ArticleJournal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines2026
Loneliness patterns across time and subsequent risk of psychotic experiences, depression, anxiety, and diminished well-being in adolescents.
Article in Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cumulative Risks and Trajectories of Psychological Maladjustment in Chinese Adolescents: The Dynamic Mediating Role of Self-Esteem.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2026Article
- Loneliness and desire for thinness explain sex differences in adolescent internalizing problems.Nature human behaviour · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEvidence on the association between loneliness and psychotic experiences in adolescents remains limited. Moreover, loneliness has typically been assessed at a single time point, which fails to capture its dynamic nature. We hypothesized that persistent loneliness, assessed across repeated measures, would be associated with psychotic experiences and other mental health problems.
methodsUsing longitudinal data from 3,171 participants in the Tokyo Teen Cohort, we applied the g-formula. We analyzed how loneliness patterns at ages 12 and 14 were associated with psychotic experiences, depression, anxiety, and diminished well-being at age 16, accounting for time-fixed and time-varying confounders. Missing data were handled using multiple imputation by chained equations.
resultsPersistent loneliness was associated with increased risk and greater severity of psychotic experiences (RD 7.1%, 95% CI: 0.8-14.3; RR 2.44, 95% CI: 1.16-4.11; β 0.28, 95% CI: 0.10-0.48). Incident loneliness at age 14 showed similar associations. No association was found for adolescents whose loneliness had remitted by age 14 (RD -1.3%, 95% CI: -3.6 to 1.2; RR 0.73, 95% CI: 0.31-1.26; β 0.01, 95% CI: -0.04 to 0.08). Sensitivity analyses using marginal structural models yielded results that were largely unchanged. Findings were generally similar for other mental health problems. Associations were consistent across genders, although the association with well-being appeared particularly important for girls.
conclusionsThe dynamics of loneliness are associated with a wide range of mental health problems in adolescents. The risk may not be permanent and could be mitigated if loneliness remits. Further research examining interventions that target loneliness is warranted.
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