The interplay and divergence between measurement of loneliness and lack of social support - results from a questionnaire survey

BACKGROUND: Loneliness and lack of social support are theoretically distinguished phenomena, but simultaneously overlap and mutually influence each other, challenging the measurement of these phenomena within health research.

OBJECTIVE: To contribute to the understanding of the interplay and divergence of loneliness and lack of social support by investigating the convergent validity between two social support questionnaires and a loneliness questionnaire, in a population of patients treated for cardiac disease.

METHOD: In total, 573 patients >18 years of age treated for cardiac disease were approached from October 2022 to May 2023 and answered two social support questionnaires and one loneliness questionnaire, and 365 patients (63.7%) completed the questionnaire. The interplay and divergence between loneliness and lack of social support were assessed by calculating convergent validity between the questionnaires.

RESULTS: The correlation coefficients between the two social support questionnaires ranged between r2 = 0.281-0.568, which is comparable to the correlation coefficient between the social support questionnaire and the loneliness questionnaire, ranging from r2 = 0.317-0.601, suggesting a dynamic interplay between social support and loneliness, yet also a challenge for maintaining conceptual and measurement-based divergence.

CONCLUSION: This finding implies that, although loneliness and lack of social support are conceptually distinct, differentiating between these dimensions in a questionnaire survey is challenging.