Loneliness and Negative Affective Conditions in Adults: Is There Any Room for Hope in Predicting Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms?

ABSTRACT

This study examined the role of hope in understanding the link between loneliness and negative affective conditions (viz., anxiety and depressive symptoms) in a sample of 318 adults. As expected, loneliness was found to be a significant predictor of both anxiety and depressive symptoms. Noteworthy, hope was found to significantly augment the prediction of depressive symptoms, even after accounting for loneliness. Furthermore, we found evidence for a significant Loneliness × Hope interaction effect in predicting anxiety. A plot of the interaction confirmed that the association between loneliness and anxiety was weaker among high, compared to low, hope adults. Some implications of the present findings are discussed.

Keywords:

• loneliness
• hope
• anxiety
• depressive symptoms
• adults

Author Notes

Mine Muyan is a graduate student in the Department of Educational Sciences at Middle East Technical University. Her interests involve international psychology and the study of hope, loneliness, perfectionism, intimate partner violence, and coping as predictors of adjustment in adults.

Edward C. Chang is Professor of Psychology and Social Work in the Department of Psychology and the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan. His interests involve optimism/pessimism, perfectionism, coping and cultural influences on behavior.

Zunaira Jilani is a graduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan. Her interests involve the study of mindfulness, domestic violence, sexual assault and mental health, and the psychology of South Asians.

Tina Yu is a student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan. Her interests involve ethnic/racial psychology, sexual assault and trauma, eating disturbances, chronic illness, and cultural variations in adjustment.

Jiachen Lin is a student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan. Her interests involve dental care seeking behaviors, sexual assault victimization, loneliness, and psychological adjustment.

Jameson K. Hirsch is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at East Tennessee State University. His interests involve personality, culture and health, psychopathology, coping and suicide prevention.