Loneliness and the Role of Friendship in Youth: A Meta-Analysis
Summary
High rates of loneliness in youth are of great concern. During this developmental phase, forming social relationships is crucial. Friendships can combat loneliness, even possibly long-term. However, interventions focusing on social relationships have not been highly successful. To improve the focus of these interventions, a better understanding of the relation between friendship and loneliness in youth is needed. This meta-analysis was conducted to synthesize the current data on this topic. A classical meta-analysis and two moderator analyses were conducted with 62 effect sizes, with a total sample of 18,666 individuals (47.7% male). Results showed a medium overall effect of r = ₋.33. This association with loneliness was stronger for quality of friendship than quantity of friendship. No interaction effect of aspect of friendship and age was found. These findings indicate that a) youth with lower quality and quantity of friendship feel lonelier, b) this relation is stronger when friendship is measured by quality of friendship rather than quantity of friendship, and c) that this is the same for both childhood and adolescent friendships. How these findings contribute to the current understanding of loneliness in youth, and suggestions for future research and interventions, will be discussed.