ArticlePloS one2023
Screening for loneliness in representative population samples: Validation of a single-item measure.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06621537 (Mental Health Burden and Help-seeking Behavior in the Austrian General Population), which is not on this map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
Mental Health Burden and Help-seeking Behavior in the Austrian General Population: from Problem to Psychotherapy in Different Population Groups from a Psychotherapy Science Perspective
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Sensor-Based Technologies for the Detection of Unwanted Loneliness in Older Adults: A Systematic Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Incremental Information from Repeated Loneliness Assessments in Middle-Aged and Older Adults.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Connected care in a digital world: Engagement and telehealth use in older cancer survivors.Journal of geriatric oncology · 2026Article
- Psychometric validation of brief scales for loneliness at work in Korea: the Three-Item Scale for Loneliness at Work (SLAW-3) and Single-Item Scale for Loneliness at Work (SLAW-1).Annals of occupational and environmental medicine · 2026Article
- Loneliness around the world: patterns, predictors, and well-being implications.European journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Article
- Loneliness in prostate cancer survivors.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2026Article
- Loneliness in Schizophrenia: The Mediating Roles of Asocial Beliefs and Mattering.The International journal of social psychiatry · 2026Article
- Loneliness, affectivity and psychological distress in people living alone during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cluster analysis.Psicologia, reflexao e critica : revista semestral do Departamento de Psicologia da UFRGS · 2026Article
- Chronic fatigue: psychometric properties and updated norm values of the Chalder fatigue scale in a cross-sectional sample representative of the German population.Annals of medicine · 2025Article
- Two decades of loneliness among children and adolescents: longitudinal trends, risks and resources - Results from the German BELLA and COPSY studies.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Article
- Is social connectedness still in decline after the Covid-19 pandemic? Cohort trends in secondary school students in Finland between 2017 and 2023.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Hearing Loss and Its Relation to Loneliness and Depression-A Population-Based Cohort Study.The Laryngoscope · 2025Article
- Lonely children and adolescents are less healthy and report less social support: A study on the effect of loneliness on mental health and the moderating role of social support.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Results of a multi-perspective examination of loneliness trajectories and its determinants in German adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Social isolation, loneliness and the relationship with serum biomarkers, functional parameters and mortality in older adults.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2025Article
- Perception of one's social environment and loneliness: results of the nationally representative "Old age in Germany (D80+)" study.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- Facility-Level Variation of Resident Loneliness in Assisted Living and Associated Organizational Context Factors: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of geriatric psychiatry · 2025Article
- Network analysis of loneliness, mental, and physical health in Czech adolescents.Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2025Article
- Psychological indicators for healthy aging: validation of the German short version of Ryff's scales of psychological well-being (SPWB).Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLoneliness is a highly relevant public mental health issue. This work presents the validation of a single-item measure of loneliness and its subjective experience: "I am frequently alone/have few contacts". It can be used in large-scale population surveys where an economical assessment is of key importance.
methodsData was drawn from two representative German population surveys conducted in early and late 2020 (combined N = 4,984; 52.9% women; age: M = 48.39 years (SD = 17.88)). We determined the prevalence of loneliness in men and women across different age groups. In order to test concurrent validity, bivariate correlation analyses and Chi-square tests were performed. Convergent and discriminant validity were tested by investigating intercorrelations of the single-item measure of loneliness with another loneliness measure, other mental health outcomes, and associations with sociodemographic characteristics.
resultsBased on the single-item measure, 23.4% of participants reported some degree of loneliness, 3.4% among them severe loneliness. Comparisons with the LS-S showed similar prevalence rates of loneliness. A moderately positive relationship between the two loneliness measures was found by bivariate correlation analysis (ρ = .57, p < .001), but results indicated only weak convergent validity. Construct validity was supported by associations with depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, satisfaction with life, household size, and partnership.
conclusionsLoneliness is frequently reported in the general population. The single-item measure of loneliness is suitable as a brief screening measure in population-based assessments.
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