Loneliness and Life Satisfaction in Adolescents with Divorced and Non-Divorced Parents

In this study, loneliness and global life satisfaction levels among high school students with divorced and non-divorced parents were examined. The study was conducted on a total of 836 high school students, 383 of whom comprised children with divorced parents and 453 comprised children with non-divorced parents in Denizli, Turkey. The data were obtained using the Satisfaction with Life Scale-SWLS, UCLA Loneliness Scale and a Personal Information Form. In the analysis of the data, hierarchical regression analyses, MANOVA, and one-way ANOVA were performed. The findings of the study showed that loneliness has higher negative effects on life satisfaction among adolescents with divorced parents. Adolescents with divorced parents are more susceptible to loneliness and global life satisfaction than are adolescents with non-divorced parents. A significant difference was found in loneliness and global life satisfaction levels among adolescents with divorced parents with respect to only number of siblings. Neither loneliness nor global life satisfaction levels significantly differed with respect to gender, grade, residential parent, contact frequency with the non-residential parent, and the age at the time of divorce.