AI Insight
This study of 373 higher education students found that 41.6% experienced loneliness, which was associated with differences across 10 behavioral domains and negatively correlated with social participation. Self-efficacy, health literacy, and subjective health were significant predictors of healthy lifestyle behaviors, with poor subjective health being the strongest predictor. The research reveals that loneliness among students should be understood as part of a complex health-psychological pattern rather than simple social disconnection, with an inverted U-shaped relationship between stress and social participation observed specifically in non-lonely students.
Why it matters
These findings suggest that interventions to support student wellbeing in higher education should address loneliness as a multifaceted issue involving psychological resources, health behaviors, and contextual factors rather than focusing solely on increasing social connections. Understanding these relationships can help universities develop more effective mental health and wellness programs tailored to student needs.
Understand the Science
BackgroundHigher education institutions can be conceptualized as community settings that may facilitate individuals’ health and well-being (in terms of low loneliness), health behavior, and general social participation. However, facilitating factors in individuals, their social network, and contextual factors were not researched building on the Evolutionary Theory of Loneliness and the Compensatory Carry-Over Action Model.ObjectiveIn a community case study, students’ health behavior, loneliness, and social participation were investigated to determine interrelations and factors that help students maintain a healthy lifestyle, reduce loneliness, and increase social participation.MethodWe analyzed an online survey of 373 students using descriptive statistics, group comparisons, regression models, and exploratory curve estimation.ResultsOf 293 students with available loneliness data, the mean loneliness was M = 2.76 (SD = 1.06; range 1–4), and 122 (41.6%) were classified as lonely. Loneliness was reflected in private relationships and study-related contacts, whereas no significant association was found with studying/working from home, χ2(1) = 0.11; p = 0.74. Lonely students differed from not-lonely students across 10 behavioral domains, including talking to a doctor, watching films, spending time in nature, interacting with others online, listening to music, drinking alcohol, eating, and shopping. For a healthy lifestyle, the regression results highlighted psychological resources and perceived health: self-efficacy predicted the healthy lifestyle indicator in Step 1 (OR = 2.40), and health literacy responsibility was significant in Step 2 (OR = 1.78), but poor subjective health was the strongest predictor in the final model (OR = 0.52; R2 = 0.21). Loneliness was negatively associated with social participation (ß = −0.30), but this association weakened when further psychological and contextual factors were considered. Exploratory curve estimation indicated an inverted U-shaped association between stress and social participation among not-lonely students (R2 = 0.09; p = 0.03), whereas this pattern was not statistically significant among lonely students.ConclusionStudents’ loneliness should not be understood as social disconnection, but as part of a broader health-psychological pattern involving health and well-being, psychological resources, contextual factors, and social participation within the higher education community.