Teens and young adults: loneliness and wellbeing

Loneliness is increasingly recognised as a serious public health concern within the UK, with robust links to physical health, use of health care services, and early mortality.

Though loneliness has historically been viewed as an issue amongst older adults, recent research has shown elevated levels of loneliness among young people, with effects accumulating across the lifespan.

This project focuses exclusively on young people, and leverages data from three large UK data resources to identify individual and community factors associated with loneliness, differentiate loneliness from related aspects of social wellbeing, and investigate the impact of loneliness on personal wellbeing and mental health.

Findings from the project will allow for early identification of risk and protective factors for loneliness that subsequently inform the design of public policy aimed at alleviating loneliness, and improving personal wellbeing and mental health.

You can sign up to our evidence alerts to find out more as this research progresses throughout 2020.