AD ALTA
JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
could be answered using the following options: "yes!", "yes",
"more or less yes", "no", "no!". Based on these, invited
respondents were could comment on these questions in the
questionnaire. In case that the respondent thought that the
statement reflects his/her feeling and attitude very well, he/she
clearly marked "yes!". On the other hand, if the respondent
strongly disagreed with the statement, he/she marked "no!". If
the respondent was not quite sure and decided between the
answers, he/she could choose between "yes", "more or less yes",
"no" based on the feeling to which answer he/she inclined the
most. For the statistical processing and evaluation of the
questionnaire, we assigned specific values to selected answers,
where a value of 1 was assigned to the answer "yes!", the value 2
to the answer "yes", the value 3 to "more or less yes", the value 4
to "no" and the value 5 to the answer "no!". In questionnaire, we
have used questions that reflected social loneliness with the
numerical expression: 1, 4, 7, 8 and 11. Questions with
numerical expression: 2, 3, 5, 6, 9 and 10 represented emotional
loneliness. The standardized questionnaire was supplemented by
two questions of socio-demographic nature (gender, age). In our
case, reliability reached a value of 0.676.
By a deliberate, non-random, occasional selection, we gathered a
research sample consisting of 80 respondents aged from 16 to 18
years. Respondents come from a socially disadvantaged
background. This sample of respondents attends the Secondary
Vocational School in Kecerovce. Our research sample was
represented by 30 men and 50 women.
The data were processed in the statistical software SPSS 16.
Based on the normality test, we found out that it is necessary to
use non-parametric statistics (Mann-Whitney U-Test).
We investigated whether adolescents coming from a socially
dependent environment experience loneliness. For this purpose,
we have calculated the gross score in the overall loneliness
category. Results show that 43.8% of the respondents do not feel
lonely, but up to 56.2% of the respondents are experiencing
loneliness.
Tab. 1 Experiencing overall loneliness
Overall loneliness
f
%
Experiencing overall
loneliness
45
56,2
Not experiencing
overall loneliness
35
43,8
We also looked at how respondents experience emotional
loneliness. After calculating the gross score in the emotional
loneliness category, we found out that 56.2% of the respondents
did not feel emotionally lonely, but up to 43.8% of the
respondents felt lonely.
Tab.2 Experiencing emotional loneliness
Emotional loneliness
f
%
Experiencing emotional
loneliness
35
43,8
Not experiencing
emotional loneliness
45
56,2
In the context of how do adolescents experience social
loneliness, we found out that up to 80% of respondents feel
lonely, while 20% of respondents who do not feel lonely.
Tab.3 Experiencing social loneliness
Social loneliness
f
%
Experiencing social
loneliness
64
80
Not experiencing
social loneliness
16
20
We were wondering whether adolescents coming from socially
disadvantaged background experienced more or less loneliness.
Statistically significant differences have not been proved. Male
adolescents’ responses indicate a trend of higher extent of
experiencing loneliness than responses from female adolescents.
However, the uneven distribution of the research sample in terms
of gender perspective may influence results.
Tab.4 Overall loneliness from gender perspective
Gender
Number
(N)
x̄
Z
p(α)
Male
22
32,55
-0,313
0,754
Female
58
31,28
We were also interested in whether experiencing loneliness
differs in relation to the age of the respondents. The research has
been conducted in high school, we have set two age categories
divided into those adolescents who were under the age of 17 and
those who were older than 17 years old. Statistically significant
differences have not been proven. Older adolescents’ responses
suggest a trend of higher rate of experiencing loneliness than
responses of younger adolescents. However, the uneven
distribution of the research sample in terms of age perspective,
as well as the small age range of high school students may
influence the results.
Tab. 5 Overall loneliness from age perspective
Age
Number
(N)
x̄
Z
p(α)
Less than 17
years old
50
31,34
-0,405
0,686
More than
17 years old
30
32,10
5 Recommendations for practice and conclusion
We consider it important to pay attention to the research of
loneliness in a group of adolescents, especially those who come
from a socially dependent background. Not only the theoretical
background, but also empirical research point to this.
Adolescence is a difficult period of life that has an almost
existential character. The situation of adolescents coming from
socially dependent background, where conditions for
development and independence are heavily constrained, is even
more difficult. Theoretical concepts suggest that experiencing
loneliness in adolescence can lead to the occurrence of many
negative phenomena, such as risk behaviour of adolescents.
Author's research findings indicate alarming results. More than
half of high school students from a socially dependent
background feel lonely overall. Almost half of the respondents
are experiencing emotional loneliness and up to 80% of the
respondents feel socially lonely. Other research findings are also
interesting. Although no statistically significant differences have
been proven, the respondents' answers indicate that male
adolescents feel more lonely than female adolescents, as well as
those who are over 17 years old, just prior to the end of
secondary education.
Social worker as helping professional may act on this issue in
both prevention and intervention levels. It seems necessary to
introduce the concept of the school social work in our
conditions. Especially in schools where most, if not all of the
students come from socially disadvantaged background (as it is
unfortunately the case in many allocated secondary vocational
schools) and where there is higher risk of negative phenomena.
Experiences with social work in the school environment from
abroad confirm its positive impact on students. Among other
things, it has been shown that school social work can reduce the
risk factors that affect various negative phenomena in the school
environment (Newsome et al., 2008, in: Vasiľová, Lovašová,
2018). The school social worker provides social counseling to
students or their parents, can organize various preventive
programs, socio-psychological training, support peer programs,
organize discussions, cooperate with a family of student, and so
on.
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