Bt. Mcwhirter et Jj. Horan, CONSTRUCT-VALIDITY OF COGNITIVE-BEHAVIORAL TREATMENTS FOR INTIMATE AND SOCIAL LONELINESS, Current psychology, 15(1), 1996, pp. 42-52
The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of two cognitive-
behavioral interventions whose contents were matched to distinct types
of loneliness (intimate and social) derived from empirical and theore
tical literature and from a factor analysis of the Revised UCLA Loneli
ness Scale. Screened participants were assessed on measures varying in
theoretical relevance to the treatment conditions. The hypotheses wer
e that each treatment would favorably influence measures of high theor
etical relevance (e.g., the social loneliness treatment would reflect
changes on measures of social loneliness) and would have comparatively
lesser effects on measures of lower theoretical relevance. Analysis o
f Covariance on pre-, post-, and follow-up data indicated that the soc
ial loneliness treatment significantly decreased both intimate and soc
ial loneliness in the absence of differences on control variables. Iss
ues relevant to the construct validity of the distinct treatments are
discussed.