A two-year perspective: who may ease the burden of girls' loneliness in school?

Appreciating the 4 "Ts" of Loneliness When Providing Psychiatric Care for the Lonely Patient

Loneliness can be evaluated from a 4-concept viewpoint of territory, threat, trauma and trust (4 Ts). Territory refers to an area of ownership that is controlled on a daily basis and is fundamental to one's daily life. Lonely individuals often manage boundaries by gaining greater control over their physical environment by territorial behavior. They guard personal territory well as the only area where they can exert dominance and feel safe. Perceptions of social isolation or loneliness increase vigilance for threats, decrease trust, and heighten feelings of vulnerability. Clinical teams caring for the lonely must be especially attentive to a history of prior trauma. Clinicians who ask permission, who pay attention to nonverbal cues, distance, and speed as they enter the lonely person's space, and who respect boundaries may be more successful in gaining trust. Achieving trust diminishes the risk of physical harm, while allowing lonely persons the perceived control they need to permit health care interventions. Veterans are at higher risk for loneliness. Given their military training, they may be particularly attentive to boundaries, protecting the perimeter, watching for threats, and defending their space. In this article, we discuss the successful mental health treatment of a lonely male veteran in a Veterans Affairs Medical Center, by paying attention to the 4 Ts of loneliness. We used a 4-step approach of validation, mentalization, reality testing, and socialization to decrease the sense of threat as we sought acceptance to the patient's territory, followed by building trust and working on past trauma.

Loneliness and its association with psychological and somatic health problems among Czech, Russian and U.S. adolescents

BACKGROUND

Loneliness is common in adolescence and has been linked to various negative outcomes. Until now, however, there has been little cross-country research on this phenomenon. The aim of the present study was to examine which factors are associated with adolescent loneliness in three countries that differ historically and culturally-the Czech Republic, Russia and the United States, and to determine whether adolescent loneliness is associated with poorer psychological and somatic health.

METHODS

Data from a school survey, the Social and Health Assessment (SAHA), were used to examine these relations among 2205 Czech, 1995 Russian, and 2050 U.S. male and female adolescents aged 13 to 15 years old. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine if specific demographic, parenting, personal or school-based factors were linked to feeling lonely and whether lonely adolescents were more likely to report psychological (depression and anxiety) or somatic symptoms (e.g. headaches, pain).

RESULTS

Inconsistent parenting, shyness, and peer victimisation were associated with higher odds for loneliness in at least 4 of the 6 country- and sex-wise subgroups (i.e. Czech, Russian, U.S. boys and girls). Parental warmth was a protective factor against feeling lonely among Czech and U.S. girls. Adolescents who were lonely had higher odds for reporting headaches, anxiety and depressive symptoms across all subgroups. Loneliness was associated with other somatic symptoms in at least half of the adolescent subgroups.

CONCLUSION

Loneliness is associated with worse adolescent health across countries. The finding that variables from different domains are important for loneliness highlights the necessity of interventions in different settings in order to reduce loneliness and its detrimental effects on adolescent health.