Assessment of an Epidemic Urgency: Psychometric Evidence for the UCLA Loneliness Scale

Abstract

Background In modern industrialized countries, loneliness has been declared an epidemic. The present paper aimed to replicate previous findings about the dimensionality of the UCLA Loneliness Scale-3 version (LS-3) in a sample of Italian adults using Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM). Methods In Study 1, 1676 participants (M age = 31.15; SD = 11.89) completed the LS-3. The three-factor ESEM model was performed to replicate the previous Italian version, and a Confirmatory Factor Analysis compared the three- and ten-item short versions. In Studies 2, 3, and 4, we administered measures of anxiety, depression, stress, internet addiction, self-esteem, and social interaction anxiety to 3513 participants (M age = 30.81; SD = 11.77) to assess the convergent and discriminant validity of LS-3. Results The ESEM 3-factor model was replicated using a Target rotation (X 2 = 847.597; df = 133; CFI = 0.942; TLI = 0.917; RMSEA = 0.062), whereas the already-known LS-3 short version raised psychometric concerns. Positive relationships with anxiety, depression, stress, internet addiction, and social interaction anxiety, as well as negative association with self-esteem were found. Conclusion In conclusion, our findings support the use of the LS-3 in the Italian sample and discourage the administration of the current short forms. The implications for research and clinical practice have been discussed.

How Mental Health and Suicidality Changed during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study in the General and Psychiatric Population Illustrating Risk and Protective Factors

“…The psychometric properties of the scale have been shown to be adequate in both the Italian and the German validations [45,46]. More specifically, an adequate Cronbach's alpha value [47] and adequate convergent and discriminant validation values (i.e., correlations with anxiety, depression, and stress) have been shown [47]. Cronbach's alpha in the present sample was 0.84.…”