People living alone are often depicted as prone to social isolation and poor well-being. Since previous research largely focused on comparisons between the living arrangements of older adults, evidence on differences within middle-aged adults living alone remains sparse. The present study used a person-centered approach to allow for a…

Loneliness describes a perceived deficiency in quantitative or qualitative aspects of individuals' social relationships. Whereas the health-related consequences of loneliness are well-documented, surprisingly little is known about its interpersonal features and its consequences for relationship outcomes. In the present study, we investigated the…

In this study, we examined how technology impacts adolescents' perceptions of, and affective responses to solitude, as well as how adolescents' own motivations for solitude (shyness, affinity for aloneness) were related to these reactions. Participants were N = 437 adolescents (297 girls; M[subscript age] = 16.15 years, standard deviation (SD) =…

While loneliness for short periods of time is normal, prolonged loneliness has severe health risks. This study aims to discover what loneliness trajectories can be found in a cohort of adolescents, how belongingness to different groups may be associated with these trajectories, and the mental, physical, and academic consequences of these…

Rooted in commitment theory, this study examines dedication, perceived investments, and felt constraint, three unique aspects of commitment, in midlife using data gathered from a sample of 224 adults surveyed at ages 43 and 50 years. Positive and negative dimensions of couple relations (partner supportiveness and the extent to which one's partner…

Trajectories of perceived stress from the transition to adulthood (age 25), during young adulthood (age 32), and into midlife (ages 43 and 50) were examined with four waves of longitudinal survey data (N = 688; 49% female, 37% with a university degree, 86% White). We explored how between- and within-person variation in perceived stress was…

Programs effective in promoting positive youth development (PYD) involve curricular features termed the Big Three: Positive and sustained adult-youth relationships; life-skill-building activities; and youth contribution and leadership opportunities. Data from 610 adolescents (50% female; M[subscript age] = 16.39 years, SD = 1.83) enrolled in…

The present study used quantitative and qualitative methods to explore how lonely young people are seen from others' perspectives, in terms of their personality, behavior, and life circumstances. Data were drawn from the Environmental Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a cohort of 2,232 individuals born in the U.K. in the mid-1990s. When participants…

Previous experimental work showed that young adults reporting loneliness performed less well on emotion recognition tasks (Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy [DANVA-2]) if they were framed as indicators of social aptitude, but not when the same tasks were framed as indexing academic aptitude. Such findings suggested that undergraduates…

Lack of social interaction is associated with a heightened sense of loneliness and, in turn, poorer psychological well-being. Despite the prevalence of communicating with others virtually even when physically alone, whether the social interaction--loneliness--well-being relationship is different between face-to-face and virtual interactions and…

Objectives: The present study evaluated the reciprocal temporal associations between one's subjective age (or felt age) and one's social relations in the adult day care center (ADCC) over two waves of data collection, spread about 1 year apart. Method: Participants from four ADCCs in Israel were approached in 2017 and repeatedly, in 2018 (N = 224…

Prior research in non-U.S. samples has found a complex nonlinear relationship between loneliness and age. This research has shown that established predictors of loneliness--poor health, being unmarried, living alone, and having infrequent social interactions--help to explain age differences in loneliness. However, while some variables were found…

Being securely attached and willing to forgive your partner tends to promote greater relationship success. Though attachment and partner forgiveness are associated cross-sectionally, research has yet to investigate whether and how these positive relationship factors tend to codevelop over time. The current study examined cross-lagged effects and…

Online exchange of sexual content ("sexting") is associated with potentially negative consequences, especially for girls. We investigated possible associations between family functioning and girls' sexting. Italian teenage girls (N = 250; M[subscript age] = 16.36 years; SD[subscript age] = 1.88) completed online surveys that evaluated…

Only a few studies have longitudinally explored to whom emerging adults prefer to turn to seek closeness, comfort, and security (called "attachment preferences"), and previous studies on attachment preferences in emerging adults have focused only on the beginning of romantic relationships but not on the end of relationships. Czech…