Loneliness, perceived social support, and anxiety among Israeli adolescents

This study was designed to investigate the variables of social support, loneliness, and anxiety among two groups, i.e., participants who identified with the label "I am a lonely person" (Lonely group; n = 37) and those who did not identify with this label (Not lonely group; n = 107). Based on the findings of a 1994 study of South Pacific participants, hypotheses were formulated and tested using the grouping variable. As expected, significant correlations for scores on loneliness with social support and with anxiety were noted. Also, as expected, there were significant differences between the two groups on social support, loneliness, and anxiety. While such results support earlier findings it appears the association of loneliness and perceived social support may be more complex than proposed earlier. For the lonely group anxiety is significantly correlated with a need to seek acceptance.