Protective self-presentation, sources of socialization, and loneliness among Australian adolescents and young adults

This research assessed the relative impact of features of protective self-presentation, key sources of socialization, and social anxiety on individual differences in loneliness among Australian adolescents and young adults. In Study 1, 281 high school students living with parents completed self-report measures of loneliness, self-presentation features (i.e., fear of negative evaluation, social competence), parenting style (overprotection, care), peer relations (attachment, teasing) and social anxiety. Peer and parenting measures were significant predictors of loneliness, independent of self presentation influences. Social anxiety also added to the model after controlling for all other measures. In Study 2, 170 undergraduates living independently completed measures of the same constructs. Paralleling findings from Study 1, protective self-presentation features, peer relations, and social anxiety had unique effects on loneliness. As hypothesized, however, parenting measures did not add to the prediction model for young adults. Implications of findings are discussed in relation to understanding loneliness within high school and university age samples.