata
Title |
Understanding adolescents' loneliness: testing for developmental differences in the experience of loneliness in adolescence
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
2000
|
Description |
Is the experience of loneliness dependent or independent of one's developmental stage?
Parkhurst and Hopmeyer's (1999) model of'Developmental Changes in the Sources of
Loneliness in Childhood and Adolescence' was utilized in an attempt to address this fundamental
question. Their model of loneliness specified five distinct stages. The five stages were
identified by grade level. Parkhurst and Hopmeyer's rationale suggested that for each stage,
one's unique social group preferences, social needs, and understanding of loneliness, influences
their sources of loneliness. For the purpose of this present study, two of the five stages were
operationalized and presented in a questionnaire. One of the stages tested was upper elementary
to junior high school. Twenty-seven grade eight and forty-three grade nine Physical Education
students represented the upper elementary to junior high school stage. The other stage tested was
high school to college. Fifty-two grade twelve, English students represented the high school to
college stage. Overall, results from the questionnaire suggested that developmental stage did not
significantly influence the loneliness experience for grade eight to twelve students, in the
direction predicted by Parkhurst and Hopmeyer. However, since the measures used to assess
Parkhurst and Hopmeyer's model fit existing research surrounding sex differences in loneliness,
sex differences were also an area of investigation in the present study. The results indicated that
females valued intimate social needs such as 'being able to share emotions and feelings' and
'being able to trust their friends'. Furthermore, females rated social situations that suggested
inadequate intimacy, that is, 'feeling misunderstood' and 'not being to share emotions and
feelings', as more lonely 'things' than the males. However, although females perceived that
failing to obtain these intimate 'things' would make them feel lonely, in actuality, these intimate
'things' were not significantly associated with higher levels of loneliness for the females. On the
other hand, males' social needs included 'having friends to do things with' and 'having friends
that make you feel like you belong in the group'. Furthermore, males rated the social situations
that suggested they had inadequate levels of social status within their group, that is, 'if nobody
stuck up for them', 'if they weren't popular enough to belong to their group of choice' or 'if they
were embarrassed of their group of friends', as more lonely 'things' than the females. However,
although males perceived all of these three 'things' that suggested a lack of social status to cause
them to be lonely, in actuality, males had higher levels of loneliness from only one 'thing', that
is, 'not feeling like they belonged in a group'.
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Extent |
4917468 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-07-09
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0089530
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
2000-05
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.