Construction and Validation of Feeling of Loneliness Questionnaire in Iranian Women (A Case Study of Women in Tehran)

Subject Areas : Psychology

Pooneh Moghimi ¹ , Nooshin Taghinejad ² , Sholeh Namazi ³ , Mahmoud Sabahizadeh ⁴

1 - PhD Student of General Psychology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Bandar Abbas Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
2 - Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Bandar Abbas Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
3 - Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran.
4 - Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities, Bandar Abbas Branch, Islamic Azad University, Bandar Abbas, Iran.

Received: 2022-12-09 Accepted : 2023-01-15 Published : 2023-03-21

Keywords: Validation, Iranian women, Feeling of Loneliness Questionnaire, Construction,

Abstract :

The purpose of the current research was to develop and validate Feeling of Loneliness Questionnaire in Iranian women (a case study of women in Tehran). The statistical population included all the women of Tehran city. To select the subjects via interview 18 to 45 years old women whom experienced loneliness feeling were interviewed to saturation point. After 12 interview sessions no new code was extracted. The research method was a combination of quantitative and qualitative procedures. To develop and validate the Feeling of Loneliness Questionnaire in Iranian women, the participants were interviewed in the qualitative step. To assess the validation and the reliability of the questionnaire, quantitative and qualitative face validation, content validation ratio, validation content index, confirmatory and expletory factor analysis were applied. The questionnaire reliability was examined by internal consistency and halving method. The results of expletory factor analysis revealed that Feeling of Loneliness Questionnaire with 13 items consisted of three factors (family loneliness, individual loneliness and social loneliness) and had proper validity and reliability. The confirmatory factor analysis also affirmed the three factors model. It could be concluded the Feeling of Loneliness Questionnaire is authentic and eligible to assess the feeling of loneliness in women.

References:

Akhter-Khan, S. C., Prina, M., Wong, G. H.-Y., Mayston, R., & Li, L. (2022). Understanding and Addressing Older Adults’ Loneliness: The Social Relationship Expectations Framework. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2(1), 1-12. URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916221127218

Baykut, S., et al. (2022), The impact of the hidden curriculum on international students in the context of a country with a toxic triangle of diversity. The Curriculum Journal, 33(2), 156-177. URL: https://eric.ed.gov/?redir=http%3a%2f%2fdx.doi.org%2f10.1002%2fcurj.135

Bhagchandani, R.K., (2017) Effect of loneliness on the psychological well-being of college students. International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, 7(1), 60. URL: http://www.ijssh.org/vol7/796-C009.pdf

Buchholz, E. S. & Catton, R. (1999). Adolescents' perceptions of aloneness and loneliness. Adolescence, 34(1), 203-213. URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10234378/

Cheung, S.-L., et al. (2022). Cross-cultural equivalence of De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale among older native and diasporic Chinese adults. The Gerontologist,  62(2), 62-72. URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaa151

Cigna, A. (2020). Loneliness at epidemic levels in America. Available from: https://www.cigna.com/static/www-cigna-com/docs/about-us/newsroom/studies-and-reports/combatting-loneliness/cigna-2020-loneliness-report.pdf.

De Jong Gierveld, J., Van Tilburg, T., & Dykstra, P. (2016). Loneliness and Social Isolation", In A. Vangelisti and D. Perlman (EDS). Cambridge handbook of personal relationships, Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511606632.027

Ebrahimi, N., Hossein Fallah, M., Samani, S., & Vaziri, S. (2020).The factors and grounds of loneliness of women (A study of phenomenology). Journal of Women and Society, 11(41), 1-28. [Persian] DOI: 20.1001.1.20088566.1399.11.41.1.5

Finlayson, C.S., & et al. (2019). The experience of being aware of disease status in women with recurrent ovarian cancer: A phenomenological study. Journal of Palliat Med,  22(4), 377-384. DOI: 10.1089/jpm.2018.0127

Franssen, T., et al. (2020). Age differences in demographic, social and health-related factors associated with loneliness across the adult life span (19–65 years): a cross-sectional study in the Netherlands. BMC Public Health, 20(1), 1-12. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-020-09208-0

Goh, Z. H., Tandoc, E.C., & Ng, B. (2021). “Live” together with you: Livestream views mitigate the effects of loneliness on well-being. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 65(4), 505-524. URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2021.1994970

Henrich, L. M., & Gullone, E. (2006). The Clinical Significance of Loneliness: A literature review. Clinical Psychology Review, 26, 695-718. DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2006.04.002

Hojat, M., & Crandall, R. (1989). Loneliness, theory, research and applications. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. URL: https://books.google.com/books/about/Loneliness.html?id=V4d9AAAAMAAJ

Ipsos, A. (2020). Loneliness around the world. [cited 2020, December 15 2020, December 15]; Available from: https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/loneliness-around-the-world.

Jansson, A., et al. (2020). Changes in prevalence of loneliness over time in institutional settings, and associated factors. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 89(3), 104043.  URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2020.104043

Kessler, R. C. (2001). Epidemiology of women and depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 74, 5-13. DOI: 10.1016/s0165-0327(02)00426-3

Liberatore-Maguire, E., Devlin, A., Fisher, S. et al. (2022). The unseen epidemic: trauma and loneliness in urban midlife women. womens midlife health, 8(11), 1-10. URL: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40695-022-00080-z

Muussesa, L. D., Finkenauer, C., Kerkhof, P., & Billedo, C. J. (2014). A longitudinal study of the association between Compulsive Internet use and wellbeing. Computers in Human Behavior, 36, 21-28. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563214001575

Patulny, R., & Bower, M. (2022). Beware the “loneliness gap”? Examining emerging inequalities and long‐term risks of loneliness and isolation emerging from COVID‐19. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 57(3), 562-583. URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.223

Pinquart, M., & Sörensen, S. (2003). Differences between caregivers and noncaregivers in psychological health and physical health: a meta-analysis. Psychol Aging, 18(2), 250-267. URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12825775/

Pretorius, T. B. (2022). The applicability of the UCLA Loneliness Scale in South Africa: Factor structure and dimensionality. African Journal of Psychological Assessment, 4, 1-8. URL: https://ajopa.org/index.php/ajopa/article/view/63/264

Quadt, L., et al., (2020). Brain-body interactions underlying the association of loneliness with mental and physical health. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 116, 283-300. URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0149763420304425

Russell, D., Peplau, L. A., & Ferguson, M. L. (1978). Developing a measure of loneliness. Journal of Personality Assessment, 42, 290-294. DOI: 10.1207/s15327752jpa4203_11

Soroush, M., & Adibi Parsa, P. (2015). The measurement religiosity relationship cultural capital and social with loneliness: A comparison between woman's jobs and woman's non jobs. Woman in development and policy,13(1), 525-548. [Persian] URL: https://doi.org/10.22059/jwdp.2015.58134

Stoppard, J. M., & McMullen, L. M. (2003). Situating sadness: Women and Depression in Social Context. New York: NYU Press. URL: https://www.amazon.com/Situating-Sadness-Depression-Qualitative-Psychology/dp/0814798012

Sullivan, H. S. (1953). The Interpersonal Theory of Psychiatry. Norton: New York. URL: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1954-01168-000

Wu, B. (2020). Social isolation and loneliness among older adults in the context of COVID-19: a global challenge. Global Health Research And Policy, 5(1), 27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-020-00154-3