Important research literatures have grown independently around the study of loneliness and social support. However, it is not clear whether these constructs are empirically or conceptually different. In this study, data from 739 young adults are used to examine the factor structure of two sets of loneliness scales and two sets of social support measures. Results indicated that four substantive factors related to the original scales and two support-specific factors accounted for the variation in 14 loneliness and social support variables. The substantive factors representing the Differential Loneliness Scale, the UCLA Loneliness Scale, Socially Supportive Relationships, and Social Resources were all highly intercorrelated, but significantly less than 1.0. A second-order factor was fit to the four substantive factors and found to be an acceptable representation of their intercorrelations. The support-specific factors were negatively correlated, indicating that Family-Specific Support was inversely associated with Peer-Specific Support. The separate measures of loneliness and social support were found to be endpoints of a higher-order construct of Attachment to Social Network. Thus, although loneliness and social support may be conceptually distinct among lower-order factors, they can be construed as generated by a higher-order construct of general social attachment.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bentler, P. M. (1980). Multivariate analysis with latent variables: Causal modeling. Annual Review of Psychology, 31, 419-456.
2.
Bentler, P. M. (1983). Some contributions to efficient statistics in structural models: Specification and estimation of moment structures. Psychometrika, 48, 493-517.
3.
Bentler, P. M. (1985). Theory and implementation of EQS: A structural equations program. Los Angeles: BMDP Statistical Software.
4.
Bentler, P. M. , & Bonett, D. G. (1980). Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 588-606.
5.
Bentler, P. M. , & Newcomb, M. D. (1986). Personality, sexual behavior, and drug use revealed through latent variable methods. Clinical Psychology Review, 6, 363-385.
6.
Berkman, L. F. (1985). The relationship of social networks and social support to morbidity and mortality. In S. Cohen & S. L. Syme (Eds.), Social support and health (pp. 241-262). New York: Academic Press.
7.
Borys, S. , & Perlman, D. (1985). Gender differences in loneliness. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 11, 63-74.
8.
Brennan, T. , & Auslander, N. (1979). Adolescent loneliness: An exploratory study of social and psychological predisposition and theory. Unpublished manuscript, Behavioral Research Institute, Boulder, CO.
9.
Broadhead, W. E. , Kaplan, B. H., James, S. A., Wagner, E. H., Schoenbach, V. J., Grimson, R., Heyden, S., Tibblin, G., & Gehlbach, S. H. (1983). The epidemiologic evidence for a relationship between social support and health. American Journal of Epidemiology, 117, 521-537.
10.
Browne, M. W. (1984). Asymptotically distribution-free methods for the analysis of covariance structures. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 37, 62-83.
11.
Check, J. V. P. , Perlman, D., & Malamuth, N. M. (1985). Loneliness and aggressive behavior. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2, 243-252.
12.
Cohen, S. , & Wills, T. A. (1985). Stress, social support, and the buffering hypothesis. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 310-357.
13.
Diamant, L. , & Windholz, G. (1981). Loneliness in college students: Some therapeutic considerations. Journal of College Student Personnel, 22, 515-522.
14.
Goswick, R. A. , & Jones, W. H. (1981). Loneliness, self-concept, and adjustment. Journal of Psychology, 107, 237-240.
15.
Hays, R. , & DiMatteo, M. R. (1985, April). Reliability, validity, and dimensionality of the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Paper presented at the meeting of the Western Psychological Association, San Jose, CA.
16.
Hojat, M. (1982). Psychometric characteristics of the UCLA Loneliness Scale: A study with Iranian college students. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 42, 917-925.
17.
House, J. S. (1981). Work stress and social support. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
18.
Kessler, R. C. , & McLeod, J. D. (1985). Social support and mental health in community samples. In S. Cohen & S. L. Syme (Eds.), Social support and health (pp. 219-240). New York: Academic Press.
19.
Leavy, R. L. (1983). Social support and psychological disorder: A review. Journal of Community Psychology, 11, 3-21.
20.
Loucks, S. (1980). Loneliness, affect, and self-concept: Construct validity of the Bradley Loneliness Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 44, 142-147.
21.
Mitchell, R. E. , Billings, A. G., & Moos, R. H. (1982). Social support and well-being: Implications for prevention programs. Journal of Primary Prevention, 3, 77-98.
22.
Newcomb, M. D. (1986). Nuclear attitudes and reactions: Associations with depression, drug use, and qualify of life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 906-920.
23.
Peplau, L. A. , & Perlman, D. (1982). Perspectives on loneliness. In L. A. Peplau & D. Perlman (Eds.), Loneliness: A sourcebook of current theory, research, and therapy (pp. 1-20). New York: Wiley-Interscience.
24.
Perlman, D. , & Peplau, L. A. (1984). Loneliness research: A survey of empirical findings. In L. A. Peplau & S. E. Goldston (Eds.), Preventing the harmful consequences of severe and persistent loneliness (pp. 13-46). Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health.
25.
Rook, K. S. (1984a). Interventions for loneliness: A review and analysis. In L. A. Peplau & S. E. Goldston (Eds.), Preventing the harmful consequences of severe and persistent loneliness (pp. 47-79). Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health.
26.
Rook, K. S. (1984b August). Loneliness and lack of social support: Same or different processes? Paper presented at the meeting of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada.
27.
Rook, K. S. (1984c). Research on social support, loneliness, and social isolation: Toward an integration. In P. Shaver (Ed.), Review of personality and social psychology (Vol. 5, pp. 239-259). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
28.
Rook, K. S. (1984d). The functions of social bonds: Perspectives from research on social support, loneliness, and social isolation. In I. G. Sarason & B. R. Sarason (Eds.), Social support: Theory, research, and application (pp. 225-241). The Hague: Martinu Nijhof.
29.
Rubenstein, D. , & Shaver, P. (1980). Loneliness in two northeastern cities. In J. Hartog, J. R. Audy, & Y. A. Cohen (Eds.), The anatomy of loneliness. New York: International Universities Press.
30.
Russell, D. , Peplau, L. A., & Cutrona, C. E. (1980). The revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: Concurrent and discriminant validity evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 472-480.
31.
Sarason, I. G. , Levine, H. M., Basham, R. B., & Sarason, B. R. (1983). Assessing social support: The social support questionnaire. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 127-139.
32.
Sarason, B. R. , Sarason, I. G., Hacker, T. A., & Basham, R. B. (1985). Concomitants of social support: Social skills, physical attractiveness, and gender. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 469-480.
33.
Schmidt, N. , & Sermat, V. (1983). Measuring loneliness in different relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44, 1038-1047.
34.
Schmitt, J. P. , & Kurdek, L. A. (1985). Age and gender differences in and personality correlates of loneliness in different relationships. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 485-496.
35.
Sermat, V. (1980). Some situational and personality correlates of loneliness. In J. Hartog, J. R. Audy, & Y. A. Cohen (Eds.), The anatomy of loneliness. New York: International Universities Press.
36.
Wormant, C. B. , & Conway, T. W. (1985). The role of social support in adaptation and recovery from physical illness. In S. Cohen & S. E. Syme (Eds.), Social support and health (pp. 281-302). New York: Academic Press.
37.
Young, J. E. (1982). Loneliness, depression, and cognitive therapy: Theory and application. In L. A. Peplau & D. Perlman (Eds.), Loneliness: A sourcebook of current theory, research, and therapy (pp. 379-405). New York: Wiley-Interscience.
