The role of peers and parents in predicting the levels of loneliness in Maltese adolescents

Abstract

This study aimed at researching the role of peers and parents in predicting the levels of loneliness in Maltese adolescents, investigating the relative contribution of three groups of predictors on such levels: the parent relationship variable; the peer relationship variable; and demographic variables consisting of age, gender, number of siblings, birth order and type of school. The researcher's hypothesis prior to the study was that the level of loneliness in adolescents is mostly affected by the peer relationship variable. The study involved two different approaches to collect the data. In the first approach, a questionnaire was distributed to 220 male and female adolescents aged 13 to 16 from 7 schools. These schools consisted of all the types of schools in the Maltese educational system, that is, Private schools, Church schools, Junior Lyceum schools and Area Secondary schools. The second approach consisted of audio-recorded semi-structured interviews with 8 adolescents coming from the different types of schools. The findings show that the peer-adolescent relationship affects the level of loneliness in adolescents more than the parent-adolescent relationship. Also, the level of loneliness is mostly affected when the adolescents are not understood by their peers. The results also showed that boys feel lonelier than girls in this particular age group and that adolescents attending an Area Secondary school feel lonelier than the other types of schools. These results confirm what major literature points out, highlighting first and foremost that peers are of major importance in an adolescent's life. Secondly, that consequence of this, adolescents' loneliness is mostly affected by the adolescent's peer relationships.