The interplay and divergence between measurement of loneliness and lack of social support – results from a questionnaire survey

Le résumé fourni par la source

BACKGROUND: Loneliness and lack of social support are theoretically distinguished phenomena, but simultaneously overlap and mutually influence each other, challenging the measurement of these phenomena within health research. OBJECTIVE: To contribute to the understanding of the interplay and divergence of loneliness and lack of social support by investigating the convergent validity between two social support questionnaires and a loneliness questionnaire, in a population of patients treated for cardiac disease. METHOD: In total, 573 patients >18 years of age treated for cardiac disease were approached from October 2022 to May 2023 and answered two social support questionnaires and one loneliness questionnaire, and 365 patients (63.7%) completed the questionnaire. The interplay and divergence between loneliness and lack of social support were assessed by calculating convergent validity between the questionnaires. RESULTS: = 0.317-0.601, suggesting a dynamic interplay between social support and loneliness, yet also a challenge for maintaining conceptual and measurement-based divergence. CONCLUSION: This finding implies that, although loneliness and lack of social support are conceptually distinct, differentiating between these dimensions in a questionnaire survey is challenging.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.