Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults - SciELO ...

Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults (SELSA; DiTomasso et al., 2004): consists of 15 items, answered on a 7-point scale, ranging from 1 = Strongly ...      ServiciosPersonalizados Revista SciELOAnalytics GoogleScholarH5M5() Articulo textoenPortugués Inglés(pdf) |Portugués(pdf) ArticuloenXML Referenciasdelartículo Comocitaresteartículo SciELOAnalytics Traducciónautomática Linksrelacionados Compartir Otros Otros Permalink CienciasPsicológicas versión impresa ISSN1688-4094versión On-line ISSN1688-4221 Cienc.Psicol. vol.13 no.2 Montevideo dic. 2019  Epub 01-Dic-2019 http://dx.doi.org/10.22235/cp.v13i2.1885  OriginalArticles SocialandEmotionalLonelinessScale:psychometricsevidencesintheBraziliannortheast LuizeAnny GuimarãesAmorim1  http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8396-8620 Patrícia NunesdaFonsêca1  http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6322-6336 GabrielaMarcolino AlvesMachado1  http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6557-2905 ClaraLohana CardosoGuimarães1  http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0875-2026 PauloGregório NascimentodaSilva1  http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2878-309X 1UniversidadeFederaldaParaí[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected] Abstract:TheresearchaimedtoadapttheSocialandEmotionalLonelinessScaleforAdults(SELSA)toBrazil,gatheringevidenceofvalidityandaccuracy.Twostudieswerecarriedout:inStudy1,319universitystudents(Mage=24.36)answeredtheSELSAanddemographicquestions.Theexploratoryfactoranalysisresultsindicatedathree-factorstructure(Family,RomanticandSocial),explaining70.38%ofthetotalvariance,withaCronbach'salpha(α)rangingfrom.84to.92;inStudy2,with200universitystudents(Mage=25.35)whoansweredthesameinstrumentsofthepreviousstudy.Confirmatoryfactorialanalysisindicatedadequateindicators(CFI=0.98,TLI=.98,RMSEA=.07,Pclose=.06).Reliabilitywassatisfactory(.77to.93).Itisconcludedthattheinstrumentpresentedgoodpsychometricparameters,beinganalternativetoolforresearchersinvestigatinglonelinessanditscorrelates,proposingnewstudieswithamorerepresentativesampleKeywords: Loneliness;universitystudents;scale;validity;reliability Introduction Lonelinessisconsideredaserioussocialproblem(DeJong-Gierveld&Tilburg,2010)andapublichealthissue(Holt-Lunstad,Smith,Baker,Harris,&Stephenson,2015).Itreferstoanegativeexpressionoffeelingsthatcanmanifestinpeopleofallages,beingmorerecurrentinwomenofanyageandinsingleelderlymen(DeJong-Gierveld,Tilburg,&Dykstra,2016;Pocinho&Macedo,2017).Itisexperienceddifferentlybypeople(DeJongGierveldetal.,2016)andariseswhenthereisagapbetweentheintimacyachievedbytheindividualandtheidealizedone(Asher&Weeks,2014). Accordingtotheliterature,peoplewhofeellonelypresentanintensefeelingofemptinessandabandonment,depressivesymptoms,cognitivedecline,poorqualityoflife,impairedphysicalhealthandsleepdisorders(Kuznier,Souza,Mata,&Chianca,2016;Pocinho&Macedo,2017).Suchcharacteristicscontributetothelonelinessbeingrecognizedasariskfactorfortheindividual’smentalhealth(Ouakinin&Barreira,2015;Reichl,Schneider,&Spinath,2013). AccordingtoPocinho,FarateandDias(2010),lonelinesshasbeenstudiedfromtwoperspectives:(1)asociologicalone,inwhichlonelinessiscausedsolelybyexternalfactors;and(2)aninteractionistone,whichperceiveslonelinessasacombinationofsituationalandpersonalityfactors.Inadditiontothese,twootherapproacheshelpintheunderstandingofthethemeandallowedtheelaborationofinstrumentsforitsevaluation:(1)one-dimensionaland(2)multidimensional. Theone-dimensionalapproachconceivesoflonelinessasanexperiencecommontoallpeople,ignoringthespecificcausesthatmaycauseit(Chen,2015),i.e.individualstendtosimilarlyexperiencefeelingsofloneliness,varyingonlyintheirfrequencyorintensity(Russell,1982;Russell,Peplau,&Ferguson,1978).Fromamultidimensionalperspective,theperceptionoflonelinessdependsonthenumberorqualityofrelationships(desiredandexperienced),withtwospecifictypeswidelyacceptedintheliterature(Exposito&Moya,1999):(1)sociallonelinessand(2)emotionalloneliness,whichwillbebrieflydescribed. Thisresearchaddressesthemultifacetedcharacterofloneliness,asithasabroaderviewofthephenomenon.Suchperspective,initiallydefendedbyWeiss(1973),proposesaseparationbetweenthesocialandpersonalfactorsoftheconstruct.Thisauthordefinedlonelinessasadeficientcondition,inwhichtwotypesofspecificrelationaldispositionsareabsent:a)socialloneliness,whichreferstoadeficitinsocialrelations,generatingagrowingneedtobewithfamily,friendsandneighbors;andb)emotionalloneliness,whichreferstoafeelingcausedbytheabsenceofaspecificpersonalrelationship,whetherofalovingpartnerorfriends,whichconveysacceptanceandunderstanding. Inshort,sociallonelinessisafeelingresultingfromtheindividual'slackofinvolvementwiththeirsocialcircle,afactthatoccursduetoinadequatesocialrelationshipsandrejectioninthedesiredgroups(DiTommaso&Spinner,1993);andemotionallonelinessreferstotheneedforsomeonewhoprovidesemotionalsupportandsecurity.Itisoftenexperiencedbyindividualswhohaveexperiencedloss,suchasthedeathofcloserelativesordivorceproceedings(Chen,2015),andisassociatedwithfearofchildabandonment,anxietysymptoms,orfeelingsofemptiness. Augusto,OliveiraandPocinho(2008)highlightthreecomponentsthatdirectlyinterferewiththefeelingofloneliness:(1)thecognitivecomponent-howdoesoneperceiveoneselfinagivensocialsituation,ifnegatively,theindividualstraysawayfromthegroupandisolateshimself;(2)theaffectivecomponent-referstonegativeemotionalexperienceslivedbyaperson,whichcanbeexpressedthroughdisorientationand/orloss;and(3)thetimecomponent-thepermanencetimeofthefeeling,whetheritistemporaryorlasting,andmayvarydependingonsignificantchangesinlife(e.g.jobloss,relationshipconflict)orthroughmorepersistentconflictorchronicexperience,inwhichthepersonexperiencesalastingisolationfromhumancontactorsocialization(Belford,2017). Thatsaid,itisimportanttoemphasizetherelationshipbetweensocialisolationandloneliness.Holt-Lunstadetal.(2015)statethatbysociallyrelatingandestablishingperennialaffectivebondswithpeople,thepsychological,emotionalandphysicalwell-beingisaffected.Thus,asthefrequencyofrelationshipsinthesocialcircleincreases,theintensityoflonelinessdecreases(DeJongGierveldetal.,2016).However,itcanbeconsideredthatlonelinessshouldnotbeunderstoodsolelyastheabsenceofcompanionship,butassomethingdeeper,whichcanaccompanyfeelingsofboredomandlackofperspectiveonlife(Ferreira,2012). ResearcherssuchasDeJong-Gierveldetal.(2016)haveinvestigatedthefactorsassociatedwithloneliness,consideringdifferentsamples,especiallygroupsofelderlyindividualsandwomen,becausetheyaremorevulnerabletoloneliness.DahlbergandMcKee(2014)conductedastudyintheUnitedKingdomof1,255elderlyindividualswhoareover65years-oldandfoundthat7.7%ofparticipantsexperiencedseverelevelsofloneliness,while38.3%hadmoderatelevels.Moreover,theydemonstratedthatvariablessuchasbeingwidowed,alowself-esteemandpoorsocialcontactwithfamilyandfriendswerepredictorsofloneliness. Theseresultscorroboratethedatafoundinthelongitudinalsurvey(28years)with469elderlyindividuals,between60and86years-old,whowereresidentsofthecityofTampere,Finland(Aartsen&Jylhä,2011).Theresearchersfoundthatapproximatelyonethirdofparticipantsdevelopedfeelingsoflonelinessduetothelossofalovingpartner.Suchsituationledthemtoreducesocialandphysicalactivities,generatinganincreasedsenseofworthlessnessandmoodiness.Suchsymptomsweremorepresentinwomen,especiallywidows. Giventheabove,theneedtounderstandandmeasuretheleveloflonelinessinindividualsstandsout.Thus,intheliteratureconsulteditispossibletofindinstrumentsforthispurpose,basedonthetwoperspectivespresented(one-dimensionalandmultidimensional).Intheone-dimensionalapproach,lonelinessasaglobalconstruct,thefollowinginstrumentswereidentified:theLonelinessScale(Russelletal.,1978),theLonelinessRatingScale(Scalise,Ginter,&Gerstein,1984),andtheDifferentialLonelinessScale(Schmidt&Sermat,1983),inadditiontotheUniversityofCaliforniaLosAngelesLonelinessScale(UCLA;Russell,Peplau,&Cutrona,1980). However,althoughtheUCLAscalewasoriginallyconceivedinaone-dimensionalmodel,somelaterstudieschallengeditsdimensionality,withmultifactorstructuresbeingverified,withtwo(Wilson,Cutts,Lees,Mapungwana,&Maunganidze,1992),three(Pikea,Parpa,Tsilika,Galanos,&Mystakidou,2016)andfourfactors(Borges,Prieto,Ricchetti,Hernández-Jorge,&Rodríguez-Naveiras,2008).InBrazil,theone-dimensionalstructurehasbeencorroborated(Fonsêca,Couto,Melo,Guimarães,&Pessoa,2018). Giventheabove,despitethecomplexityofthetheme,itseemscoherenttoconsiderthemultifacetedcharacterofloneliness.Thus,basedonthetypologyproposedbyWeiss(1973),whichiswidelyacceptedbyresearchers,coveringtwofacetsoftheconstruct(socialandemotional),DiTommasoandSpinner(1993)elaboratedtheSocialandEmotionalLonelinessScaleforAdults(SELSA),initiallycomposedof37items,distributedinthreefactors:a)social,b)familyandc)romantic.Inthemeantime,althoughfurtherresearchshowedfavorableevidenceofpsychometricadequacyofthemeasure(Cramer&Barry,1999),DiTomasso,BrannenandBest(2004)proposedareducedversion,arguingthatashortinstrumentwithsimilarpsychometricqualitiescouldbemoreeffective,besidesbeingcommonlyusedinclinicalorresearchcontext.Thisinstrumentgathered15items,evenlydistributedamongthethreetheorizedfactors,withadequatevalidity(CFI=0.92;NFI=0.92;TLI=0.91;RMSEA=0.09)andaccuracy(rangingfrom0.87to0.90),withdifferentversionsofthemeasureinseveralcontexts:Spanish(Yarnoz-Yaben,2008),Iranian(Jowkar,2012),Polish(Adamczyk&DiTommaso,2014)andTurkish(Cecen,2007). Inthissense,despitefindingmeasurestoassesslonelinesswithsatisfactorypsychometricindices,evenintheBraziliancontext,thereisstilllittleresearchonlonelinessasamultifacetedconstruct,highlightingtheneedtoconsiderthisaspectoftheconstruct.Facedwiththislimitationandalliedtotheunderstandingoftheimportanceofhavingpsychometricallyadequatemeasures,astheycanhelpinthedetectionoflonelinessanditscorrelates,aswellasenablingproposalsformoreeffectivepreventiveinterventions(Dahlberg&McKee,2014),themainobjectiveofthisstudywastoadapttheSocialandEmotionalLonelinessScaleforAdults(SELSA)toBrazil,verifyingitspsychometricadequacy.Toachievetheseobjectives,twostudies(exploratoryandconfirmatory)wereperformed,whichwillbedescribedbelow. Study01-InitialEvidenceofValidityandAccuracyoftheSELSA MaterialsandMethod Participants Atotalof319universitystudentsparticipatedthisstudy,fromanortheasterncapitalofBrazil,over18years-old,recruitedbyconvenience(non-probabilisticsample),withface-to-faceandonlinerecrutiment,withameanageof24.36years(SD=6.52).Mostofthemwerewomen(84.4%),single(46%)andCatholic(40.9%). Instruments Theparticipantsansweredabookletcontainingthefollowinginstruments: SocialandEmotionalLonelinessScaleforAdults(SELSA;DiTomassoetal.,2004):consistsof15items,answeredona7-pointscale,rangingfrom1=StronglyDisagreeto7=StronglyAgree,whichindicatethedegreeofagreementordisagreementwitheachstatement.Theitemscoverthreefactorsofloneliness,namedasfollows:social(e.g.,Item09-Ifeelpartofagroupoffriends),family(e.g.,Item11-Ifeelclosetomyfamily)andromantic(e.g.,Item02-Iwouldliketohaveamoresatisfyingloverelationship).Internalconsistency,asassessedbyCronbach'salpha(α),wassatisfactory:social(α=0.90),family(α=0.89)andromantic(α=0.87).Inaddition,fouritemshaveinvertedscores,namelyitems:1,3,7and14. Sociodemographicquestionnaire:inordertocharacterizethesample,thefollowinginformationwasrequested:theparticipant’sage,gender,maritalstatusandreligion. Procedure Initially,theresearchersofthisstudysoughttoadapttheSELSAtoBrazilianPortuguesethroughtheBack-Translationmethod.Forthis,twoindependent,bilingualtranslatorsprovidedassistance.Thus,themeasurewastranslatedintoBrazilianPortugueseandthentranslatedintoEnglish(nativelanguage)throughblindtranslations,aimingtoverifytheequivalenceoftheitemsofthetwoversions(PortugueseandEnglish),whichweresynthesizedforevaluationofsemantic,idiomatic,experientialandconceptualequivalenceofthetranslationsofeachitem,asrecommendedbyBorsa,DamásioandBandeira(2012).Thislastversionunderwentasemanticvalidation(Pasquali,2016),whichwasansweredby20peoplelivinginacapitalofthenortheastregionofBrazil,dividedequallyaccordingtotheireducationallevel(lowerandhigherstrataofthetargetpopulation),whoverifiedthecomprehensionoftheinstructionsandtheitemsofthemeasurethat,aftertheevaluation,didnotneedanymodifications. Subsequently,datacollectionwasperformed,providingparticipantswithallethicalclarificationsabouttheresearch,requestingtheirwrittenconsent,whichwasdonebysigningtheInformedConsentForm.Onaverage,participantsneeded10minutestocompletetheiranswers.Itisnoteworthythat,priortofillingintheparticipants'answers,theresearchobjectivewasexposedanditsvoluntaryandanonymouscharacterwasensured,inaccordancewiththeNationalHealthCouncilResolutions466/12and510/16,whichdealwithscientificresearchinvolvinghumanbeings.ThestudywasapprovedbytheEthicsCommitteeofResearchonHumanBeingsoftheHealthSciencesCenteroftheUFPB(CAAE:73301717.0.0000.518,ProtocolNo.2.309.859). Dataanalysis Fortheanalysis,threeprogramswereused,respectively:(1)SPSS(version21),usedforthecalculationofdescriptivestatistics;(2)FACTOR10.5,foranalysisofthepolychoriccorrelationmatrix,CommonPartAccountedFor(CAF)adjustmentindices,recommendedfornon-normallydistributeddata(Lorenzo-Seva&Ferrando,2006),andtheMinimumAveragePartial(MAP)extractionmethod.InadditiontocheckingtheKaiser-Meyer-Olkim(KMO)andBartlett'sSphericityTest(Tabachnick&Fidell,2013);and(3)theRsoftware,usingtheroutineincludedinthePSYCHpackage(Revelle,2017),verifyingtheinternalconsistencyindex(precision),usingCronbach'salphacoefficient(α)basedonpolychoriccorrelationsandonMcDonald’somega(ωt).Tothisend,theLikertresponsescalemustbeconsideredasorderedcategories(Lara,2014). Results Initially,anexploratoryfactoranalysiswasperformed,aimingtoknowthefactorstructureofthepolychoriccorrelationmatrixamongthe15itemsoftheSELSA.TheadequacyofthesamplewasverifiedbytheKaiser-Meyer-Olkinindex(KMO=0.85)andtheBartlettsphericitytest,χ²(105)=3404.8;p<0.001.TheHullmethodsuggestedathree-factorsolution,explaining70.38%ofthetotalvariance,withthesocialfactorexplaining37.22%ofit,followedbythefamily(22.29%)andromantic(10.87%)factors.AProminrotationwasperformed,adoptingvalues​​equaltoorgreaterthan|0.50|asfactorsaturationcriteria.ThedatacanbeseeninTable1. Table1: FactorialStructureoftheSocialandEmotionalLonelinessScaleforAdults.  AccordingtoTable1,thefactorsweredistributedandnamedasfollows:factorI(SocialLoneliness)composedoffiveitems,withfactorialloadsfrom0.60(Item15)to0.80(Item09),Cronbach'salpha(α)=0.83andMcDonald'somega(ωt),=0.87;FactorII(FamilyLoneliness)gatheredfiveitems,withloadsrangingfrom0.49(Item10)to0.97(Item06),α=0.86andωt=0.89;andfactorIII(RomanticLoneliness),whichgroupedfiveitems,withthefactorialsaturationrangingfrom0.64(Items02)to0.95(Item12),(α)from0.92andtheωtof0.95. Inanutshell,theresultspresentedinTable1showedsatisfactoryevidenceaboutthevalidityoftheSELSA,presentingathree-factorstructure,astheorized,bringingtogether15items,whichwereequitablygroupedineachfactor.Subsequently,inordertogathercomplementaryevidenceregardingthefactorialstructureoftheaforementionedinstrument,itisnecessarytorelyonmorerobuststatisticaltechniques,suchastheConfirmatoryFactorAnalysis(CFA),consideringtheordinalmeasureWeightedLeastSquaresMeanandVariance-Adjusted(WLSMV;Muthén&Muthén,2014).Thus,Study2wasperformedasdescribedbelow. Study02-ProofoftheSELSAFactorialStructure Method Participants Thisstudyincludedasampleof200universitystudentsfromanortheasternBraziliancapital,distributedequallybetweenmenandwomen,between18and56years-old(M=25.35;SD=6.80),withface-to-faceandonlinerecruitment,byconvenience.Mostofthemweresingle(43.5%)andCatholic(47%). Instruments TheparticipantsrespondedtoabookletcontainingthesameinstrumentsdescribedinStudy1,butwiththeadaptedandvalidatedversionoftheSocialandEmotionalLonelinessScaleforAdults(SELSA;DiTomassoetal.,2004). Procedure TheproceduresperformedinthepresentstudyweresimilartothoseofStudy1,includingtheguidelinesprovidedforinResolution466/12and510/16oftheNationalHealthCouncil.ThestudywasapprovedbytheEthicsCommitteeofResearchonHumanBeingsoftheHealthSciencesCenteroftheUFPB(CAAE:73301717.0.0000.518andProtocolNo.2.309.859). Dataanalysis FortheaccomplishmentofStudy2,theRsoftwarewasused,inwhichtheLavaanpackage(Rosseel,2012)wasrun,whichallowedtheresearcherstoperformthecategorical(ordinal)confirmatoryfactoranalysis(CFA)WeightedLeastSquaresMeanandVariance¬-Adjusted(WLSMV;Muthén&Muthén,2014). Toverifytheadequacyofthemodel,thefollowingindicatorswereused:(1)χ²/g.l.(theratiobetweentheχ2andthedegreesoffreedom)inanattempttomakeχ2lessdependentonthesamplesize;Inthiscase,theadjustmentcanbeconsideredperfect(15);(2)ComparativeFitIndex(CFI)isacomparativeindexwhosevalues​,whenabove​0.90,indicateanadjustedmodel;(3)Tucker-LewisIndex(TLI),ameasureofparsimonybetweentheindicesoftheproposedmodelandthenull,rangingfrom0to1,beingacceptable>0.90;(4)Root-Mean-SquareErrorofApproximation(RMSEA)andits90%confidenceinterval(CI90%),withvalues​​between0.05and0.08beingacceptable,butwithvaluesupto0.10stillbeingvalid;and(5)RootMeanSquareResidual(RMSR),squarerooterrormatrixdividedbythedegreeoffreedom,whichindicatesasuitablemodelwithvalues​​<0.08.Finally,withtheroutineincludedinthePSYCHpackage,theinternalconsistencywascalculatedbyCronbach'salphacoefficientbasedonpolycoriccorrelationsandMcDonald'somega(ωt)(Byrne,2010;Marôco,2014;Tabachnick&Fidell,2013). Results Inthepresentstudy,aConfirmatoryFactorAnalysis(CFA)wasperformed,adoptingtheWeightedLeastSquaresMeanandVariance-Adjusted(WLSMV)estimationmethod,aimingtoevaluatetheadjustmentqualityoftheSELSAthree-factorstructure,observedinStudy1.Aftertheanalysis,itwasfoundthatthethree-factormodelpresentedadjustmentindicesconsideredasadequate:χ²/gl=1.85,CFI=0.98,TLI=0.98,RMSEA(IC90%)=0.07(0.05-0.08),Pclose=0.06andRMSR=0.06. Figure1: FactorialstructureoftheSocialandEmotionalLonelinessScaleforAdults.  AsshowninFigure1,specificallyintheSocialLonelinessfactor,thefactorialloadsrangedfrom0.34(Item15)to0.82(Item09),Cronbach'salpha(α)=0.77andMcDonald'somega(ωt)=0.83;inFamilyLoneliness,thefactorialweightsrangedfrom0.41(Item10)to0.92(Item11),α=0.86andωt=0.89;IntheRomanticLonelinessfactor,thefactorialsaturationrangedfrom0.64(Item07)to0.93(Item05and12),withα=0.90andωt=0.94. Inshort,itcanbeseenthattheresultsendorsecomplementaryevidenceofconstructvalidityandinternalconsistencyoftheSocialandEmotionalLonelinessScaleforAdultsinthenortheastregionofBrazil,corroboratingthethree-factorstructureobservedinStudy1. Discussion ThepresentstudyaimedtoadapttheSocialandEmotionalLonelinessScaleforAdults(SELSA)tothenortheastregionofBrazil,checkingitspsychometricadequacy.Toachievetheobjectives,twostudieswereconducted(exploratoryandconfirmatory).Inthissense,itisconsideredthattheobjectiveshavebeenachieved,becausetheSELSApsychometricevidencesmadeitpossibletoverifytheirsuitabilityfortheconsideredcontext. Regardingthemainfindingsofthisresearch,specificallyinStudy1,throughanexploratoryfactoranalysis,evidenceoffactorialvalidityandaccuracywasgathered,andathree-factorstructurewasfound,astheoreticallyproposedandsimilartotheoriginalstudy(DiTomasso&Spinner,1993).IntheBrazilianversion,theinstrumentalsohad15items,evenlydistributedamongthethreefactorsofloneliness(Social,FamilyandRomantic).Internalconsistency(accuracy)wasverifiedbytwoindices:Cronbach'salphaandMcDonald'somega.This,inturn,whencomparedtoCronbach'salpha,hasshownmorerobustness(Dunn,Baguley,&Brunsden,2014;McDonald,1999). TakingthefindingsfromStudy1,itwassoughttogathercomplementarypsychometricevidenceregardingtheSELSAthroughconfirmatoryfactoranalysis(AFC;Byrne2010),consideringthecategorical(ordinal)measureandtheWeightedLeastSquaresMeanandVariance-Adjustedestimator(WLSMV;Muthén&Muthén,2014).Consideringthis,satisfactoryadjustmentindiceswereobservedconsideringthestructureindicatedinStudy1,indicatingthatthemodelfitstheempiricaldata(e.g.,CFIandTLI>0.95andRMSEA<0.08;Byrne,2010;Marôco,2014). Moreover,reliabilitywasassessedbyCronbach'salpha(polychoricmatrix)andMcDonald'somegaindicators,whichpresentedvalues​​between0.77and0.93,respectively,consideredmeritorious(Cohen,Swerdlik,&Sturman,2014;Nunnally,1978;Zinbarg,Revelle,Yovel,&Li,2005).Theseresultscorroboratethethree-factorstructure,endorsedbystudiesperformedinothercountries,suchasPoland,TurkeyandIran(Adamczyk&DiTommaso,2014;Cecen,2007;Jowkar,2012). However,despitetheresultsassuringthemetricqualityoftheinstrument,itisnecessarytopointoutthepotentiallimitationsofthisresearch,aswellasindicatingfuturepossibilities,aimingtoovercomesuchlimitsandtoenableadvancesinthestudyofloneliness,especiallyintheBrazilianscenario.Thus,regardingthelimitations,itshouldbenotedthatthesample,althoughpeoplefromdifferentagegroupswererecruited,wasmostlycomposedbyyoungvolunteers,perhapsduetoeasyaccesstosocialnetworks,sincetheinstrumentswereappliedbothface-to-faceandonline.AnotherissuethatdeservesattentionreferstotheresidentsbeingonlyfromacapitalofnortheastregionofBrazil,afactthatmakesitimpossibletoextrapolatethefindingsbeyondthesampleconsidered.However,itisnoteworthythatthepresentresearchdidnotintendtogeneralizeresults,buttopresentameasurewithgoodpsychometricqualitiesfortheBraziliancontext. Moreover,havinganinstrumentthatconceiveslonelinessfromamultidimensionalperspectiveenablesabetterunderstandingoflonelinessinspecificsituationsandcontexts.Forexample,consideringgender,itisevidentthatwomenshowsignificantdifferencesonlyintheemotionalfactorcomparedtomen,whichispossiblyexplainedbythefactthatmentendtokeeptheirfeelingsundercontrolwhencomparedtowomen.Ontheotherhand,womenhaveabetterqualityintheirsocialandintimaterelationships,whicharedeeperandlongerlastingincontrasttotherelationshipsnourishedbymen(Samili&Bozorgpour,2012).Inaddition,studiesfocusingonspecificsituationscanbeplanned,suchaspeoplewhohaveexperiencedloss(e.g.,divorceanddeathofcloserelatives;Chen,2015),especiallyintheelderlyindividualsgroup,whichhasbeenshowntobemorevulnerable,fortheyhavelonelinesslevelsrangingfrommoderatetosevere.Specifically,ithasbeenshownthatwidowhood,lowself-esteem,andabandonmentfromfamilyandfriendsaresignificantpredictorsofsocialandemotionalloneliness(Dahlberg&McKee,2014). Thus,consideringtheaboveandtakingintoaccounttheterritorialamplitudeofBrazil,andconsequentlytheculturaldiversityofthecountry,itissuggestedthattheSELSAisappliedtosamplesfromotherBrazilianstatestoobtaincomparativeparametersandreachastandardfortheBrazilianpopulation.Thatsaid,itisestimatedthatfuturestudieswillreachmorerepresentativesamplesofthepopulation,takingintoaccountsociodemographicvariables,particularlyconsideringage,gender,andmaritalstatus,consideringdifferentagegroups,suchasthegroupsofadolescents,theelderlyindividualsandwomen,astheypresenthighervulnerabilitytoloneliness.Morespecifically,previousstudieshaveshownthatageisanimportantvariableinexplainingloneliness,especiallyinelderlyindividuals(Dahlberg&McKee,2014),withahigherprevalenceinpeopleover65years-oldwhoexperiencemoderateandseverelevelsofloneliness,especiallyinwidowhood(DeJong-Gierveldetal.,2016). Inaddition,evidenceofconstructvalidityneedstobecomplementedbymorerobustandsophisticatedanalyzes,suchasfactorialinvariance(comparingdifferentgroupssuchasgender,citiesorstates)orevenItemResponseTheory(IRT),allowingforarefinementofthemeasure.Itwouldbeequallyinterestingtoconsiderrelatedconstructs(antecedentsandconsequences)thathelpexplainthephenomenonoflonelinessincontemporarytimes,suchasinternetorsmartphoneaddiction,aswellassocialanxiety,whichhasbeenrelatedinotherstudies(Cotten,Anderson,&McCullough,2013;Darcinetal.,2016;Tan,Pamuk,&Dönder,2013).Inaddition,itwouldberelevanttogatherevidenceofconvergent-discriminantvalidityandcriterion. Conclusions Inanutshell,theresultsfoundinthisresearchendorseevidenceoftheadequacyoftheSELSA,specificallyconsideringthenortheasterncontextofBrazil.Strictlyspeaking,itisameasurecomposedof15items,distributedinthreefactors,withgoodpsychometricqualities,thatsatisfythecriterionofparsimony.Giventhis,itisunderstoodthatthistoolcanbeausefulalternativeforresearchersinterestedinthethemeanditscorrelates,perhapssupportingproposalsforinterventionsingroupsthatareproventobeexperiencingdifferentlevelsandtypesofloneliness. Fromapracticalpointofview,providingameasurethatassessesthemultifacetedcharacteroftheconstructcanhelpidentifyspecificcharacteristicsofloneliness,assistinginabroaderunderstandingofthephenomenonbyconsideringitsemotionalandsocialaspects. 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Correspondence:PatríciaNunesdaFonseca.CasteloBranco,JoãoPessoa/PB.CEP:58059-900.CentrodeCiênciasHumanaseLetras,DepartamentodePsicologia,UniversidadeFederaldaParaíba.Email:[email protected] Howtocitethisarticle:Guimarães,A.L.L.,Fonsêca,P.N.,Machado,G.M.A.,Guimarães,C.L.C.,&Silva,P.G.N.(2019).SocialandEmotionalLonelinessScale:psychometricsevidencesintheBraziliannortheast.CienciasPsicológicas,13(2),283-295.doi:10.22235/cp.v13i2.1885 Received: August06,2018;Accepted: June03,2019  EsteéumartigopublicadoemacessoabertosobumalicençaCreativeCommons