A SILVER LINING: AGE, FRIENDS AND LONELINESS AMONG

PORTUGUESE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Genta Kulari1, Luísa Ribeiro2

PSIQUE • EISSN 21834806 • VOLUME XIX • ISSUE FASCÍCULO 1

1ST JANUARY JANEIRO  30TH JUNE JUNHO 2025 • PP. 818

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26619/2183-4806.XXI.1.1

Submited on 27/11/2024 Submetido a 27/11/2024

Accepted on 17/03/2025 Aceite a 17/03/2025

Objective: Evidence suggests that loneliness among students is becoming a public health

concern. Meanwhile, friends support is salient during times of intense social changes and

transition to adulthood, protecting individuals against loneliness. Friends support as a source of

social support and age differences among university students, are putted through a magnifying

glass to analyse the effect it has on loneliness.

Method: The sample consisted of 121 university students (age range 18–60; 78,3% female)

attending private university in Lisbon. The present study had a cross-sectional design administering

the sociodemographic questionnaire, UCLA Loneliness Scale, and Multidimensional Scale of

Perceived Social Support.

Results: The results of the study found that age and friends support explained 37.4% of

variance of loneliness indicating that students who receive higher support from friends had

lower levels of loneliness compared to others with lower friends’ support. Furthermore, younger

students predicted higher levels of loneliness compared to older students.

Conclusions: To best of our knowledge this is the first study in Portugal to encompass a

variety of age group university students analysing the perception of loneliness, as the mainstream

of literature focuses on elderly population.

Keywords: Loneliness, friends social support, university students, age differences

Introduction

The transition to university coincides with a critical developmental period for students,

characterized by individuation and separation from family, development of new social

connections, and increased autonomy and responsibility (Marchini et al., 2020). However, the

stringent measures brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic heavily interfered with students’

adaptation to university, particularly affecting those who first enrolled in those academic years

1 Assistant Professor and Researcher at the Department of Psychology at the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa, Portugal.

E-mail: gkulari@autonoma.pt ORCID: 0000-0003-4774-4632

2 Assistant Professor and Researcher at the Department of Psychology at the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa, Portugal.

E-mail: mribeiro@autonoma.pt ORCID: 0000-0003-4028-3642

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Genta Kulari, Luísa Ribeiro

(Heuman et al., 2023). Universities, and their students, are now facing the repercussions of

distant learning. Thus, students seem to be experiencing what Turkle (2010) described as they

are all “alone together” (p.1). Recent studies are warning universities about increase perception

of loneliness among university students and their struggle to build connections with their

peers and colleagues (Kaufmann & Vallade, 2020). Furthermore, Portuguese General Directory

of Higher Education (GDHE, 2022) in annual statistics found that during 2020-2021 academic

year, one in four students (24.4%) enrolled in a university in Portugal dropped out during the

first semester. Considering that loneliness is becoming a near-epidemic concern in the Western

countries (Cacioppo & Cacioppo, 2018), it is imperative undercovering factors that can protect

students from loneliness.

Literature review

Loneliness and age among university students

Loneliness is the subjective feeling people experience when they feel less socially connected

to others than they desire (Peplau & Perlman, 1982). Researchers typically associated the high

prevalence of loneliness to the ongoing changes in adult life such as maintaining long-term

relationships, parenthood, employment, economic security, living alone, and establishing

significant social roles (Gomboc et al., 2022; Shovestul et al., 2020). It is a commonly held belief

that loneliness is particularly prevalent among older people, but research does not support that

proposition (Barreto et al., 2021). For example, a large body of literature has shown that loneliness

is not just restricted to old age but varies considerably throughout the lifespan (Hawkley &

Caccioppo, 2007: Luhmann & Hawkley, 2016).

Specifically, data on the trajectory of loneliness suggests that it tends to rise in young

adulthood and decline through middle adulthood before gradually increasing in the very elderly

years (Pinkquart & Sorensen, 2003; Qualter et al., 2015; Surkalim et al., 2022). Herein, studies

have shown a U-shaped curve in which young adults and older people report more perceived

loneliness than those in middle age (Lasgaard et al., 2016; Victor & Yang, 2012). However, previous

literature has focused on selective age groups i.e., exclusively adolescents or elderly cohorts,

rather than the entire lifespan, making it difficult to determine age differences across studies

(Shovestul et al., 2020). A recent systematic literature review on loneliness highlighted the urge

for more inclusive studies with young adults, compared with older adults (Surkalim et al., 2022).

Literature regarding loneliness among university students, is still a novel field of research in

Portugal. Moreover, to best of our knowledge this is the first study in Portugal to encompass a

variety of ages university students addressing protecting factors of loneliness.

Perceived social support and loneliness among university students

Studies have raised warning on the impact of loneliness in health such as bodily pain, shortness

of breath, troubles of sleep, and poor perception of health (Zhang & Dong, 2022). In particular,

research with students has examined differences in social skills (e.g. empathy, social anxiety),

resources (e.g. time, money, transportation, etc.), cohabitation as well as perceived social support

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A silver lining: age, friends and loneliness among portuguese university students

as main factors impacting heavily on the perception of loneliness (Zhang & Dong, 2022). Zimet

et al., (1988) introduced for the first time three distinct sources of social support: family, friends,

and significant others. Particularly, among university students, Jackson et al. (2000) found that

low levels of social support from friends during the middle of the semester were predictive of

later feelings of loneliness at the end of the same semester. As an important indicator of social

relationship, social support is considered a significant factor that could effectively alleviate

loneliness (Zhang & Dong, 2022).

The close and supportive relationship with friends have a positive role improving academic

performance, dealing with life problems, improving general adaptiveness, developing physical

and psychological wellbeing (Sadoughi & Hasempour, 2017). The reverse may cause anxiety in

social relationships and sensitivity to rejection (Xu et al., 2020). Furthermore, support from friends

has been found to reduce the impact on psychological problems among students (Zhang & Dong,

2022). Thus, perceived support from friends and peers is likely to be of particular benefit for

students’ interaction adjustment (Suwinyattichaiporn & Johnson, 2022). Students that establish

supportive connections at university, including with peer and faculty members, are more likely

to persist and succeed academically (Dennis et al., 2005). Differently, students who are lonelier

in their academic years, are more likely to be isolated, less connected to peers, and have poorer

overall adjustment to university life (Dennis et al., 2005; Suwinyattichaiporn & Johnson, 2022).

Additionally, it is very important to shed light on this specific source of perceived social

support that contribute to loneliness. A recent systematic review of 177 articles in English and

Chinese found that, research is scant examining the differential associations of varying sources

of social support on the impact of loneliness, thereby warranting exploration (Zhang & Dong,

2022). Moreover, results from the limited literature are contradictory, challenging the possibility

to compare studies among different populations and age groups. For example, Henninger IV et

al. (2016) found that social support from friends and significant others was the largest predictor

of loneliness. Another study with university students in India, found that there was no difference

among the three sources of social support on loneliness (Suri & Garg, 2020). Yet another study

among university students found that only the friends’ support buffered the association between

stress and loneliness, indicating that students with higher levels of support from friends, have

lower level of loneliness and stress (Lee & Goldstein, 2016). Therefore, the present study addresses

this gap by examining university students’ perception of friends as a source of social support

alongside with age differences impacting loneliness.

Age and loneliness among university students

Transition to young adulthood makes university students particularly vulnerable to feelings

of loneliness (Gomboc et al., 2022). This may be related to developmental-specific risk factors,

such as moving away from home and their local community, and re-establishing new social

networks. Surprisingly, the epidemiology of loneliness in young people has received scant

attention in Portugal. However, evidence indicate that first year students are more vulnerable

to loneliness compared to other students (Wazni et al., 2021) Hence, if loneliness is limited to,

or peak at the actual transition from moving away from home, a decline in loneliness over time

should be expected among senior students. Moreover, Portugal is facing an increase in number of

students with more of 23 years old, which correspond to 28.9% of all students (Santos et al., 2016).

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Genta Kulari, Luísa Ribeiro

These students usually correspond to individuals who dropped out university and return after a

long-time gap, or individuals with no previous higher education experience. While attention is

provided in the recent years to traditional age students, enrolling to university immediately after

the secondary education, little is known about students of different age groups, and how does

age impacts loneliness among these students.

Present study

Using a representative and diverse age group sample of university students, the purpose of

the present study is to extend the current research on social support from friends by examining

its associations with loneliness. As evidenced from various studies, friends as a source of social

support has an important impact during the university path (Mallika Appuhamilage & Torri,

2019). Age differences regarding loneliness is also explored in this study. Considering the

elevated number of students dropping out of university, interruptions or failure in academic

accomplishments may be attributed in part to stress-related problems and/or struggles in social

relationships that many university students experience, such as loneliness (Lee & Goldstain,

2016; Romero et al., 2023). Thus, in order to promote success in university and social adjustment

in university life, it is both essential and urgent to examine whether friends as a source of social

support might help alleviate students’ feelings of loneliness and if so, whether the age differences

might impact their university experience. Based on the research discussed above, the goal of our

study is twofold. The present study proposed the following research questions:

What is the effect of social support from friends buffering the perception of loneliness among

university students?

What is the student’s age groups effect on loneliness among university students?

Method

Procedure and Participants

After receiving approval from Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa Ethical Commission of, a

cross-sections design study was administered to undergraduate and master’s students. Data was

collected in person during the month of January 2023. Participants were recruited individually

in their classes and the surveys were conducted in their classrooms. Informed consent was taken

prior to participation and confidentiality of all participants was ensured. The inclusion criteria

included university students with more than 18 years of age, who are enrolled in the private

university and attending their full-time studies. The survey was composed of two phases.

Initially the participants were introduced with two instruments, the loneliness scale (UCLA,

Russell, 1996) and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS; Zimet et al.,

1988) as well as some sociodemographic questions including: sex, age, civil status, and number

of cohabitants in the house. Collected data was analysed using IBM SPSS. The sample consisted

of 121 university students from the psychology department.

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A silver lining: age, friends and loneliness among portuguese university students

Instruments

Perceived Social Support: Sources of social support were measured by the Multidimensional

Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS; Zimet et al., 1988), which consists of 12 items assessing

three particular sources of social support: family, friends and romantic partners (four items per

source of support). Zimet et al. (1988) used undergraduate university students in their study,

reporting coefficient alphas of .87, .85, and .91 for the support subscales of family, friends, and

romantic partners, respectively. The respondents indicated to what extent they agreed with each

statement using a 7-poing scale (1=strongly disagree, 7= strongly agree). In this study we are

going to use the perceived social support from friends’ dimension. Sample items include, “I can

count on my o friends when things go wrong” (support from friends). The Portuguese version of

the instrument was validated with the same sample as the original one (Carvalho et al., 2011).

The validated instrument reported Cronbach alpha of .94 for the scale and .93, for friends’ source.

Loneliness: Loneliness was evaluated by the 20-item UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA; Russell,

1996). Participants rated how often they felt the way described in each of the statements (1 =

never, 2 = rarely, 3 = sometimes, 4 = often). Sample statements are “I feel isolated from others” and

“I lack companionship.” Mean scores were calculated so that higher scores signify higher levels

of loneliness. Russell (1996) reported a coefficient alpha of .94 for the scale’s internal consistency

and provided evidence of its construct validity via positive correlation with measures of health

and well-being in a sample of university students, nurses, teachers, and elderly. The Cronbach’s

of the validated versions of the instrument in Portuguese was .90 (Pocinho et al., 2005).

Age of students: Age was collected by asking the participants to write their chronological

age in the sociodemographic questionnaire that further included information in relation to sex,

marital status, academic background, and number of people they cohabitated.

Statistical Analysis

Data were processed and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

(SPSS) 29.0 for Windows. Descriptive statistics and reliability estimates were computed

for all the study variables. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted to examine the

association among study variables, and linear regression was used to measure the effect of social

support from friends and age on loneliness.

Results

Respondents profile

The majority of the participants were women (n = 94; 78.3%) and 26 men (21.7%). Only one

participant selected the option “I prefer not to say” (0.8%). All participants were students enrolled

in the faculty of psychology where 71 (58.7%) attending their Master’s degree and 50 (41.30%)

attending their Bachelor’s degree. The age range varied from 18 to 60 years old, with a mean

of 32.20 (SD = 12.11). A total of 18 (14.9%) participants did not report their age. Table 1 presents

the variation of age groups in this sample. Moreover, results showed that young adults (age

equal or older than 35 years) represented over half of the sample (n = 64; 63.1%). In regard to the

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marital status, the majority of participants were single (n = 77, 65.3%). Almost 30% of our sample

cohabitated with one person (n = 30, 24.4%). Around one fourth of the participants cohabitated

with two people (n = 27, 22%), and another fourth cohabitated with equal or more than 3 people

(n = 57, 47.1%).

TABLE1

Socio-demographic data

Items N %

Sex

Female 93 75.6

Male 27 21.1

Prefer not to say 1 0.8

Age Group

< 25 years old 42 34.7

26 – 35 years old 23 19

36 – 45 years old 22 18.18

> 46 years old 34 28.12

Marital Status

Single 77 65.3

Married 22 17.9

Education

Bachelor’s degree 50 41.3

Master’s Degree 71 58.7

Divorced 7 5.7

Non-marital partnership 12 9.7

Residential status

Living alone 7 5.7

Living with 1 other person 30 24.4

Living with 2 other people 27 22.0

Living with 3 other people 26 21.1

Living with more other people 31 25.61

Correlations

Correlation analysis for the sample is reported in Table 2. Loneliness was negatively

correlated with social support from friends (r=.556; p<0.001) and negatively correlated with

age (r=-.212; p<0.05). Therefore, higher levels of support from friends indicated lower levels of

loneliness among university students in our sample. Similarly, higher levels of loneliness were

detected among younger participants in this study. However, no significant correlation was

found between social support from friends and age of the students.

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A silver lining: age, friends and loneliness among portuguese university students

TABLE2

Mean, standard deviation, correlations among study variables

Variables M SD 1 2

Loneliness 1.96 .559 - -

Social Support from friends 5.70 1.237 -.556** -

Age 32.20 12.11 -.212* -.055

Note: *p<0.05, ** p<0.001

Regression results

Linear regression was performed to analyse the impact of perceived social support from

friends and age on loneliness among university students. Table 3 shows that to explain loneliness,

perceived social support from friends and age are relevant as they indicate significant values.

Therefore, when perceived social support from friends increases by one-point, parental stress

decreases by -.579 points. The proposed model was significant F(2,101) = 30.800, p<0.001.

Perceived social support from friends and age of students explained 37.9% of the variance of

loneliness (R2 adjusted). The Durbin-Watson test statistics in our study is lower than two, showing

error independence (DW = 2.141). Errors have an average of zero. Age and social support from

friends (independent variables) are independent of each other as indicated by the value of VIF =

1.003 (≥5) and Tolerance = .997 (≥0.2).

TABLE3

Summary of regression analysis for predicting the effect of perceived social support from friends and age of

students on loneliness

95% IC for B

Predictors B Inferior Superior S.E. b p

Social Support from Friends -.275 -.349 -.201 .037 -.579 .000

Age -.011 -.018 -.004 .004 -.244 .000

R2 = .379; F = 30.800; N = 121

Discussion

The current study extends research on the role of friends’ social support and age in association

to loneliness among university students between 18 and 60 years old. First, the results indicate

that students who receive less social support from friends perceive higher levels of loneliness.

This pattern of findings supports our research question, which predicted that support from

friends would impact of loneliness. Prior research corroborates these findings (Kulari, 2024; Lee

& Goldstein, 2016). Loneliness reflects a subjective feeling or disconnectedness which is often

characterized as a discrepancy between desired and actual social relationships (Perplau &

Perlman, 1982).

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Therefore, our study adds to literature suggesting that the function of social support from

friends can buffer the effects of loneliness. This could have occurred for a number of reasons:

for example, perhaps friendships were more emotionally intimate and longer lasting compared

to other sources (Suwinyattichaiporn & Johnson, 2022). Although the current data do not allow

for this particular of follow-up inquiry, it will be interesting for future research to explore these

issues in greater detail. The current findings are consistent with the life course perspective which

places individual’s relationships and their meaning within a developmental context (Hawkley

& Caccioppo, 2007: Luhmann & Hawkley, 2016). As an individual moves from adolescence

and transition to adulthood, support from friends and peers may be particularly effective in

enhancing their social abilities (Sadoughi & Hasempour, 2017). This knowledge is essential, as

the university years are often characterized by considerable relationship transitions (Zhang &

Dong, 2022).

An additional key finding of the current study is understanding age differences in perception

of loneliness. Literature has shown a U-shaped line of loneliness among different age groups

(Viktor & Young, 2012). Therefore, the results of the present study indicated that younger students

have a higher level of loneliness compared to older individuals. However, literature is scarce

when compared among a variety of age groups and in particular university students. This is

a notable contribution to the literature, and is consistent with previous literature regarding

age differences and the experiences of loneliness. For example, Lee and Goldstain (2016) have

pointed out that younger adults experience more changes in life and adaptation, indicating a

higher level of loneliness. Similarly, research indicated that younger adults strive for peer

relationships as a source of protection toward loneliness (Barreto et al., 2021). Thus, even though

a friend’s relationships are very important, perhaps an increased emphasis on relationships puts

them at risk for an increased discrepancy between desired and achieved social relationship,

therefore intensifying their vulnerability to loneliness. Although this was not analysed in the

present study, would be imperative to explore these issues in future research.

Limitations

Despite the strength of the study, there are several limitations that should be noted. First,

sample size consists of a little number of participants that doesn’t permit to generalize the

difference of age groups and the association among friends support and loneliness. Furthermore,

the study sample included students of only one university, to extent to which results generalize

to students of other type of universities and field of study is unclear. Second, this study was

cross-sectional in design. Thus, no casual inferences can be made. In other words, would be very

important to understand social support from friends not only as a predictor of loneliness but also

as an outcome. Finally, the current data do not allow for the specification of other social support

sources. Given the diversity of romantic relationship experience of university students, it will

be important for future research to assess whether romantic relationship experience buffers

loneliness.

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A silver lining: age, friends and loneliness among portuguese university students

Conclusion

Literature has consistently demonstrated varied associated effects of loneliness both in mental

(cognitive decline, dementia, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, suicidal ideation and suicide)

as well as physical health (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic pain, cancer, depressed

immune system, sleep deprivation), showing pervasive and deleterious effects in many aspects

of human health (Goldman et al., 2024; Pai, & Vella, 2022; McWhirter, 1990; Shovestul et al. 2020).

These findings emphasize the need for targeting prevention and intervention initiatives aiming

to alleviate loneliness among the population, including university students. As university years

are the most important time of social and relational transition, it is unclear how different age

group react to these new social relationships.

The current study expands on this research, and demonstrates that friends’ social support

during the years of academic studies buffers some of the negative effects of loneliness. Loneliness

may be at its lifetime peak during university years, since young adults (typical higher education

student) have usually high levels of loneliness (Lee & Goldstain, 2016; Viktor & Young, 2012).

Their strong need for friends’ support (Barreto et al., 2021) may be thwarted during university

years, especially if the student has to relocate. The present results call attention to the need for

friends relationship development and urges institutions to development of means of facilitating

this type of support during these transitional years.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Funding

This research was conducted within the research centre CIP (Centro de Investigação em

Psicologia), which is funded by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) through Project

UIDB/04345/2020.

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