The De Jong Gierveld short scales for emotional and social loneliness: tested on data from 7 countries in the UN Generations and Gender Surveys

J. de Jong Gierveld, T. van Tilburg

Research output: Contribution to journal/periodicalArticleScientificpeer-review

556 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Loneliness concerns the subjective evaluation of the situation individuals are involved in, characterized either by a number of relationships with friends and colleagues which is smaller than is considered desirable (social loneliness), as well as situations where the intimacy in confidant relationships one wishes for has not been realized (emotional loneliness). To identify people who are lonely direct questions are not sufficient; loneliness scales are preferred. In this article, the quality of the three-item scale for emotional loneliness and the three-item scale for social loneliness has been investigated for use in the following countries participating in the United Nations ‘‘Generations and Gender Surveys’’: France, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Bulgaria, Georgia, and Japan. Sample sizes for the 7 countries varied between 8,158 and 12,828. Translations of the De Jong Gierveld loneliness scale have been tested using reliability and validity tests including a confirmatory factor analysis to test the two-dimensional structure of loneliness. Test outcomes indicated for each of the countries under investigation reliable and valid scales for emotional and social loneliness, respectively. Keywords: loneliness scale; emotional loneliness; social loneliness; partner status; health
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)121-130
JournalEuropean Journal of Ageing
Volume7
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010

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