TY - JOUR
T1 - Loneliness in Emerging Adulthood
T2 - A Scoping Review
AU - Kirwan, Emma M.
AU - Burns, Annette
AU - O’Súilleabháin, Páraic S.
AU - Summerville, Sarah
AU - McGeehan, Máire
AU - McMahon, Jennifer
AU - Gowda, Ashweeja
AU - Creaven, Ann Marie
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2025/3
Y1 - 2025/3
N2 - Loneliness is prevalent during emerging adulthood (approximately 18–25 years) and is an important issue given it has been linked to poorer physical and mental health outcomes. This preregistered scoping review aimed to provide an overview of the literature on loneliness in emerging adulthood, including the (a) conceptualization and measurement of loneliness, (b) loneliness theories used, (c) risk factors and outcomes examined, (d) sex-gender differences observed, and (e) characteristics of emerging adult samples previously researched. Following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines, seven electronic databases were searched for articles focused on loneliness published from 2016 to 2021, where the mean age of participants was ≥ 18 and ≤ 25 years. Of the 4068 papers screened, 201 articles were included in the final review. Findings suggest the need for a clearer consensus in the literature regarding the conceptualization of loneliness for emerging adults and more qualitative work exploring emerging adults’ subjective experiences of loneliness. Results highlight an over-reliance on cross-sectional studies. Over two thirds of articles described their sample as university students and the median percentage of females was 63.30%. Therefore, fewer cross-sectional studies using convenience samples and more population-based, longitudinal research is needed to understand the factors predicting loneliness over time, and the downstream impact of loneliness for emerging adults.
AB - Loneliness is prevalent during emerging adulthood (approximately 18–25 years) and is an important issue given it has been linked to poorer physical and mental health outcomes. This preregistered scoping review aimed to provide an overview of the literature on loneliness in emerging adulthood, including the (a) conceptualization and measurement of loneliness, (b) loneliness theories used, (c) risk factors and outcomes examined, (d) sex-gender differences observed, and (e) characteristics of emerging adult samples previously researched. Following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines, seven electronic databases were searched for articles focused on loneliness published from 2016 to 2021, where the mean age of participants was ≥ 18 and ≤ 25 years. Of the 4068 papers screened, 201 articles were included in the final review. Findings suggest the need for a clearer consensus in the literature regarding the conceptualization of loneliness for emerging adults and more qualitative work exploring emerging adults’ subjective experiences of loneliness. Results highlight an over-reliance on cross-sectional studies. Over two thirds of articles described their sample as university students and the median percentage of females was 63.30%. Therefore, fewer cross-sectional studies using convenience samples and more population-based, longitudinal research is needed to understand the factors predicting loneliness over time, and the downstream impact of loneliness for emerging adults.
KW - Emerging adulthood
KW - Loneliness
KW - Review
KW - Young adults
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85192566219&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s40894-024-00240-4
DO - 10.1007/s40894-024-00240-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85192566219
SN - 2363-8346
VL - 10
SP - 47
EP - 67
JO - Adolescent Research Review
JF - Adolescent Research Review
IS - 1
M1 - 101304
ER -