Loneliness as predictor of mental health components
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Date
2013-11-04
Authors
Shahidi, Mehrdad
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Abstract
In different psychological theories and perspectives, mental health or well-being is characterized by a set
of major components. Using Ryff’s theory of positive psychological well-being, this study focused on the roles of
loneliness and some major demographic factors in predicting mental health components as measured by Ryff’s
Well-Being Scale. One-hundred and eighty Canadian and international students attending Mount Saint Vincent
University in Nova Scotia participated in this study. All participants completed two measures of loneliness (R-UCLA
Loneliness Scale and Differential Loneliness Scale), Ryff’s Well-Being Scale and Demographic Questionnaire.
Bivariate correlation, ANOVA and hierarchical linear regression revealed that there was a negative association
between loneliness and all well-being components. Findings from the current research demonstrate that
individuals who were international or landed immigrant students felt more sense of loneliness and had lower
levels of mental health when compared to Canadian students. Using hierarchical linear regression indicated that
loneliness in all three models had a high effect size when predicting well-being (mental health).With a .463 effect
size in model 3, R-UCLA Loneliness Scale can be used to predict well-being very appropriately.
Description
Keywords
Loneliness , Mental Health , International students , University students