Purpose

The scale was designed to assess loneliness and social dissatisfaction. Initially developed for general use (1984), it was later revised in 1985 for use in schools, specifically with school-aged children (3rd grade and above).

Brief Description

This is a self-report scale that includes 23 items (the first 16 from the original scale, and the remaining 7 added in the Greek adaptation). Participants respond to the items, which are phrased as questions, by choosing one of three options (“Never,” “Sometimes,” “Always”) scored from 1 to 3. The items assess the child’s subjective feeling of loneliness and rejection in relationships, their perception of the causes of this situation, and their self-perceived social competence. The focus is on the school environment.

Sample

The adaptation was based on a sample of 238 students in 4th and 6th grade (average ages 9.3 and 11.2 years, respectively). Comparisons were made between the original and the adapted versions, using parallel tests and interviews with the children. First, it was found that the 16-item scale (as well as the new 23-item version) had good internal consistency, and the scores were not severely distorted by age. Second, seven items were added to better capture social isolation and dissatisfaction in peer relationships, addressing a limitation of the original scale which focused disproportionately on subjective feelings of loneliness. These new items are the only ones not strongly correlated with the core loneliness and relationship satisfaction items. The content of the added questions was derived from pilot interviews with children discussing their experiences of loneliness. The average score in the Greek version was 1.40 with a standard deviation of 0.30.

Scoring Method

Scoring is done by summing all item scores.

Validity

There is evidence of satisfactory construct validity in the Greek adaptation. Factor analysis revealed a single factor that most items (all but one) loaded onto, consistent with the original scale. Correlations with other variables were also in the expected directions.

Reliability

The internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) for the Greek version is 0.85 overall (0.80 for 4th grade and 0.87 for 6th grade; 0.87 for 4th grade boys and 0.85 for 6th grade boys; 0.85 for both boys and girls).

Key References

Asher, S. R., Hymel, S., & Renshaw, P. D. (1984). Loneliness in children. Child Development, 55, 1456–1464.
Asher, S. R., & Wheeler, V. A. (1985). Children’s loneliness: A comparison of rejected and neglected peer status. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, 500–505.
Cassidy, J., & Asher, S. R. (1992). Loneliness and peer relations in young children. Child Development, 63, 350–365.
Galanaki, E. P., & Kalantzi-Azizi, A. (1999). Loneliness and social dissatisfaction: Its relation with children’s self-efficacy for peer interaction. Child Study Journal, 29, 1–22.