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Loneliness and Emotional and Externalizing Problems in Early Adolescence: Moderating and Mediating Effects of Coping Skills
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Loneliness and Emotional and Externalizing Problems in Early Adolescence: Moderating and Mediating Effects of Coping Skills

Sharmila Vaz, Reinie Cordier, Annette Joosten, Mandie Shean, Robert Kane, Melissa H Black, Karen Martin, Natasha Pearce and Kevin Runions
Behavioral sciences, Vol.15(9), 1192
2025
PMID: 41009222
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Published1.44 MBDownloadView
CC BY V4.0 Open Access

Abstract

well-being mental health adolescent school transition resilience social–emotional health youth cope
Loneliness is an unavoidable facet of human existence. When chronic and intense, adolescent loneliness is associated with maladjustment over time. A prospective multiple-cohort study examined the links between child-reported loneliness and coping skills and parent-rated child mental health in early adolescence (aged 11.9 years at Time 1; 12.9 years at Time 2), with a total of 266 students from 75 primary and 152 secondary schools. Results indicated that (i) boys and girls did not differ in their levels of loneliness; (ii) boys reported poorer coping, fewer emotional problems, and more externalizing problems than girls; (iii) loneliness in primary school predicted increases in emotional and externalizing problems over time; (iv) problem-solving and non-productive coping mediated the associations between loneliness and emotional problems and externalizing problems; and (v) reference to others' coping moderated the association between loneliness and emotional problems. Findings suggest that loneliness may potentially erode positive coping mechanisms over time. This study emphasizes the importance of understanding and addressing the impact of loneliness on early-adolescent mental health.

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UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Citation topics
6 Social Sciences
6.24 Psychiatry & Psychology
6.24.1058 Bullying Dynamics
Web Of Science research areas
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
ESI research areas
Psychiatry/Psychology
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