UCLA Loneliness Scale Is A Useful Tool
The UCLA loneliness scale was first developed in the 1970’s by Dan Russell, a psychologist, as a way to let people test and measure the feelings of being lonely that they were experiencing. The test has been revised several times since in order to make it a more accurate and useful psychological tool. The first time it was revised because the scale appeared to be overly biased in its wording and would create too many negative answers, thus destroying its credibility and usefulness. The wording was revised to try to create a more accurate result. The test was originally administered to university students, but it was later discovered that sometimes other population groups such as elderly people did not clearly understand the questions due to the way that they were worded. The scale was therefore revised again in the 1990’s to simplify it in order to make it more useful for people who were not highly educated.
The test consists of a series of twenty statements and the reader is asked to identify how strongly he or she agrees with these statements or disagrees with them. Half the questions are worded in a positive way and half of them are worded in a negative way, in order to eliminate any bias in the answers. For example, a person may be asked how often they feel as if they are completely alone. They can choose the answer that best represents their feelings: often, sometimes, rarely, or never. Each of these answers is given a numerical score and a total over 30 represents a severe problem with loneliness.
Today the UCLA loneliness test is used around the world to help people identify their inner sensation of loneliness. This is important to know because loneliness and a feeling of being socially isolated is strongly linked to other psychological conditions such as depression. A high score in loneliness can also correlate with physical problems and the need for admission to a nursing home.