Loneliness as a public health issue in context: capturing experiences and social determinants of loneliness in diverse young adults in London & Tokyo

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The last decade of research points to a global trend of increasing numbers of adults feeling lonely -though rates of increase differ greatly between countries and regions. Contrary to the narrative thatloneliness is a problem mainly faced by the elderly, national and local government statisticssuggest rates of loneliness are equal or even higher in young adulthood. As people reportingloneliness are more likely to experience later mental and physical health problems, addiction, self-injury and reduced quality of life, rising rates are an alarming development for academics andpublic health officials alike. Yet there remain gaps in our knowledge around what socialcircumstances increase risk for and maintain loneliness, and research is limited by current tools forquantitative measurement.This project brings together two ongoing studies of young people's mental health in London andTokyo to 1) qualitatively investigate experiences and social determinants of loneliness in diversegroups of young people, and 2) develop a new, cross-culturally valid questionnaire for measuringyoung adult loneliness in the general population. Given the attention that loneliness is receiving inboth countries - epitomized by their recent appointments of "Ministers for Loneliness" - conductingthis work in both the UK and Japan presents a unique opportunity to inform domestic public healthpolicy and global efforts to tackle social isolation.