Ne. Mahon et al., DIFFERENCES IN SOCIAL SUPPORT AND LONELINESS IN ADOLESCENTS ACCORDINGTO DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE AND GENDER, Public health nursing, 11(5), 1994, pp. 361-368
The purpose of this study was to examine differences in both perceived
social support and loneliness according to the three stages of adoles
cent development (early, middle, and late), as determined by chronolog
ical age and gender. The sample consisted of 113 early adolescents, 10
6 middle adolescents, and 106 late adolescents. Data were collected in
classroom settings. All participants responded to the PRQ85-Part II,
A Social Support Measure; the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale; and a dem
ographic data sheet. Results of the study, which used the two-way anal
ysis of variance, indicated that there were no statistically significa
nt differences in perceived social support or loneliness across the th
ree stages of adolescence. Findings also indicated that girls reported
statistically significantly higher levels of perceived social support
than boys; however, there were no statistically significant gender di
fferences in loneliness.