Assessing peer network and dyadic loneliness.
Describes the Peer Network and Dyadic Loneliness Scale (PNDLS), a new scale designed to assess simultaneously children's loneliness at multiple levels of peer relationships. Specifically, this scale measures loneliness associated with (a) lack of involvement in a social network and (b) the absence of a close dyadic friendship. Employing a sample of 209 5th-, 6th-, and 7th-grade boys and girls, the psychometric properties, interscale correlations, and preliminary validity data for the new scale are examined. Analyses revealed good internal consistency and a pattern of relationships with other loneliness, friendship quality, mutual best friendship, and sociometric social preference variables supporting the validity of the new scale.
Hoza
B
B
Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA. blaze@psych.purdue.edu
Bukowski
W M
WM
Beery
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S
D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008132:Loneliness / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D002666:Psychology, Child; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012737:Sex Factors; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires