Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42087041›Full record

ArticleDiscover mental health2026

Development and psychometric validation of the Kanazawa University loneliness scale for children and adolescents.

Yasuo Murayama, Daiki Soma, Masafumi Kameya, Makiko Nishiura, Ai Uemiya, Sanae Tanaka, Minehisa Ueda, Masatsugu Tsujii, Mitsuru Kikuchi

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Discover mental health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Yasuo MurayamaInstitutes of Human and Social Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 921-1192, Japan. y-murayama@staff.kanazawa-u.ac.jp.
Daiki SomaDepartment of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical, Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, 13-1, Takaramachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan.
Masafumi KameyaDepartment of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Medical, Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences, Kanazawa University, 13-1, Takaramachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan.
Makiko NishiuraFaculty of Sociology, Yamato University, 2-5-1 Katayama-cho, Suita, Osaka, Japan.
Ai UemiyaInstitutes of Human and Social Sciences, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, 921-1192, Japan.
Sanae TanakaResearch Center for Child Mental Development, Kanazawa University, 13- 1, Takaramachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan.
Minehisa UedaFaculty of Sociology, Hokuriku Gakuin University, 11 Mitsukoujimachi I, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan.
Masatsugu TsujiiResearch Center for Child Mental Development, Kanazawa University, 13- 1, Takaramachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan.
Mitsuru KikuchiResearch Center for Child Mental Development, Kanazawa University, 13- 1, Takaramachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan.

Funding

the Moonshot Research and Development Program JPMJMS229C-14a
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Loneliness is a key risk factor for youth mental health; however, existing scales often fail to capture its multidimensional and relational nature. This study developed the [blinded] University Loneliness Scale (KULoS) for students in Grades 1-9 and evaluated its psychometric properties using cross-sectional and longitudinal survey data collected in Ishikawa, Japan (Time 1: n = 856; Time 2: n = 709). Exploratory factor analyses conducted separately for grades 1-4 and grades 5-9 supported a two-factor structure primarily reflecting item wording (direct vs. indirect items). The four-item direct subscale (KULoS-D) demonstrated good internal consistency (ω = 0.801-0.862), whereas the indirect subscale (KULoS-I) showed lower reliability (ω = 0.662-0.666). Confirmatory factor analyses at both time points indicated a good fit for the two-factor model. KULoS-D showed strong associations with single-item loneliness and depressive symptoms (rs ≈ 0.50) and moderate correlations with aggressive and prosocial behavior in the expected directions, whereas KULoS-I demonstrated weaker convergent and criterion-related validity. Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed that KULoS-D at Time 1 significantly predicted depressive symptoms at Time 2 after controlling for baseline depressive symptoms, whereas KULoS-I did not predict depressive symptoms. Overall, these findings support the KULoS-D as a brief and psychometrically robust measure of loneliness in children and early adolescents, with potential utility for large-scale research and early screening.

Indexed as

AdolescenceDepressive symptomsEmotional lonelinessFactor analysisLonelinessSocial loneliness

Identifiers

PMID42087041
PMCPMC13315398

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

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.