Loneliness, reputational orientations and positive mental well-being during adolescence

Abstract

Adolescence is the peak period for social development, identity formation and heightened vulnerability for loneliness. This study examined multidimensional loneliness, reputational orientations, and positive mental well-being among 546 Western Australian adolescents aged 12 to 16 years. Findings revealed main effects of age and gender for loneliness, with gender effects for positive mental well-being and reputational orientations. A regression analysis confirmed these gender effects and revealed that positive mental well-being had the highest individual contribution to the variances in reputational orientation scores. Findings suggest the need to assist adolescents to learn to use their time..