Loneliness, or emotional isolation, refers to perceived social isolation and feeling disconnected from others. This variable is assessed at each evaluation with 5 items from a modified version of the de Jong-Gierveld Loneliness Scale. The original version of the scale has been shown to be internally consistent and associations with loss of a spouse, institutional living, and low self-esteem support its construct validity. To assess emotional loneliness, 5 items assessing social loneliness were eliminated from the original scale.

Participants are asked to rate agreement with each item on a 5-point Likert rating scale (see table below). The total score ranges from 1 to 5 and is the average of the individual item scores. Higher values indicate more loneliness.

Participants are presented the following items:

1. I experience a general sense of emptiness.
2. I miss having people around.
3. I feel like I don't have enough friends.
4. I often feel abandoned.
5. I miss having a really close friend.

Response choices for each item: