| OCR Text |
Show measure of loneliness (Russell, Peplau, & Ferguson, 1978). They rated their general feelings of loneliness on a scale of 1 (“Never”) to 4 (“Often”) on questions such as “I lack companionship” and “People are around me, but not with me”. The responses ranged from 8 – 32 with a higher score indicating greater loneliness. Participants also rated their life satisfaction on 5-point Likert-type scale with scores ranging from 1 (very dissatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied), perceptions of overall mental health and physical health on 5-point Likerttype scales with scores ranging from 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good), self-esteem on a 5-point Likert-type scale with scores ranging from 1 (I dislike myself very much) to 5 (I like myself very much), and stress and pain interference on a daily basis through Likert-type scales with scores ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). After completing the survey, participants were redirected to a separate webpage where they had the option of providing their contact information in order to receive a $40 Amazon gift card, resources related to the topic of the survey, and/or the option to receive a summary of the results of the survey. Results First, we hypothesized that young adults who did not have a current romantic relationship would report higher levels of loneliness. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted with relationship status (i.e., single, in a relationship, not interested in a relationship) as the independent variable (IV) and UCLA Loneliness Scale score as the dependent variable (DV). Contrary to expectations, there were no group differences in loneliness scores between participants who were not interested in a relationship (n = 33, M = 20.5, SD = 3.5), single (n = 96, M = 21.5, SD = 4.8), or who were attached (n = 48, M = 21.2, SD = 5.3; F (2, 174) = .678, p = .509). Second, we expected that higher levels of self-reported loneliness would be associated with poorer self-reported mental health, physical health, life satisfaction, and self-esteem. We also expected that higher levels of loneliness would be associated with higher levels of stress, pain, and higher body mass index (BMI). Consistent with expectations, higher levels of loneliness were correlated with lower life satisfaction (r = .558, p < .001), lower self-esteem (r = -.524, p < .001), poorer ratings of mental health (r = -.377, p < .001), and poorer ratings of physical health (r = -.319, p < .001). Furthermore, higher levels of loneliness were correlated with greater daily stress (r = .374, p < .001) and greater ratings of pain interference in daily life (r = .263, p < .001). Loneliness was not correlated with BMI (r = .090, p =.236); however, higher BMI was correlated with poorer ratings of physical health (r = -.349, p < .001). Discussion Previous research on relationships and health with neurotypical adults has demonstrated that loneliness negatively impacts both mental and physical health (Cacioppo, 2015). Given the social impairments associated with ASD, including impaired social skills and lower social motivation for some individuals, there was once a perception that individuals with ASD were not interested in either friendships or romantic relationships and were not lonely. However, more recently studies have shown that individuals with ASD are interested in romantic relationships (Byers, 2013). Additionally, adolescents and young adults with ASD tend to be lonelier than their neurotypical peers (e.g., Mazurek, 2014). This is the first study to show a link between loneliness and poor outcomes for this population. As expected, we found that higher levels of loneliness were associated with lower levels of life satisfaction, self-esteem, and perceived physical and mental health. We also found that higher levels of loneliness were associated with greater ratings of daily stress and pain interference. Neurotypical individuals who report that they are in a romantic relationship have lower levels of loneliness than those who are single (Adamczyk, & Segrin 2015). Contrary to expectations, we found no group differences in loneliness scores between individuals with ASD based on relationship status. One possible explanation for this may be that quality of the relationship, rather than status alone, may predict |
