Association between Loneliness, Mental Health Symptoms, and Treatment Use among Emerging Adults

Abstract Loneliness research has focused primarily on older adult populations. There is limited research on how loneliness and social support impact young people’s mental health and mental health services use. This article reports an assessment of whether loneliness and social support are associated...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health & social work 2023-04, Vol.48 (2), p.133-142
Main Authors: Bessaha, Melissa, Mushonga, Dawnsha, Fedina, Lisa, DeVylder, Jordan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Cross-Sectional Studies
Health services
Humans
Least Squares Statistics
Life course
Loneliness
Loneliness - psychology
Mental disorders
Mental Disorders - therapy
Mental Health
Mental health care
Mental Health Programs
Mental health services
Older people
Polls & surveys
Psychological distress
Social support
Suicidal behavior
Suicidal Ideation
Suicide
Symptoms
Young Adult
Youth
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Summary:Abstract Loneliness research has focused primarily on older adult populations. There is limited research on how loneliness and social support impact young people’s mental health and mental health services use. This article reports an assessment of whether loneliness and social support are associated with mental health services use and mental health symptoms (psychological distress and suicidal ideation) among emerging adults. A subsample of emerging adults ages 18 to 29 (N = 307) was drawn from the 2017 Survey of Police-Public Encounters, a cross-sectional, general population survey administered to residents of New York City and Baltimore. Ordinary least squares and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to model associations between loneliness and mental health symptoms and services use outcomes. Emerging adults with higher levels of loneliness reported higher levels of distress and suicidal ideation. Having more social support, experiencing higher levels of distress, and suicidal ideation were associated with increased odds for using services. First-generation American emerging adults and Black emerging adults were less likely to use services than their U.S.-born and non-Black counterparts. The significant impact of loneliness on mental health symptoms and the effect of social support on service use highlight the importance of developing interventions to prevent and reduce loneliness over the life course.
ISSN:0360-7283
1545-6854
DOI:10.1093/hsw/hlad005