====== Loneliness Scale (LS) ======
The short form of the Loneliness Scale measures subjective social isolation ([[sections|section]]: [[mental health]]), which is defined as a situation experienced by the participant as one where there is an unpleasant or inadmissible lack of (quality of) certain relationships. It includes situations where the number of existing relationships is smaller than desirable or acceptable, as well as situations where the intimacy wished for has not been realized((De Jong Gierveld, J. (1989) Personal relationships, social support, and loneliness. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 6, 197-221)).\\
A manual to analyze the scale can be found [[https://home.fsw.vu.nl/tg.van.tilburg/manual_loneliness_scale_1999.html|here]].
The scale is used widely in the Netherlands (the original scale is Dutch) but also internationally and has shown good psychometric properties for overall, emotional, and social loneliness that is suitable for large surveys((De Jong Gierveld, J. & Van Tilburg, T. (2006). A 6-item scale for overall, emotional, and social loneliness: confirmatory tests on survey data. Research on Aging, 28, 582-598)).

| **Questions English**                                      | **Questions Dutch**                                                     | **Code**                        | **Variable**  | **Assessment**   | **Age**  |
| i experience an emptiness around me                        | ik ervaar een leegte om me heen                                         | loneliness_emptiness_adu_q_01   | LONELYSC1     | [[2B]] [[ACTQ]]  | 18+      |
| i miss people around me                                    | ik mis mensen om me heen                                                | loneliness_people_adu_q_02      | LONELYSC2     | [[2B]] [[ACTQ]]  | 18+      |
| i often feel abandoned                                     | vaak voel ik me in de steek gelaten                                     | loneliness_abandoned_adu_q_03   | LONELYSC3     | [[2B]] [[ACTQ]]  | 18+      |
| i have enough people to fall back on in case of adversity  | er zijn genoeg mensen op wie ik in geval van narigheid kan terugvallen  | loneliness_fallback_adu_q_04    | LONELYSC4     | [[2B]] [[ACTQ]]  | 18+      |
| i have many people that i can fully trust                  | ik heb veel mensen op wie ik volledig kan vertrouwen                    | loneliness_trust_adu_q_05       | LONELYSC5     | [[2B]] [[ACTQ]]  | 18+      |
| there are enough people that i feel closely connected to   | er zijn voldoende mensen met wie ik me nauw verbonden voel              | loneliness_connection_adu_q_06  | LONELYSC6     | [[2B]] [[ACTQ]]  | 18+      |