Young Americans Are the Loneliest, According to a New Study

America’s next big public health issue may be loneliness, which a new study finds affects most Americans. But the group most at risk isn’t the oldest generation — it’s one of the youngest. The research, conducted by health insurer Cigna and the market research firm Ipsos, found that young people ages 18 to 22 are the most likely to be lonely. Loneliness is a major threat to Americans’ mental, physical and emotional well-being and can have huge consequences for public health, given the well-researched connections between loneliness and health issues ranging from substance abuse to heart disease. “The biggest takeaway is that most Americans are considered lonely. This is an alarming statistic,” says Dr. Doug Nemecek, chief medical officer of behavioral health at Cigna. “But more importantly, if everyone who comes into contact with this data can ask themselves what they can do in their communities to affect change, that would be a really meaningful first step.” In the study, about 20,100 U.S. adults took the UCLA Loneliness Scale, a 20-question survey that asks people how often they agree with prompts such as, “There is no one I can turn to,” and “I feel part of a group of friends.” Loneliness scores are calculated based on those responses. The study authors classified anything above a 43 as loneliness. The average score was 44, suggesting that loneliness is reaching “epidemic levels” in t...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthytime Mental Health/Psychology onetime Source Type: news