Multidimensional and fluctuating experiences of loneliness from childhood to young adulthood in Northern Finland

Abstract

Abstract Loneliness is a negative, involuntary experience, common among children and adolescents. It has been recently suggested that young adults are especially prone to loneliness, as they experience many transitions while establishing their own lifestyles; however, there is a lack of research on the experience of loneliness among this age group. In the present study, the lived experiences of past and current loneliness from childhood to young adulthood in people (aged 27–28 years) born in Northern Finland were examined. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 35 participants who self-reported that they were very lonely in adolescence. Their responses were analyzed with a theory-guided, qualitative content analysis method, in which the meanings of loneliness over their life courses were explored. As a result, loneliness experiences of young adults are described using five dimensions: Personal, Relational, Physical context, Life event, and Sociocultural. These dimensions revealed the entangled ways in which loneliness is experienced; how it emerges, intensifies, and is alleviated; and what consequences it carries. The duration and intensity of loneliness experienced by the participants fluctuated over the course of their lives, and six distinct trajectories of loneliness were constructed from the data. Loneliness had a variety of causes and detrimental consequences; chronic loneliness was developed through the entangled effects of self and other related adversities over time, and matters related to the Sociocultural dimension of loneliness. (Hetero)gender(ed)norms centrally affected intensification of loneliness. To reduce the risk of chronic loneliness and improve wellbeing and health, early and multilevel interventions – individual, relational, communal, and societal – are warranted.