ReviewInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
A Conceptual Review of Loneliness in Adults: Qualitative Evidence Synthesis.
Review in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- The conceptualisation and measurement of social frailty in older people: an umbrella review.The Journal of frailty & aging · 2025Pooled it
- Adolescent Loneliness When a Parent Has Cancer: A Qualitative Systematic Review.Psycho-oncology · 2025Pooled it
- The transition to motherhood: a qualitative study of new mothers' experiences of loneliness and associated challenges.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2026Article
- Feasibility of Using a Wearable Device to Identify Loneliness Among Older Adults Living Alone: Mixed Methods Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- "I Am Not Lonely; I Am Just No Longer Needed": Unnamed Loneliness, Masculinities, Intimacy, and Mental Health Among Older Men in Lisbon, Portugal.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Article
- Loneliness in sexual and gender minority youths: Critical implications of a multidimensional approach.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Roles of Self-Stigma and Meaning in the Relationship Between Age and Loneliness: A Perspective From Gerotranscendence.PsyCh journal · 2026Article
- The Longitudinal Interplay Between Loneliness and Depressive Symptoms During Late Childhood: Cross-Lagged Panel Network Analyses.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Article
- "I just feel alone and by myself": how adolescents experience loneliness when their parent has cancer.BMC public health · 2026Article
- "I'm lonely": An underrecognized marker of silent suffering in PWE in underresourced settings?Epilepsy & behavior reports · 2026Article
- Alone together online: a mixed-methods analysis of loneliness, recognition, and peer response in a public digital community.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Unmet needs for proactive health services among older adults with functional impairment in Chinese long-term care facilities (LTCFs): a qualitative study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- "What does the word loneliness mean to you?" Reflections on co-developing public engagement workshops to facilitate discussions of loneliness with older adults from ethnically diverse groups.Research involvement and engagement · 2025Article
- Conceptualising workplace loneliness: a qualitative investigation with UK workers.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- Understanding the Thoughts and Preferences for Technologies Designed to Detect Feelings of Loneliness: Interview Study Among Older Adults.JMIR human factors · 2025Article
- "I don't want to make trouble": Emotional Distress, Disconnection, and Loneliness Among Older People in China.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2025Article
- Loneliness and Social Isolation in Individuals with Acute Myocardial Infarction and Takotsubo Syndrome: A Scoping Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Who Dies Alone? Demographics, Underlying Diseases, and Healthcare Utilization Patterns of Lonely Death Individuals in Korea.Journal of preventive medicine and public health = Yebang Uihakhoe chi · 2025Article
- Challenges for staff encountering older people's existential concerns: Swedish first-line managers' views. A cross-sectional study.Scandinavian journal of caring sciences · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The paper reports an evidence synthesis of how loneliness is conceptualised in qualitative studies in adults. Using PRISMA guidelines, our review evaluated exposure to or experiences of loneliness by adults (aged 16+) in any setting as outcomes, processes, or both. Our initial review included any qualitative or mixed-methods study, published or unpublished, in English, from 1945 to 2018, if it employed an identified theory or concept for understanding loneliness. The review was updated to include publications up to November 2020. We used a PEEST (Participants, Exposure, Evaluation, Study Design, Theory) inclusion criteria. Data extraction and quality assessment (CASP) were completed and cross-checked by a second reviewer. The Evidence of Reviews of Qualitative Research (CERQual) was used to evaluate confidence in the findings. We undertook a thematic synthesis using inductive methods for peer-reviewed papers. The evidence identified three types of distinct but overlapping conceptualisations of loneliness: social, emotional, and existential. We have high confidence in the evidence conceptualising social loneliness and moderate confidence in the evidence on emotional and existential loneliness. Our findings provide a more nuanced understanding of these diverse conceptualisations to inform more effective decision-making and intervention development to address the negative wellbeing impacts of loneliness.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.