Psychometric properties of the variants of the Chinese UCLA Loneliness Scales and their associations with mental health in adolescents

Abstract

Loneliness is a pervasive and distressing emotional experience that affects individuals of all ages and can have significant consequences for both physical and mental health. The UCLA Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS) is widely used to assess the subjective feelings of loneliness, but concerns have been raised about its structure and applicability in diverse cultural contexts. This study analysed the reliability and validity of the five Chinese versions of the UCLA-LS in a representative sample of 2,643 adolescents and young adults with Chinese as their first language in Hong Kong. The results showed high internal consistency across all versions and content validity for most items. Factor analysis revealed a two-factor structure for the longer versions and a unidimensional structure for the shorter versions. However, the fit statistics suggested that the models did not meet good fit criteria, indicating item loading or model specification requires further review. The scales demonstrated strong associations with mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety, as well as psychosocial factors like hopelessness and aggression. Notably, the 8-item version’s total scores were associated with mental health and psychological attributes comparable to those of the 20-item version, suggesting its potential suitability as a screening tool in population settings. Future research is needed to improve the generalisability of these scales to other Chinese populations, particularly for items with lower content validity.