Loneliness

Parental sensitivity, parental intrusiveness, child involvement, and dyadic synchrony are factors associated with important developmental outcomes. The current study uses the CIB (Feldman, 1998) for a behavioral approach to investigating the effects of parental loneliness and perceived social support during the COVID-19 pandemic on parent-infant (12 􀂱 24 mo) behaviors during a free-play interaction (N = 43). The results of this study demonstrate that parental loneliness has an adverse effect on parental sensitivity and intrusiveness, but not child involvement and dyadic synchrony. Mediation analyses revealed the specific mechanisms by which low levels of perceived social support increase loneliness, which in turn, influences parents to behave more intrusively towards their infants. The findings of this study hold value for interventions that seek to reduce risk for adverse developmental outcomes. These results also hold important implications about the COVID-19 pandemic and its negative impact on parenting behaviors towards infants.

Loneliness is defined as perceived social isolation. Previous research has identified several predictors of chronic loneliness, such as poor self-reported health and living alone. However, the predictors of daily fluctuations in transient experiences of loneliness have not been closely examined. For one week, 200 participants were asked to complete a daily diary survey about their social interactions and loneliness each night. Consistent with predictions, participants reported feeling lonelier on days with less time interacting with others and with poorer quality social interaction. The effect of time spent interacting with others on daily loneliness was stronger for participants higher in chronic loneliness. Supplemental analyses showed that participants felt less lonely on days of the weekend and that additional hours of interaction were more effective in reducing daily loneliness for older adults than younger adults. Examining this differential response in daily loneliness to interaction quality and quantity could inform future interventions.

Loneliness is a common experience for many people (Rubenstein et al., 1979) and most lonely individuals experience a variety of comorbid disorders (Heinrich & Gullone, 2006). Adolescent loneliness is particularly problematic, due to the rapid changes that take place in the peer social world (Laursen & Hartl, 2013). Prior evidence ties loneliness to low group status and victimization (Asher & Paquette, 2003), but we do not fully understand the transmission mechanisms. A full longitudinal mediation design (Fritz & MacKinnon, 2012) was used to test the hypotheses that social withdrawal mediates the association from loneliness to changes in peer status and peer difficulties victimization among adolescents. Results indicated that the longitudinal associations between loneliness and peer outcomes were mediated by social withdrawal. Successful engagement with peers is vital to navigating the complex social world of adolescence, thus the results provide an impetus for aiding lonely adolescents in improving their social connections.

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to measure the impacts of attendance in a three-month series of social groups on the self-perceptions of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptomology, social skills, and loneliness for adults with ASD. The study also measured the impacts of attendance in a three-month series of social groups on perceptions of ASD symptomology and social skills for the caregivers of adults with ASD. This study utilized a convenience sample of adults that were existing members of Florida Atlantic University’s Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (FAU CARD) Adult Social Group and an identified caregiver. Data was collected over a period of four months. This was the first study to examine the impacts of participation in a semi-structured social group on perceptions of ASD symptomology, social skills, and loneliness for adults with ASD, as prior studies had focused on more structured, clinical interventions. Variance in perceptions over the three-month series was analyzed using a repeated measures MANOVA. Significant differences were reported over the three month period on both adult self-perception and caregiver perception for ASD symptomology, social skills, and loneliness (N=76).

The purpose of this phenomenological research was to explore the lived experiences of daughters and daughters-in-law who care for aging parents at home. Interviews were conducted with four daughters and two daughters-in-law. The interviews were audiotaped and the researcher conducted observational field notes. The interviews were utilized for data-collection and then transcribed into text. The researcher followed van Manen's method. Essential themes were frustration, anger, guilt, lack of social life, effects on jobs and family support as described by the participants. Variant themes unfolded as themes not shared by all the participants: care for the caregiver, education for the caregiver, being a detective, coming out of his shell, like a robot, reference of aging parent as a patient and judgment by others. The researcher uncovered interpretive themes of unconditional devotion, struggling with childlike mannerism, everlasting vigilance and ambivalence through a paradoxical view. Lonely journey surfaced as the metatheme.