Loneliness, duration of loneliness, and reported stress symptomatology

The correlations between intensity of loneliness, duration of loneliness, and reported psychological and somatic stress symptoms were examined in 195 undergraduate students (100 women and 95 men). Analysis indicated that intensity and duration of loneliness were significantly correlated and both were also significantly positively correlated with subjects' reported psychological and somatic stress symptoms. In a forced-entry multiple regression equation predicting over-all stress symptomatology, only duration of loneliness emerged as a significant predictor, while intensity of loneliness did not add significant predictability. For college students, loneliness may be related to a wide array of reported psychological and somatic stress symptoms. It is also suggested that the duration of a lonely experience is perhaps a better predictor for symptoms of stress than intensity of loneliness.