The Impact of Loneliness to Depression: An evidence from College Students in Vietnam
Abstract
This study was conducted to investigate the relationship between loneliness and depression among college students in Vietnam. The study sample consisted of 523 students from the Economics/Business and Engineering disciplines, who participated in the survey by responding to questionnaires based on the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (DJGLS) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS - 21) indicators. The findings of this study indicate that while social loneliness meets the validation standards, emotional loneliness is incongruent with the context and study participants in Vietnam. The final results reveal a positive correlation between loneliness and depression (r = 0.42, P-value < 0.005). Subsequently, the research team provides recommendations that college students should actively participate in social and recreational activities, maintain relationships with friends and family to alleviate social loneliness, thereby minimizing the likelihood of developing depression. Social organizations should strive to create a friendly, open environment that fosters a sense of connection and belonging for everyone.
References
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Hasanah, U., Fitri, N. L., Supardi, S., & Livana, P. H. (2020). Depression among college students due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jurnal Keperawatan Jiwa, 8(4), 421-424. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/jkj.8.4.2020.421-424
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Ponzetti Jr, J. J. (1990). Loneliness among college students. Family relations, 336-340. https://doi.org/10.2307/584881
Rahman, A., Bairagi, A., Dey, B. K., & Nahar, L. (2012). Loneliness and depression of university students. The Chittagong University J. of Biological Science, 7(1-2), 175-189.
Rubenstein, C., & Shaver, P. R. (1982). In search of intimacy: Surprising conclusions from a nationwide survey on loneliness & what to do about it. Delacorte Press.
Shaver, P., Furman, W., & Buhrmester, D. (1985). Transition to college: Network changes, social skills, and loneliness. In S. Duck & D. Perlman (Eds.), Understanding personal relationships: An interdisciplinary approach (pp. 193–219). Sage Publications, Inc.
Stoessel, C., Stiller, J., Bleich, S., Boensch, D., Doerfler, A., Garcia, M., ... & Forster, C. (2011). Differences and similarities on neuronal activities of people being happily and unhappily in love: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Neuropsychobiology, 64(1), 52-60. https://doi.org/10.1159/000325076
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Wang, J., Mann, F., Lloyd-Evans, B. et al. Associations between loneliness and perceived social support and outcomes of mental health problems: a systematic review. BMC Psychiatry 18, 156 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-018-1736-5
Weiss, R. S., Bowlby, J., & Parkes, C. M. (1973). The study of loneliness. Loneliness: The experience of emotional and social isolation.
WHO. (2008). The global burden of disease: 2004 update. https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/43942/9789241563710_eng.pdf
World Health Organization (2023). Depressive disorder (depression). https://www.who.int/news-room/factsheets/detail/depression#:~:text=An%20estimated%203.8%25%20of%20the,world%20have%20depression%20(1).
Yung, S. T., Chen, Y., & Zawadzki, M. J. (2023). Loneliness and psychological distress in everyday life among Latinx college students. Journal of American College Health, 71(5), 1407-1416. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.1927051
Berscheid, E., & Reis, H. T. (1998). Attraction and close relationships.
Blanco, C., Okuda, M., Wright, C., Hasin, D. S., Grant, B. F., Liu, S. M., & Olfson, M. (2008). Mental health of college students and their non–college-attending peers: results from the national epidemiologic study on alcohol and related conditions. Archives of general psychiatry, 65(12), 1429-1437. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.65.12.1429
Cacioppo, J. T., & Patrick, W. (2008). Loneliness: Human nature and the need for social connection. WW Norton & Company.
Cacioppo, J. T., Hawkley, L. C., Ernst, J. M., Burleson, M., Berntson, G. G., Nouriani, B., & Spiegel, D. (2006). Loneliness within a nomological net: An evolutionary perspective. Journal of research in personality, 40(6), 1054-1085. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2005.11.007
Deniz, M., Hamarta, E., & Ari, R. (2005). An investigation of social skills and loneliness levels of university students with respect to their attachment styles in a sample of Turkish students. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 33(1), 19-32. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2005.33.1.19
Eisma, M. C., Schut, H. A., Stroebe, M. S., Boelen, P. A., van den Bout, J., & Stroebe, W. (2015). Adaptive and maladaptive rumination after loss: A three‐wave longitudinal study. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 54(2), 163-180. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12067
Eisemann, M. (1984). Contact difficulties and experience of loneliness in depressed patients and non‐psychiatric controls. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 70(2), 160-165. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1984.tb01193.x
Erzen E, Çikrikci Ö. (2018). The effect of loneliness on depression: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 64(5):427-435. doi:10.1177/0020764018776349
Field, T., Diego, M., Pelaez, M., Deeds, O., & Delgado, J. (2009). Breakup distress in university students. Adolescence, 44(176).
Hair, J. F., Jr., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis: A global perspective (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education International, Prentice Hall.
Hasanah, U., Fitri, N. L., Supardi, S., & Livana, P. H. (2020). Depression among college students due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Jurnal Keperawatan Jiwa, 8(4), 421-424. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/jkj.8.4.2020.421-424
Hysing, M., Petrie, K. J., Bøe, T., Lønning, K. J., & Sivertsen, B. (2020). Only the lonely: A study of loneliness among university students in Norway. Clinical psychology in Europe, 2(1). doi: 10.32872/cpe.v2i1.2781
Jones, W. H., & Carver, M. D. (1991). Adjustment and coping implications of loneliness. In C. R. Snyder & D. R. Forsyth (Eds.), Handbook of social and clinical psychology: The health perspective (pp. 395–415). Pergamon Press.
Liu, X., Gao, X., & Ping, S. (2019). Post-1990s college students academic sustainability: the role of negative emotions, achievement goals, and self-efficacy on academic performance. Sustainability, 11(3), 775. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11030775
Monroe, S. M., Rohde, P., Seeley, J. R., & Lewinsohn, P. M. (1999). Life events and depression in adolescence: relationship loss as a prospective risk factor for first onset of major depressive disorder. Journal of abnormal psychology, 108(4), 606. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.108.4.606
Najib, A., Lorberbaum, J. P., Kose, S., Bohning, D. E., & George, M. S. (2004). Regional brain activity in women grieving a romantic relationship breakup. American Journal of Psychiatry, 161(12), 2245-2256. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.161.12.2245
Peerenboom, L., Collard, R. M., Naarding, P., & Comijs, H. C. (2015). The association between depression and emotional and social loneliness in older persons and the influence of social support, cognitive functioning and personality: A cross-sectional study. Journal of affective disorders, 182, 26-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.04.033
Ponzetti Jr, J. J. (1990). Loneliness among college students. Family relations, 336-340. https://doi.org/10.2307/584881
Rahman, A., Bairagi, A., Dey, B. K., & Nahar, L. (2012). Loneliness and depression of university students. The Chittagong University J. of Biological Science, 7(1-2), 175-189.
Rubenstein, C., & Shaver, P. R. (1982). In search of intimacy: Surprising conclusions from a nationwide survey on loneliness & what to do about it. Delacorte Press.
Shaver, P., Furman, W., & Buhrmester, D. (1985). Transition to college: Network changes, social skills, and loneliness. In S. Duck & D. Perlman (Eds.), Understanding personal relationships: An interdisciplinary approach (pp. 193–219). Sage Publications, Inc.
Stoessel, C., Stiller, J., Bleich, S., Boensch, D., Doerfler, A., Garcia, M., ... & Forster, C. (2011). Differences and similarities on neuronal activities of people being happily and unhappily in love: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study. Neuropsychobiology, 64(1), 52-60. https://doi.org/10.1159/000325076
Verhallen, A. M., Renken, R. J., Marsman, J. B. C., & Ter Horst, G. J. (2019). Romantic relationship breakup: An experimental model to study effects of stress on depression (-like) symptoms. PloS one, 14(5), e0217320. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217320
Wang, J., Mann, F., Lloyd-Evans, B. et al. Associations between loneliness and perceived social support and outcomes of mental health problems: a systematic review. BMC Psychiatry 18, 156 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-018-1736-5
Weiss, R. S., Bowlby, J., & Parkes, C. M. (1973). The study of loneliness. Loneliness: The experience of emotional and social isolation.
WHO. (2008). The global burden of disease: 2004 update. https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/43942/9789241563710_eng.pdf
World Health Organization (2023). Depressive disorder (depression). https://www.who.int/news-room/factsheets/detail/depression#:~:text=An%20estimated%203.8%25%20of%20the,world%20have%20depression%20(1).
Yung, S. T., Chen, Y., & Zawadzki, M. J. (2023). Loneliness and psychological distress in everyday life among Latinx college students. Journal of American College Health, 71(5), 1407-1416. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2021.1927051
Authors
Pham Kieu Mai Linh
Bach Lan Anh
[1]
“The Impact of Loneliness to Depression: An evidence from College Students in Vietnam”, Soc. sci. humanities j., vol. 8, no. 03, Mar. 2024, doi: 10.18535/sshj.v8i03.960.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.