Socio-demographic and subjective well-being predictors of social and emotional loneliness

Abstract

This research examined the relationship between loneliness and psychosocial variables among people from Portugal across the adult life span. The study examined, besides socio-demographic predictors, subjective well-being predictors of social and emotional loneliness. The sample was constituted by 1,209 participants with a mean age of 38.12 (SD = 17.49) and a range between 18 and 90 years. Social, family and romantic loneliness were measured (DiTommaso, Brannen, & Best, 2004). Overall, social, family and romantic loneliness were significantly associated with the indicators of subjective well-being. Subjective well-being factors accounted also for a larger proportion of the explained variance in social, family and romantic loneliness scores than socio-demographic factors. Limitations of the research are discussed.