ArticleBMC public health2025
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.
Article in BMC public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- How Is the Loneliness Affected by Family and Friend Support in Adolescents With Depressive Disorder: The Mediating Role of Coping Strategies.Psychiatry investigation · 2026Article
- Parental Resilience and Adolescent Mental Well-Being: A Population-Based Study.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- What is the prevalence and temporal trends of high perceived social support among children and adolescents across 45 countries? Findings from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2026Article
- Exploring the Relationship Between Perceived Social Support and Psychological Resilience Among Chinese Adolescents in Post-Pandemic Online Learning Contexts: The Mediating Role of Loneliness.Inquiry : a journal of medical care organization, provision and financingArticle
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundLoneliness among children and adolescents has been increasingly recognized as a public health issue, for example, because of its associations with mental health problems. Nevertheless, there is a lack of evidence regarding the links between loneliness and mental health and the potential buffering role of social support. Thus, this study aims to investigate the prevalence of loneliness among children and adolescents in Germany and its associations with mental health. Furthermore, we analyze whether social support is negatively correlated with loneliness and mental health problems and whether it acts as a moderator of the association between loneliness and mental health issues.
methodsThis study analyzed data from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey in Germany in 2022, which included 6,475 students aged 11, 13, and 15 years (girls: 50,6%, M
resultsA total of 17.2% of the students reported high levels of loneliness. Compared with boys, girls and gender-diverse students reported higher rates of loneliness. High levels of loneliness were strongly linked to poorer subjective health (OR = 5.56, p <.001), lower life satisfaction (OR = 7.32, p <.001), and increased psychosomatic complaints (OR = 7.38, p <.001). High social support from family, teachers, and students was associated with reduced loneliness and better mental health outcomes. Teacher support in grades 7 and 9 buffered the effect of loneliness on multiple psychosomatic complaints.
conclusionThe findings highlight that loneliness is a prevalent phenomenon among children and adolescents and is strongly associated with mental health issues. Greater social support is linked to reduced loneliness and better mental health, so targeted interventions to promote social support in schools and families are needed to address loneliness. Future research should explore longitudinal relationships and further elucidate the mechanisms underlying these associations.
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