Totally All Alone with My Thoughts: Development, Psychometric Properties and Correlates of the Loneliness Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire

Figures & data

Table 1 Means, Standard Deviations, and Alphas for All Measures – Study 1

Variables	M	SD	Alphas
Loneliness Automatic Thoughts	19.54	9.92	0.95
UCLA Loneliness	46.97	14.62	0.96
PINTS	18.20	4.87	0.90
Social Desirability	5.91	2.10	0.50

Note: N = 282.

Abbreviation: PINTS, Persistent and Intrusive Negative Thoughts Scale.

Table 2 Factor Loadings for the Items of the Loneliness Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire – Studies 1 and 2

Items		Factor Loadings
Why am I so lonely?	Study 1	0.86
	Study 2	0.76
I cannot stand to feel this alone	Study 1	0.88
	Study 2	0.88
It’s weak to be this lonely	Study 1	0.79
	Study 2	0.74
I feel helpless being by myself for too long	Study 1	0.79
	Study 2	0.77
Will this loneliness ever end?	Study 1	0.84
	Study 2	0.86
I cannot escape this loneliness	Study 1	0.88
	Study 2	0.84
Something must be wrong with me to feel this alone	Study 1	0.84
	Study 2	0.81
I cannot handle feeling alone	Study 1	0.84
	Study 2	0.76
Other people are not this alone	Study 1	0.75
	Study 2	0.64

Notes: N = 282 for Study 1 and N = 289 for Study 2.

Table 3 Correlations Among Loneliness Automatic Thoughts, Loneliness, Persistent and Intrusive Negative Thoughts, and Social Desirability – Study 1

Measures	1	2	3	4
1. Loneliness Automatic Thoughts	–
2. Loneliness	0.74**	–
3. Persistent and Intrusive Negative Thoughts	0.43**	0.39**	–
4. Social Desirability	−0.22**	−0.22**	−0.19**	–

Notes: N = 282. **p < 0.01, two-tailed.

Table 4 Means, Standard Deviations, and Alphas for All Measures – Study 2

Variables	M	SD	Alphas
Loneliness Automatic Thoughts	18.52	9.03	0.94
UCLA Loneliness	18.92	5.20	0.86
Loneliness Adaptability	41.43	10.51	0.91
Social Hopelessness	59.18	14.92	0.90
Anti-Mattering	11.55	4.06	0.88
Mattering	13.74	3.12	0.77
Psychache	6.51	3.02	0.89
Depression	5.17	2.83	0.75
GAD-7	9.51	5.83	0.91
Social Desirability	5.78	2.33	0.60

Note: N = 289.

Table 5 Correlations Among Loneliness Automatic Thoughts and Other Measures of Loneliness, Social Hopelessness, Mattering, Psychache, Depression, Anxiety, and Social Desirability – Study 2

Measures	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
1. LATQ	–
2. Loneliness	0.63**	–
3. LAS	−0.42**	−0.31**	–
4. SHQ	0.55**	0.62**	−0.32**	–
5. Anti-Matter	0.59**	0.69**	−0.31**	0.68**	–
6. Mattering	−0.39**	−0.57**	0.26**	−0.47**	−0.48**	–
7. Psychache	0.65**	0.56**	−0.46**	0.55**	0.57**	−0.36**	–
8. Depression	0.64**	0.71**	−0.47**	0.53**	0.60**	−0.45**	0.64**	–
9. Anxiety	0.50**	0.48**	−0.35**	0.51**	0.53**	−0.25**	0.58**	0.53**	–
10. Social Des	−0.17**	−0.33**	0.17**	−0.37**	−0.36**	0.19**	−0.27**	−0.25**	−0.31**	–

Notes: N = 289. **p < 0.01, two-tailed.

Abbreviations: LATQ, Loneliness Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire; LAS, Loneliness Adaptability Scale; SHQ, Social Hopelessness Questionnaire; Anti-Matter, Anti-Mattering; Psychache, Unbearable Psychache, and Social Des, Social Desirability.

Table 6 Summary of Multiple Regressions for Variables Predicting Psychache, Depression, and Anxiety – Study 2

Variables	R²	B	SE B	95% CI
Predicting Unbearable Psychache	0.493***
Step 1
Loneliness Automatic Thoughts		0.14***	0.02	[0.09, 0.18]
UCLA Loneliness		0.14***	0.04	[0.07, 0.21]
Loneliness Adaptability		−0.06***	0.02	[−0.09, −0.03]
Predicting Depression	0.604***
Step 1
Loneliness Automatic Thoughts		0.08***	0.02	[0.04, 0.11]
UCLA Loneliness		0.26***	0.03	[0.21, 0.32]
Loneliness Adaptability		−0.06***	0.01	[−0.08, −0.04]
Predicting Anxiety	0.314***
Step 1
Loneliness Automatic Thoughts		0.17***	0.04	[0.09, 0.25]
UCLA Loneliness		0.30***	0.07	[0.16, 0.43]
Loneliness Adaptability		−0.09**	0.03	[−0.14, −0.03]

Notes: N = 289. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Table 7 Summary of Multiple Regression for Variables Predicting Loneliness Automatic Thoughts – Study 2

Variables	R²	B	SE B	95% CI
Step 1	0.506***
Social Hopelessness		0.08*	0.04	[0.02, 0.15]
Anti-Mattering		0.51***	0.14	[0.25, 0.80]
Mattering		−0.19	0.15	[−0.48, 0.11]
Psychache		1.25***	0.16	[0.92, 1.55]

Notes: N = 289. *p < 0.05, ***p < 0.001.