Loneliness, a state of mind that most individuals experience at some point in life. It is characterized by feelings of aloneness and/or isolation. Most studies focusing on loneliness seek to gain greater insight by examining individual and contextual factors. Although there is an abundance of loneliness related literature on adolescents in developed nations, there is a dearth of information when considering adolescents from developing countries. This study examined the association between self-reported feelings of loneliness and perceived parental understanding as well as loneliness and reported number of close friends among senior high school students in Ghana, West-Africa.
Methods
We utilized data from the 2008 Ghana Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS). A total of 7,137 senior secondary school students participated in this self-reported survey. The questions utilized for analysis asked about feelings of loneliness, perceived parental understanding of child problems and worries, and number of close friends. Complex tables with test of significance were created for loneliness by parental understanding and loneliness by number of close friends when considering gender.
Analysis/Results
An association between self report of loneliness and perceived parental understanding of problems and worries was found, (X2 =62.55, F = 31.20, df1 = 1.97, df2 = 1047.05, p < 0.001). Students whose parents never (23.5%, ± 2.5) understand their problems and worries are significantly more likely to report being lonely than those whose parents sometimes (13.5%, ± 1.4) or most of the time/always (14.0%, ± 1.2) understand their problems. In addition, an association between self report of loneliness and the reported number of close friends was found, (X2 =57.12, F = 29.92, df1 = 1.99, df2 = 1058.01, p < 0.001). Students who have no close friends (25.4%, ± 3.6) are significantly more likely to report being lonely than those who have one or two (12.8%, ± 1.1) or three or more (15.5%, ± 2.1) friends. When considering gender, among students who reported that their parents never understand their problems, female students (27.9%, ± 4.2) are significantly more likely to report being lonely compared to male (20.6%, ± 2.9) students.
Conclusions
Ghanaian adolescents' self-report of loneliness is significantly associated with perceived parental understanding and number of close friends. Although existing literature indicates that loneliness is a significant predictor in bullying, depression, and other negative emotional and social experiences, further research is needed to examine loneliness as a predictor among this population.