Assessment of an Epidemic Urgency: Psychometric Evidence for the UCLA Loneliness Scale

In modern industrialized countries, loneliness has been declared an epidemic. The present paper aimed to replicate previous findings about the dimensionality of the UCLA Loneliness Scale-3 version (LS-3) in a sample of Italian adults using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM). In Study 1,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology research and behavior management 2023-01, Vol.16, p.2843-2855
Main Authors: Bottaro, Rossella, Valenti, Giusy Danila, Faraci, Palmira
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
brief version.
Comparative analysis
Depression, Mental
Epidemics
Internet
Japan
loneliness
Original Research
psychometrics
Social aspects
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Summary:In modern industrialized countries, loneliness has been declared an epidemic. The present paper aimed to replicate previous findings about the dimensionality of the UCLA Loneliness Scale-3 version (LS-3) in a sample of Italian adults using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM). In Study 1, 1676 participants (M = 31.15; SD = 11.89) completed the LS-3. The three-factor ESEM model was performed to replicate the previous Italian version, and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis compared the three- and ten-item short versions. In Studies 2, 3, and 4, we administered measures of anxiety, depression, stress, internet addiction, self-esteem, and social interaction anxiety to 3513 participants (M = 30.81; SD = 11.77) to assess the convergent and discriminant validity of LS-3. The ESEM 3-factor model was replicated using a Target rotation (X = 847.597; = 133; CFI = 0.942; TLI = 0.917; RMSEA = 0.062), whereas the already-known LS-3 short version raised psychometric concerns. Positive relationships with anxiety, depression, stress, internet addiction, and social interaction anxiety, as well as negative association with self-esteem were found. In conclusion, our findings support the use of the LS-3 in the Italian sample and discourage the administration of the current short forms. The implications for research and clinical practice have been discussed.
ISSN:1179-1578
1179-1578
DOI:10.2147/PRBM.S406523