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Loneliness, positive life events, and psychological maladjustment: When
good things happen, even lonely people feel better!☆
Edward C. Chang
a,
⁎,MineMuyan
b
, Jameson K. Hirsch
c
a
Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, United States
b
Department of Educational Sciences, Middle East Technical University, Turkey
c
Departme nt of Psychology, East Ten nessee State University, United St ates
abstractarticle info
Article history:
Received 14 March 2015
Received in revised form 6 June 2015
Accepted 7 June 2015
Available online xxxx
Keywords:
Loneliness
Positive life events
Depression
Hopelessness
Suicidal behaviors
Adults
The present study investigated loneliness and positive life events as predictors of psychological maladjustment
(viz., depression, hopelessness, & suicidal behaviors) in a sample of327 adults. Beyond the expected role of lone-
liness in psychological maladjustment, positive life events were found to further augment the prediction of de-
pression, hopelessness, and suicidal behaviors. In addition, the presence of positive life events was found to
buffer the positive association between loneliness and maladjustment. Specifically, the positive association be-
tween loneliness and psychological maladjustment was found to be weaker for those who experienced a high
number of positive life events, as opposed to those who experienced a low number of positive life events.
Some implications for helping adults perceive or appreciate the presence of positive events in their lives are
discussed.
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Psychological maladjustment, ranging from depression to suicidal
behaviors, represents a global public health concern (Nock et al.,
2008), especially in adults (Stravynski & Boyer, 2001). For example,
findings from international studies indicate that depression is the lead-
ing cause of disability worldwide, affecting over 350 million individuals
(World Health Organization [WHO], 2012). Similarly, suicide represents
the second leading cause of death among young adults in college
(Centers for Disease Control & Prevention [CDC], 2012). Given the
magnitude and severity of these types of maladaptive psychological
outcomes, it is not a surprise that researchers have been eager to iden-
tify potential factors that may place individual at heightened risk for
maladjustment.
One variable that has been identified as a potential risk factor for
psychological maladjustment in recent years has been loneliness (see
Heinrich & Gullone, 2006, for a review). According to Russell, Peplau,
and Cutrona (1980),loneliness is defined as having feelings and
thoughts of being isolated and disconnected from others. For example,
consistent with the contention that loneliness is a risk factor for malad-
justment, Cacioppo, Hawkley, and Thisted (2010) found that greater
loneliness was associated with greater depressive symptoms in adults.
Findings from other studies examining psychological maladjustment
in adults have also indicated a reliable positive association involving
loneliness with hopelessness (Chang, Sanna, Hirsch & Jeglic, 2010)and
suicidal behaviors (e.g., Stravynski & Boyer, 2001).
Beyond loneliness, however, researchers have long implicated life
events in the prediction of psychological maladjustment in adults. In
particular, findings from studies of adults over the past several decades
examining the potential impact of life events have consistently found
a positive association between experience of negative life events
(e.g., death of a loved one, failing an exam) and maladjustment (for re-
views, see Kessler, 1997; Liu & Miller, 2014; Tennant, 2002). Indeed,
similar to findings obtained in studies of loneliness, negative life events
has also been found to be positively associated with psychological
maladjustment, including greater depression (e.g., Roca et al., 2013;
Spinhoven et al., 2011), greater hopelessness (e.g., Bonner & Rich,
1988; Hjemdal, Friborg, & Stiles, 2012), and greater suicidal behaviors
(e.g., Joiner & Rudd, 2000; Wang et al., 2012). Interestingly, in one re-
cent study examining both loneliness and negative life events, Chang
et al. (2010) found that they not only uniquely predicted hopelessness,
but that the interaction of the two further augmented the prediction of
hopelessness and suicidal behaviors. Thus, beyond loneliness, negative
life events appear to not only have the potential to add to the prediction
of maladjustment in adults, but toalso exacerbate the dysfunctional link
Personality and Individual Differences 86 (2015) 150–155
☆The first author would like to thank Tae Myung-Sook and Chang Suk-Choon for their
support on thepresent study. Supportfor the second author was in partmade possible by
a fellowship from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey.
⁎Corresponding author at: Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor, MI 48109, United States.
E-mail address: changec@umich.edu (E.C. Chang).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2015.06.016
0191-8869/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Personality and Individual Differences
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/paid
present between loneliness and psychological maladjustment. Yet, few
studies have examined for the role of positive life events in predicting
maladjustment in adults.
According to Needles and Abramson (1990;seealso,Kleiman,
Riskind & Schaefer 2014), positive life events may not only represent
an important explanatory variable or predictor of psychological malad-
justment, but it may also function to buffer the link between important
individual differences risk variables and maladjustment. Consistent
with this view, for example, these investigators found that the negative
link between positive attributional style and hopelessnesswas buffered
by level of positive life events experienced (e.g., those who reported a
high number, compared to a low number, of positive life events report-
ed the lowest level of hopelessness). However, to date, no study has, for
example, examined the potential role of positive life events as a poten-
tial buffer of the positive association present between loneliness and
psychological maladjustment in adults.
2. Purpose of the present study
Given these possibilities, we conducted the present study to: 1) deter-
mine the extent to which loneliness predicts psychological maladjust-
ment (viz., depression, hopelessness, & suicidal behaviors); 2) examine
whether positive life events might add to the prediction of maladjustment
beyond loneliness; and 3) determine if the loneliness × positive life
events interaction might further add to the prediction model.
Given the strong and reliable association between loneliness and
psychological maladjustment in adults (Heinrich & Gullone, 2006), we
expected loneliness to significantly predict maladjustment and account
for a significant amount of the variance in each of the three psycholog-
ical maladjustmentoutcomes examined in the present study. Addition-
ally, given the potential importance of positive life events in helping to
abate or reduce maladjustment (e.g., Kleiman et al., 2014), we expected
positive life events to account for a significant amount of additional var-
iance in psychological maladjustment beyond loneliness.
Beyond these predictions, we were also interested in testing the hy-
pothesis that positive life events may weaken or buffer the positive re-
lationship between loneliness and maladjustment (e.g., Needles &
Abramson, 1990). Specifically, in contrast to past findings that have
pointed to negative life events as an important factor that strengthens
the association between loneliness and maladjustment (e.g., Chang
et al., 2010), we hypothesized that the positive association between
loneliness and psychological maladjustment would be weaker for
those who experienced a high number of positive life events, as opposed
to those who experienced a low number of positive life events. Thus, for
example, we expected that among lonely individuals, those experienc-
ing many positive life events would be less psychologically maladjusted
than those experiencing a few positive life events.
3. Method
3.1. Participants
Data was obtained from 327 college students from a university inthe
Southeast United States. Among the participants, 219 were female (67%),
105 were male (32.1%), 2 were transgender (0.6%), and one participant
failed to indicate his/her gender (0.3%). Participants' ages ranged from
17 to 58 with the mean of 21.81 years (SD = 5.30). The majority of the
participants were European American (86.5%), followed by African
American (5.8%), Asian American (3.1%), and Latino American (1.8%).
Among the participants, 9 of them failed to indicate their race (2.8%).
3.2. Measures
3.2.1. Loneliness
Loneliness was measured by the revised UCLA Loneliness Scale
(R-UCLA; Russell et al., 1980). The scale consists of 20 items, with ten
items (reverse scored) describing non-lonely thoughts (e.g., “There
are people I feel close to”), and ten items characterizing feelings of lone-
liness (e.g., “I feel isolated from others”). Respondents are asked to rate
the statements on the frequency in which they experience these feel-
ings using a 4-point scale, ranging from 1 (never)to4(often). Higher
scores on the R-UCLA indicate greater levels of loneliness.
3.2.2. Positive life events
Positive life events were measured by the Life Events Scale (LES;
Tomoda, 1997). The LES is a 43-item self-report measure, consisting of
two subscales: positive life events (20 items) and negative life events
(23 items). In the present study, we only used items tappingfor positive
life events (POS). Respondents are asked to respond to the questions in-
dicating whether they had experienced the life event 1 (yes)orwhether
they had not experienced the life event 0 (no). For this study, we used
the sum of the responses for positive life events (LES-POS), which in-
cluded items assessing for positive or desirable events (e.g., “I did well
on an exam”). Higher scores on the LES-POS indicate more experiences
of positive life events.
3.2.3. Psychological maladjustment
Psychological maladjustment was measured using the Beck Depres-
sion Inventory (BDI; Beck, Ward, Mendelson, Mock, & Erbaugh, 1961),
the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS; Beck, Weissman, Lester, & Trexler,
1974), and the Suicidal Behaviors Questionnaire—Revised (SBQ-R;
Osman et al., 2001). The BDI is a commonly used 21-item self-report
measure of depressive symptomatology. Respondents are asked to
rate the extent to which they have experienced specific depressive
symptoms in the past week across a 4-point scale (for example, “0=I
do not feel sad”to “3=I am so sad or unhappy that I can't stand it”).
Higher scores on the BDI are indicative of greater depressive symptoms.
The BHS is a 20-item measure of hopelessness. Respondents are asked
to indicate either agreement or disagreement to these items thatassess
negative expectancies for the future (e.g., “My future seems dark to
me”). Scores on the BHS have been found to correspond highly with
clinical ratings of hopelessness (Beck et al., 1974). Higher scores on
the BHS indicate greater hopelessness. Finally, the SBQ-R is a 4-item
self-report measure developed to directly tap key aspects of suicidality,
namely, lifetime ideation and/or suicide attempt (“Have you ever
thought about or attempted to kill yourself?”), frequency of suicidal ide-
ation over the past 12 months (“How often have you thought about kill-
ing yourself in the past year?”), threat of suicide attempt (“Have you
ever told someone that you were going to commit suicide or that you
might do it?”), and likelihood of suicidal behavior in the future (“How
likely is it that you will attempt suicide someday?”). The responses for
each item are given total points and are measured across a 5- to
7-point Likert-type scale, for example, ranging from 0 or 1 (never)to5
(very often)or6(very likely). Higher scores on the SBQ-R indicate great-
er suicidal behaviors.
3.3. Procedure
Approval for the study was obtained from the Institutional Review
Board prior to data collection. Participants taking an upper-level psy-
chology course (e.g., Abnormal Psychology, Personality Psychology)
were recruited from a university in the Southeast United States and re-
ceived either course-required credit or extra credit upon completion of
the survey. All participants were provided with written informed con-
sent, which indicated that all data would be kept strictly confidential.
4. Results
Correlations, means, and standard deviations for all study measures
are presented in Table 1. Consistent with past research findings, all of
the correlations were significant and in the expected direction. Specifi-
cally, loneliness was significantly and positively associated with all of
151E.C. Chang et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 86 (2015) 150–155
the psychological maladjustment outcomes, namely, depression
(r=.58,pb.001), hopelessness (r=.57,pb.001), and suicidal be-
haviors (r= .46, pb.001). Additionally, positive life events was
found to have a significant and negative association with depression
(r=−.36, pb.001), hopelessness (r=−.20, pb.001), and suicidal
behaviors (r=−.23, pb.001). Moreover, a significant and negative
association was found between loneliness and positive life events
(r=−.18, p≤.001). Finally, all three maladjustment outcomes
were found to be significantly and positively correlated with each
other (rs = .42 to .60), but not so high as to indicate empirical
redundancy.
4.1. Examining a model of loneliness and positive life events aspredictors of
psychological maladjustment in adults
To examine whether positive life events account for additional
unique variance in psychological maladjustment beyond loneliness, a
series of hierarchical regression analyses predicting depression,
hopelessness, and suicidal behaviors was conducted. For each regres-
sion model,loneliness was entered in the First Step, followed by positive
life events in the Second Step. Lastly, the multiplicative term of
loneliness × positive life events was included in the Third Step to deter-
mine whether positive life events may potentially interact with loneli-
ness in predicting maladjustment. Results of these regression analyses
are presented in Table 2.
As Table 2 shows, in predicting depression in adults, loneliness was
found to be a significant predictor, accounting for 34% variance in de-
pression, F(1, 325) = 164.90, pb.001. Similarly, when positive life
events was entered in the Second Step, it was found to be a significant
predictor, accounting for 7% additional variance in depression, beyond
loneliness, F(1, 324) = 38.14, pb.001. Moreover, when the interaction
of loneliness and positive life events was entered in the Third Step, the
loneliness × positive life events term was also found to account for 1%
of additional variance in depression, F(1, 323) = 6.66, p≤.01. The full
prediction model including loneliness, positive life events, and the in-
teraction term was found to account for 42% of variance in depression,
F(3, 323) = 77.47, pb.001.
In predicting hopelessness in adults, loneliness was found to account
for 32% of variance in hopelessness, F(1, 325) = 154.63, pb.001. Addi-
tionally, after controlling for loneliness, when positive life events was
entered in the Second Step, it was found to account for 1% of additional
variance in hopelessness, F(1, 324) = 5.31, pb.05. Similarly, when the
interaction term involving loneliness and positive life events was
entered in the Third Step, it was found to account for 1% of additional
variance in hopelessness, F(1, 323) = 4.95, pb.05. The full prediction
model including loneliness, positive life events, and the interaction
term was found to account for 34% of variance in hopelessness,
F(3, 323) = 56.31, pb.001.
Finally, in predicting suicidal behaviors in adults, loneliness was
found to be a significant predictor, accounting for 21% variance in
suicidal behaviors, F(1, 325) = 86.36, pb.001. Similarly, when positive
life events was entered in the Second Step, it was found to account
for 2% of additional variance in suicidal behaviors, beyond loneliness,
F(1, 324) = 9.42, pb.01. Additionally, when the interaction of lone-
liness and positive life events was entered in the Third Step, the
loneliness × positive life events term was found to account for 1%
of additional variance in suicidal behaviors, F(1, 323) = 4.50,
pb.05. The full prediction model including loneliness, positive life
events, and the interaction term was found to account for 24% of var-
iance in suicidal behaviors, F(3, 323) = 34.53, pb.001.
To visually inspect the manner in which loneliness and positive life
events interacted in predicting psychological maladjustment, we plot-
ted the regressions of depressive symptoms, hopelessness, and suicidal
behaviors (see Figs. 1 to 3, respectively) on loneliness (shown at low
and high levels, using a M±1SD split) between adults who experi-
enced low versus high positive life events (based on using a M±1SD
split) based on our initial regression results. As these figures show, the
results of plotting these interactions provide consistent support for the
notion that positive life events operates to buffer the positive associa-
tion between loneliness and maladjustment. Specifically, the positive
association between loneliness and each of the three psychological mal-
adjustment outcomes was consistently weaker for the adultswho expe-
rienced more positive life events, compared to those who experienced
fewer positive life events. Independent of their loneliness levels, adults
who experienced more positive life events reported lower levels of
depression, hopelessness, and suicidal behaviors than those who expe-
rienced fewer positive life events.
5. Discussion
The present study was conducted to examine the role of loneliness
and positive life events as predictors of psychological maladjustment
in adults, and to determine if the presence of high positive life events
may weaken the positive relationship between loneliness and malad-
justment (viz., depression, hopelessness, & suicidal behaviors) in adults.
Consistent with past research findings and the contention that loneli-
ness represents an important explanatory variable in predicting psycho-
logical maladjustment in adults (e.g., Heinrich & Gullone, 2006), we
found that loneliness accounted for significant amounts of variance
(21% to 34%) in maladjustment outcomes. Specifically, greater experi-
ence of loneliness in adults reliably determined greater experiences of
depression, hopelessness, and suicidal behaviors.
Importantly, apart from this expected pattern of findings, the pres-
ent study found that positive life events significantly augmented the re-
gression models in predicting all three psychological maladjustment
outcomes. That is, positive life events was foundto account for addition-
al unique variance (1% to 7%) in maladjustment, even after controlling
Table 1
Correlations between measures of loneliness, positive life events, depression, hopeless-
ness and suicidal behaviors in adults.
Measures 1 2 3 4 5
1. Loneliness _
2. Positive life events −.18⁎_
3. Depression .58⁎−.36⁎_
4. Hopelessness .57⁎−.20⁎.60⁎_
5. Suicidal behaviors .46⁎−.23⁎.50⁎.42⁎_
Range 20–72 10–50 0–52 1–20 0–14
M39.50 16.03 10.55 5.14 2.21
SD 12.00 3.82 11.38 3.98 3.27
Note.N= 327.
⁎p≤.001.
Table 2
Results of hierarchical regression analyses showing amount of variance in depression,
hopelessness, and suicidal behaviors accounted for by loneliness and positive life events
in adults.
Outcome and measure βR
2
ΔR
2
F
Depression
Step 1: Loneliness .58⁎⁎⁎ .34 –164.90⁎⁎⁎
Step 2: Positive life events −.27⁎⁎⁎ .41 .07 38.14⁎⁎⁎
Step 3: Loneliness × positive life events −.57⁎⁎ .42 .01 6.66⁎⁎
Hopelessness
Step 1: Loneliness .57⁎⁎⁎ .32 –154.63⁎⁎⁎
Step 2: Positive life events −.11⁎.33 .01 5.31⁎
Step 3: Loneliness × positive life events −.52⁎.34 .01 4.95⁎
Suicidal behaviors
Step 1: Loneliness .47⁎⁎⁎ .21 –86.36⁎⁎⁎
Step 2: Positive life events −.15⁎⁎ .23 .02 9.42⁎⁎
Step 3: Loneliness × positive life events −.54⁎.24 .01 4.50⁎
Note.N= 327.
⁎pb.05.
⁎⁎ p≤.01.
⁎⁎⁎ pb.001.
152 E.C. Chang et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 86 (2015) 150–155
for the variance accounted for by loneliness. In that regard, our findings
offer two important implications. First, this pattern makes clear that al-
though loneliness may represent an important and robust predictor of
psychological maladjustment (Heinrich & Gullone, 2006), it is not a suffi-
cient predictor of such outcomes. Specifically, our findings point to the
value of examining the unique contributions of positive life events in
predicting maladjustment in adults. Second, our findings provide some
support to the distinct value of examining positive, compared to negative
life events. For example, in Chang et al.'s (2010) study examining the role
of loneliness and negative life events in predicting psychological malad-
justment (viz., hopelessness & suicidal behaviors) in adults, only some
support was found for the value of negative life events as a unique predic-
tor of maladjustment after the variance in maladjustment accounted for
by loneliness was taken into account. Specifically, negative life events
was found to uniquely predict greater hopelessness, but not greater sui-
cidal behaviors in their study. Thus, taken together, these findings indi-
cate that positive life events (or lack of such events) may play a more
important and central role in psychological maladjustment, than the
presence of negative life events. Interestingly, this pattern is consistent
with recent findings indicating that certainty about the absence of future
positive events is, whereas certainty about the presence of future nega-
tive events is not, predictive of maladjustment in adults (e.g., suicide
ideation; Sargalska, Miranda, & Marroquín, 2011).
Finally, an important goal of the present study was to also determine
if the association between loneliness and psychological maladjustment
in adults was moderated or buffered by different levels of positive life
events. Consistent with our hypothesis that the association between
loneliness and maladjustment would be weaker for adults experiencing
a high versus a low number of positive life events, we found consistent
supportfor a loneliness × positive lifeevents interaction in predicting all
three of the psychological maladjustment outcomes examined in the
present study. Specifically, our findings indicated that the positive asso-
ciationsof loneliness with depression,hopelessness, andsuicidal behav-
iors were the strongest among adults who experienced a low number of
positive life events, whereas these associations were the weakest
among adults who experienced a high number of positive life events.
Indeed, an examination of these interactions point toone common con-
clusion, namely, that even among lonely adults, those who reported a
high number of positive life events were less maladjusted or happier
than their counterparts who experienced a low number of positive life
events.
These findings also provide some potential implications for practice.
For example, in working withlonely individuals at risk for psychological
maladjustment (see, Masi, Chen, Hawkley, & Cacioppo, 2011,fora
review), collaborating with them to also recognize, value, and/or seek
greater positive life experiences may in turn provide sufficient protection
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Low Loneliness High Loneliness
Depression
Low Positive Life Events
High Positive Life Events
Fig. 1. Loneliness and depression among adults experiencing low vs. high positive life events.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Low Loneliness High Loneliness
Hopelessness
Low Positive Life Events
High Positive Life Events
Fig. 2. Loneliness and hopelessness among adults experiencing low vs. high positive life events.
153E.C. Chang et al. / Personality and Individual Differences 86 (2015) 150–155
in slowing down or arresting the downward spiral to greater experiences
of depression, hopelessness, or suicidal behaviors. Yet, while it may not
be easy to help a client simply generate more positive life experiences
(especially life experiences that may be outside of one's control;
e.g., becoming famous, winning the lottery), at least two strategies
may prove to be effective when working with lonely clients. First, it
may be helpful for some lonely clients to learn how to recognize and
relish even “small”positive life events or uplifts in their everyday lives
(e.g., completing a task, visiting someone; Kanner, Coyne, Schaefer, &
Lazarus, 1981). Alternatively, in the absence of being exposed to greater
positive life events, it may be helpful for some lonely clients to learn
how to visualize themselves experiencing important and meaningful
positive life events in their future (Sargalska et al., 2011).
6. Limitations
Despite the important findings of the present study, some limita-
tions are worth noting. First, our sample was predominantly European
American. Accordingly, it would be important to examine the generaliz-
ability of the present findings in more diverse racial/ethnic groups. In
addition to racial/ethnic differences, it would be interesting to deter-
mine if there may be important differences in findings across other im-
portant demographic variables (e.g., age, socioeconomic status, marital
status, etc.). Second, although we found positive life events was an im-
portant buffer of the positive association between loneliness and psy-
chological maladjustment, it would be interesting to see if positive life
events also buffers any dysfunctional association that might be present
between loneliness and poor physical health in adults. Third, and relat-
edly, it would be important in future research to determine if there are
specific kinds of positive life events that matter most (e.g., personal vs.
interpersonal positive life events). Fourth, although the present study
focused on predicting psychological maladjustment, broadly defined,
in a college student population, it would be interesting to determine
the specificity of loneliness and positive life events as predictors of
specific symptoms or conditions (e.g., depressed mood vs. suicidal ide-
ation) in selective populations (e.g., clinically depressed adults). Last,
given the cross-sectional nature of thepresent study, it would be useful
to build on the present findings to examine how loneliness and positive
life events in college students may interact to predict changes in psy-
chological maladjustment across time.
7. Concluding thoughts
In the present study, we examined the role of loneliness and positive
life events as predictors of psychological maladjustment. Findings from
our study indicated two ways in which positive life events may play an
important role in predicting maladjustment. First, beyond loneliness,
positive life events uniquely add to the prediction of maladjustment.
Second, positive life events buffer the positive association between
loneliness and psychological maladjustment. Overall, our findings not
only highlight the value of positive life events as an important variable
in understanding psychological maladjustment in adults, but they go
further to indicate how positive life events works in specificwaystoac-
count for psychological maladjustment in addition to, and in interaction
with, loneliness.
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