Adaptation of the Short-form 6-item UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-6) into Turkish.

objectiveThe short-form 6-item UCLA Loneliness Scale is a brief assessment scale developed to determine the level of loneliness from a one-dimensional perspective while preserving psychometric properties equivalent to the original 20-item version. This study aimed to adapt the short-form 6-item UCLA Loneliness Scale into Turkish and to analyze its validity and reliability.

methodThe convenience sampling method was preferred for this methodological study, in which 411 clinical and non-clinical individuals were included. The clinical group included 41 patients with major depressive disorders attending the psychiatric outpatient ward. The study's data were collected with the Descriptive Information Form, short-form 6-item UCLA Loneliness Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Beck Depression Inventory, and Trait Anxiety (A-Trait) Scale.

resultsThe Cronbach's alpha value of the UCLA Loneliness Scale-6 Item Short Form was calculated as 0.884, and the scale's internal consistency level was quite high. For the UCLA Loneliness Scale-6 Item Short Form, the variability level of the items constituting the one-dimensional structure produced from the explanatory factor analysis was 63.411%, and it could distinguish patients with descriptive features and clinical diagnosis (p<0.05). The scores of the UCLA Loneliness Scale-6 Item Short Form and other scales assessing loneliness showed a significant correlation (r=-0.476 - 0.618).

conclusionThe short-form 6-item UCLA Loneliness Scale is a simple, easy-to-apply, reliable, and valid scale that can be used in studies assessing loneliness.