Centre for Policy on Ageing



A 6-item scale for overall emotional and social loneliness — confirmatory tests on survey data
Author(s)	Jenny De Jong Gierveld, Theo Van Tilburg
Journal title	Research on Aging, vol 28, no 5, September 2006
Pages	pp 582-598
Source	http://www.sagepublications.com
Keywords	Loneliness ; Isolation ; Evaluation ; Social surveys ; Netherlands.
Annotation	Loneliness is an indicator of social well-being. It pertains to the feeling of missing an intimate relationship (emotional loneliness) or missing a whole social network (social loneliness). The 11-item De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale has proved to be a valid and reliable measurement instrument for overall, emotional and social loneliness, although its length has sometimes rendered it difficult to use in large surveys. In this study, the authors empirically tested a shortened version of the scale on data from two surveys of Dutch older people (n=9441). Confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the specification of two latent factors. Congruent validity and the relationship with determinants (partner status, health) proved to be optimal. The 6-item De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale is a reliable and valid instrument for overall, emotional, and social loneliness that is suitable for large surveys. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-060922207 A
Classmark	DV: TP: 4C: 3F: 76H
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.