Social-Ecological Correlates of Loneliness Among Young Adult U.S. Males

Social disconnection, such as loneliness, is recognized as a significant public health concern in the United States, and young adult males may carry the greater burden of this issue when compared with their female peers. Little is known about the correlates of loneliness for this population. This study examines the social-ecological correlates of loneliness in young adult males.

Males, aged 18 to 25 years, in the United States were recruited to take part in a cross-sectional electronic survey. Loneliness was assessed as a composite measure. The social-ecological correlates consisted of intrapersonal-level (e.g., social-demographic characteristics), interpersonal-level (e.g., adverse childhood experiences), community-level (e.g., life expectancy at the county level), and societal-level (e.g., idealized masculine gender) variables. A four-block hierarchical regression was performed with each block representing the respective social-ecological level.

Among the study sample (n = 495), the intra- and interpersonal variables significantly shared 10% and an incremental 3%, respectively, of the explained variance in loneliness. Mental health diagnosis (β = 1.06, 95% confidence interval [CI]: [0.54, 1.59]), childhood physical and emotional abuse (β = 0.21, 95% CI: [0.02, 0.39]), and childhood sexual abuse (β = 0.30, 95% CI: [0.01, 0.60]) were significantly associated with greater loneliness.

The findings highlight that the micro-level (intra- and interpersonal) correlates may be most important in predicting loneliness in young adult males. Specifically, young males with a mental health diagnosis and those with greater experiences of childhood adversity are at potentially greater risk for loneliness. Implications for research, programming, and policy are highlighted.