Table 2.
Prevalence of childhood loneliness between ages 9 and 16 and association with childhood psychiatric disorders
| Child-report loneliness | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Never lonely N (%) | Ever lonely N (%) | p valuea | |
| Overall childhood loneliness | 1342 (94.5) | 78 (5.5) | |
| Psychiatric disorders | |||
| Any anxiety diagnosis | 86 (6.4) | 22 (28.2) | <0.001 |
| Any depression diagnosis | 28 (2.1) | 18 (23.1) | <0.001 |
| Disruptive behavior disorder | 122 (9.1) | 19 (24.4) | 0.001 |
| Psychiatric symptoms | M (s.d.) | M (s.d.) | |
| Any anxiety symptoms | 1.7 (2.2) | 4.9 (3.9) | <0.001 |
| Any depression symptoms | 0.2 (0.1) | 0.2 (0.4) | <0.001 |
| Disruptive behavior | 0.1 (0.3) | 0.2 (0.4) | <0.001 |
| Parent-report loneliness | |||
| Psychiatric disorders | 1294 (91.1) | 126 (8.9) | |
| Any anxiety diagnosis | 82 (6.1) | 10 (12.8) | <0.001 |
| Any depression diagnosis | 59 (4.4) | 11 (14.1) | <0.001 |
| Disruptive behavior disorder | 229 (1.1) | 22 (28.2) | <0.001 |
| Psychiatric symptoms | M (s.d.) | M (s.d.) | |
| Any anxiety symptoms | 1.7 (2.3) | 5.4 (4.6) | <0.001 |
| Any depression symptoms | 1.4 (1.3) | 3.3 (2.0) | <0.001 |
| Disruptive behavior | 2.7 (2.9) | 5.3 (4.2) | <0.001 |
Numbers denote children included in one or more analyses. Values are frequencies for categorical (numbers are unweighted, and percentages are weighted). Means and standard deviations (M ± s.d.) for continuous measures.
a
p value from binary logistic regression of childhood loneliness and childhood psychiatric disorder outcomes. The models [ORs] are adjusted for child sex and adversities.