WWCW_Loneliness and Wellbeing Among Adolescents and Young Adults

孤独症越来越被认为是一个严重的公共卫生问题，研究表明，孤独症与身体健康状况不佳，医疗保健服务使用增加，甚至过早死亡有关。虽然孤独在历史上一直被视为老年人的一个问题，但最近的研究表明，孤独会影响所有年龄段的人，而且这种影响会在整个生命周期中累积。去年，英国政府发布了第一个应对孤独的战略，强调需要更好地了解孤独是如何发展的，特别是对不同人群。因此，对青少年和年轻成年人群体中的孤独感进行研究将有助于及早确定孤独感的风险和保护因素，从而为旨在缓解孤独感的公共政策的设计提供信息。在拟议的研究中，我们的目标是研究青少年（11-15岁）和年轻人（16-24岁）人群中孤独感的个人，社会和环境影响。我们将使用覆盖整个英国的三个大型数据集的数据，从而提供英国年轻人孤独的全面概况。这项研究将确定与孤独感相关的因素，并研究这些因素在不同背景下如何表现。例如，研究将确定不同居住地区的风险或保护因素的强度是否不同。这种情境化的方法将提供一个更细致入微的理解的机制，通过个人层面和社区层面的因素影响孤独。除了分析孤独作为一个结果，拟议的项目还将探讨孤独对个人幸福和心理健康的影响。这项研究将特别关注孤独感与社会福祉相关方面的关系，如社会孤立和社会支持，以预测年轻人的福祉。此外，该项目还将确定社会背景因素，如性别或家庭关系，改变孤独和心理健康之间的关系。拟议的项目为英国孤独和幸福感的研究做出了重大贡献，并为公共政策努力提供了明确的战略。重要的是，在青少年和年轻成人人口中确定可延展的干预目标，使政策努力能够更早地开始，有可能减少孤独的流行，并改善人口一级的个人福祉和心理健康。

Loneliness is increasingly recognized as a serious public health concern, with research demonstrating links to poor physical health, increased use of health care services, and even early mortality. Although loneliness has historically been viewed as an issue amongst older people, recent research has shown that loneliness can affect individuals across all age groups, and that the effects accumulate across the lifespan. Within the last year, the UK Government released its first Strategy for Tackling Loneliness, which highlights the need for a better understanding of how loneliness develops, particularly for different groups of people. As a result, research on loneliness within adolescent and young adult populations would allow for early identification of risk and protective factors for loneliness, which subsequently informs the design of public policy aimed at alleviating loneliness. In the proposed study, we aim to examine individual, social, and environmental influences on loneliness within both adolescent (age 11-15) and young adult (16-24) populations. We will use data from three large datasets that cover the entirety of the UK, therefore providing a comprehensive profile of loneliness in young people in Britain. The study will identify factors associated with loneliness, and examine how those factors unfold in different contexts. For example, the research will determine if the strength of risk or protective factors differs across different areas of residence. This contextualized approach will provide a more nuanced understanding of the mechanisms through which individual-level and community-level factors affect loneliness. In addition to analysing loneliness as an outcome, the proposed project will also explore the impact of loneliness on personal wellbeing and mental health. The study will pay particular attention to the relationship between loneliness and related aspects of social wellbeing, such as social isolation and social support, in predicting wellbeing among young people. In addition, the project will identify sociocontextual factors, such as gender or family relationships, that modify the relationship between loneliness and mental health.The proposed project offers a substantial contribution to UK research on loneliness and wellbeing, and offers clear strategies for public policy efforts. Importantly, the identification of malleable targets for intervention in an adolescent and young adult population allow policy efforts to start much earlier, having the potential to reduce prevalence of loneliness, and improve personal wellbeing and mental health at the population level.