Subjective experience of loneliness as a predictor of substance use in adolescents

Komissarova Ol'ga Andreevna ORCID: 0009-0003-2642-2340 Postgraduate student of the Department of Psychology and Pedagogy, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia 6 Miklukho-Maklaya str., Moscow, 117198, Russia olg.komissarova2016@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Milovanova Ol'ga Andreevna ORCID: 0000-0002-6260-6193 Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Professor of the Department of Pediatric Neurology ; FGBOU DPO RMANPO of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation 123995, Russia, Moscow, Barricadnaya str., 2/1s1 olg.komissarova2016@yandex.ru

Introduction

Research devoted to the study of the subjective experience of loneliness is becoming more and more in demand among specialists in the field of psychology, sociology and pedagogy. In the Russian Federation, due to the rapid changes in the socio-political, economic and diplomatic situation, issues of subjective well-being and experiencing various psycho-emotional states, including loneliness, come to the fore for most people. One of the socio-demographic groups that are much more acutely susceptible to experiencing the negative effects of global stress factors are adolescents, due to their unstable psycho-emotional organization and the associated high degree of social excitability ^[16].

It should be noted that, according to numerous studies ^{[1, 2, 3, 5]}, teenagers experience stress factors more acutely than adults. One of the factors that have a significant impact on a person's subjective well-being is the experience of loneliness ^{[4, 7]}. According to the research of E.V. Samal and K.V. Stolygin, adolescents of the older and younger age groups experience loneliness in 82% of cases in social and personal aspects, and also have such specific features of the subjective experience of loneliness as fear rejection, social normativity, and fear of physical unattractiveness. At the same time, the authors conclude that adolescents of the younger age group are more likely to demonstrate acute experiences, compared with adolescents of the older age group ^[18].

O.S. Zababurina notes that the subjective experience of loneliness by teenagers of the younger age group is associated with the establishment of new social connections and their high need for communication and acceptance, which is characteristic of the diffuse type of loneliness. At the same time, in older adolescents, the experience of loneliness acquires positive features, as it is associated with ego well-being, demonstrating a dissociated type of loneliness ^[6].

T.C. Tudupova and I.S. Khudyakova, analyzing the relationship between reflection and loneliness in adolescents, point out that as adolescents grow older and the mechanisms of self-reflection become more complex, adolescents acquire mechanisms for coping with the subjective experience of loneliness, which may be associated with its more pronounced degree in younger adolescents and a gradual transition to a positive experience of loneliness in older adolescents ^[13].

Undoubtedly, it can be argued that the subjective experience of loneliness has an impact on the social life of adolescents, including the formation of behavioral characteristics and the acquisition of new behavioral patterns. E. V. Solodkaya, I. P. Loginov, studying the predictors of the development of depressive states in adolescents, note that a high degree of subjective loneliness in adolescents is one of the predictors of the development of depressive states. The authors attribute this fact to the fact that in adolescence, establishing external social connections and finding one's place in the outside world becomes one of the main tasks of a teenager's psychoemotional development ^[12]. Undergoing a subjective experience of failure, adolescents are prone to a hypertrophied sense of loneliness, which becomes a predictor of the development of depressive states and autodestructive behavior, including addictions.

The relevance of the study is to consider the subjective experience of loneliness in adolescents as a predictor of the development of autodestructive addictive behavior. Identifying the specific features of the subjective experience of loneliness among adolescents of the older and younger age groups will allow psychologists to carry out targeted preventive measures aimed at alleviating the subjective experience of loneliness among adolescents and preventing the development of addictions.

Methods

The purpose of our study is to study the subjective experience of loneliness in adolescents as a predictor of autodestructive addictive behavior.

To achieve the stated goal, we have set the following research objectives:

1. To conduct a theoretical analysis of studies devoted to the study of the subjective experience of loneliness in adolescents of different age groups;

2. To identify the features of the subjective experience of loneliness in adolescents of the older and younger age groups; 3. To describe the predicative potential of the subjective experience of loneliness in adolescents of different age groups in the aspect of the development of autodestructive addictive behavior.

The hypothesis of the study is that a high degree of subjective experience of loneliness in adolescents leads to the formation of a tendency to social use of surfactants (use for communication) in younger adolescence and is fixed in the form of autodestructive addictive habits in older adolescence.

To confirm this hypothesis, we conducted a study of the subjective experience of loneliness among adolescents of the older and younger age groups. The respondents were also provided with an author's questionnaire aimed at studying the characteristics of the use of surfactants (alcohol, nicotine-containing substances, vapes, etc.). As a basis for conducting an empirical study, we selected several secondary schools located in the Moscow region. Due to the processing of minors' data, in this study we do not provide data on specific educational institutions due to compliance with the agreement with educational institutions.

The respondents in the study were 127 teenagers of younger adolescence (11-13 years old) and 114 teenagers of the older age group (14-16 years old). All respondents studied in secondary schools in the Moscow region in grades 5-10 on a general basis (they did not have disabilities or congenital diseases that affect test results). The purpose of this study was to study the gender phenomenon in the subjective experience of loneliness, the groups of adolescents were mixed and the authors did not divide by gender. All teenagers and their legal representatives gave informed consent to conduct a survey, questionnaire and study of the results in a comprehensive (group) anonymous format. Due to the requirements of psychological ethics when conducting research related to the well-being of underage study participants, all questionnaires and survey results were strictly anonymous and contained information only about the age group of respondents, the results of the survey and the questionnaire.

To conduct the study, we used the following techniques:

· E.A. Manakova's Loneliness Experience Questionnaire;

· The DOPO-3k questionnaire (Differential questionnaire of loneliness experience) by E.N. Osina, D.A. Leontieva;

· The method "Scale of subjective experience of loneliness" by S.V. Dukhnovsky;

· The author's questionnaire "The use of psychoactive substances".

The use of several multidirectional questionnaires to analyze the subjective experience of loneliness made it possible to find out both the level of subjective feelings of the respondents and the qualitative characteristics of their condition, which later allowed us to draw conclusions about the predicative potential of the subjective experience of loneliness and the facts of the use of surfactants.

We used the Mann-Whitney U-test and the pair correlation method to compare groups of older and younger adolescents as methods for analyzing the results.

Results

The results of surveys of adolescents of the younger and older age groups revealed the characteristics of the subjective experience of loneliness common to each group under consideration.

Fig. 1. The results of the Questionnaire on loneliness by E.A. Manakova in groups of younger and older adolescents.

The results of a survey of teenagers of the younger age group on the methodology of E.A. Manakova allowed us to draw the following conclusions about their experience of subjective loneliness:

1. Younger adolescents rate loneliness as a negative but temporary phenomenon associated with a lack of understanding and support among both peers and significant adults.;

2. Younger adolescents rarely associate the experience of loneliness with physical unattractiveness, which may be due to the onset of puberty and unformed criteria of attractiveness.

The results of the subjective experience of loneliness in older adolescents led to the conclusion that, unlike groups of younger adolescents, the aspect of physical unattractiveness plays a significant role in their subjective experience of loneliness. Just like younger adolescents, older adolescents believe that loneliness is a temporary phenomenon, but the aspect of lack of support from peers and significant adults becomes much lower, while the aspect of fear of responsibility increases. Changes in the subjective experience of loneliness of older adolescents in relation to the younger age group may be associated with the active psychophysiological and psycho-emotional development of adolescents, experiencing puberty (increased importance of physical attractiveness) and the formation of Self-concept, which is associated with a decrease in the importance of evaluation by significant individuals and an increased fear of responsibility.

Fig. 2. Average values on scales for the DOPO-3k methodology for groups of older and younger adolescents

The results of a survey of adolescents in the younger age group using the DOPO-3K method allowed us to assess that adolescents in this age group have a high average level of subjective loneliness associated with respondents' dependence on communication (increased social conformity) and peer acceptance. Whereas the positive aspects of loneliness are not actually highlighted by teenagers of this age group.

The DOPO-3K analysis allowed us to conclude that the overall level of subjective loneliness among the respondents of the older age group has not changed compared to the respondents of the younger age group, however, qualitative indicators have changed: older adolescents associate loneliness with social interaction to a lesser extent and evaluate loneliness as a positive factor to a greater extent. This trend may also confirm the assumptions made about the formation of a holistic self-image in older adolescents, which makes them less conformal and allows them to experience loneliness as time spent with themselves.

Finally, the results of S.V. Dukhnovsky's SPO methodology made it possible to assess the overall level of subjective loneliness experienced by adolescents of the younger and older age groups.:

Fig. 3. Correlation by levels of loneliness experience

The results of a study of the level of subjective loneliness in younger adolescents have shown that the majority of adolescents in this age group have a high (29%) or very high (37%) level of subjective loneliness. This trend may be related to the search for new social connections and relationships, the transition from childish patterns of behavior to adults.

The results of the assessment of the level of subjective loneliness in older adolescents led to the conclusion that the respondents of this group have reduced the critical values of both low and extremely high levels of loneliness, but high levels of average and high levels of loneliness. This trend may seem to indicate that older adolescents do not hypertrophy the experience of loneliness, but this factor has a significant impact on their psycho-emotional state.

It can be noted that the high average level of subjective loneliness experienced by adolescents of the younger age group correlates with the results of other studies in the field of loneliness in adolescents (), which suggests the validity of the results obtained.

In turn, a survey on the use of surfactants, adolescents of the younger age group showed the following results:

1) alcohol-containing beverages consumed (single use) 15% of respondents, uses – not revealed;

2) nicotine-containing products (cigarettes, nicotine patches and chewing gum, etc.) were tried by 15% of respondents and 10% of respondents admitted that they smoke regularly (every day or every other day) with friends;

3) 35% of respondents regularly consumed water-based smoking mixtures (vapes), and 67% tried various types of water-based smoking mixtures once, while 90% of respondents stated that these mixtures do not contain addictive substances (surfactants), which indicates a high degree of spread of the myth of the harmlessness of water-based smoking mixtures.;

4) 3% of respondents noted the situational use of herbal mixtures of a narcotic nature (spice, light cannabinoids).

Thus, it can be concluded that adolescents of the younger age group are prone to hypertrophied, acute subjective loneliness associated with a lack of communication, as well as rejection and misunderstanding from peers and significant adults. At the same time, a small percentage of teenagers in the younger age group regularly use surfactants, but more than half of the respondents have tried various substances, indicating that the experience of use was associated with communication in companies and initiated by significant figures (a friend, an older teenager in the company, a senior sibling), which may indicate the social context of use.

The results of the survey on the use of surfactants, adolescents of the younger age group showed the following results:

1) alcohol-containing beverages were consumed (tried) by 55% of respondents, and 27% of respondents consume them on a regular basis (every day – several times a week);

2) nicotine-containing products (cigarettes, nicotine patches and chewing gum, etc.) were tried by 15% of respondents and 60% of respondents admitted that they smoke regularly (every day or every other day) with friends their age or older;

3) 72% of respondents regularly consumed water-based smoking mixtures (vapes), and 80% tried various types of water-based smoking mixtures, while 70% of respondents stated that these mixtures do not contain addictive substances (surfactants), which indicates a high degree of spread of the myth of the harmlessness of water-based smoking mixtures.;

4) 5% of respondents noted the situational use of herbal mixtures of a narcotic nature (spice, light cannabinoids).

Thus, it can be concluded that adolescents of the older age group are prone to a high level of subjective loneliness, which is associated with a negative assessment of their own physical attractiveness, a high fear of responsibility when new social connections and acquaintances appear, which may be associated with active attempts to build relationships with the opposite sex. At the same time, there is a decrease in the level of social conformity and the level of loneliness, depending on communication. It can be noted that, compared with the group of younger adolescents, adolescents of the older age group were much more likely to use surfactants, while the majority of adolescents tried some kind of chemicals, and more than half use them regularly. It should also be noted the negative trend towards the use of water-based smoking mixtures and the widespread myth of their harmlessness.

Table 1

Comparative results of groups of respondents according to the Mann-Whitney criterion (N=241)

Based on the data obtained as a result of comparing groups, it can be argued that the profiles of older and younger adolescents have significant statistical differences in assessing the subjective experience of loneliness, which indicates a different nature of the subjective experience of loneliness.

Discussion

The results we obtained in this study showed that adolescents of the older and younger age groups have different types of subjective loneliness experiences, which is associated with different stages of the respondents' psychoemotional and psychophysical development. Our data are fully confirmed by the results of earlier studies in both social psychology ^{[9, 10, 14]} and clinical psychology ^{[11, 15]}, which allows us to conclude that their validity and the success of the study.

A new component of our research is the issue of predicting the subjective experience of loneliness among adolescents and the use of various types of surfactants. Thanks to the results obtained, it can be argued that younger adolescents who are acutely and hypertrophied experiencing loneliness begin to use surfactants of various origins to communicate with their significant peers or representatives of older age groups. This trend may be related to the experience of loneliness in younger adolescents as a misunderstanding on the part of significant others (both peers and adults) and a lack of communication, which leads to the development of use as a phenomenon of social integration.

In turn, older adolescents demonstrated frequent and regular use of socially acceptable surfactants (alcohol, nicotine, water-based smoking mixtures – vaping), which indicates a previously formed habit, while the subjective experience of loneliness ceases to have a pronounced communicative and social character and is aimed at forming an attractive image of "I".

We have traced a connection between the hypertrophied experience of loneliness among adolescents of the younger age group and social integration through the use of surfactants, which leads to the formation of autodestructive behavioral habits in the format of regular use of socially acceptable surfactants. It should be noted that in this study we refer to water-based smoking mixtures as surfactants, whose harm is medically proven ^{[8, 17]}, however, the widespread myth of the harmlessness of this type of surfactant contributes to the spread of this type of addiction in society ^[18].

As methodological recommendations for school psychologists, social educators, and educational psychologists working in the field of general education, we propose the concept of comprehensive preventive measures: primary prevention, secondary prevention, and work with adolescent drug users.

At the stage of primary prevention, we can recommend the use of a comprehensive collective conversation method (at the level of a school-wide methodological seminar, a methodological seminar for students of classroom parallels and separate methodological classes with students of classes as microsociums) for primary prevention of use and the creation of a structural, unambiguous and adequate understanding of surfactants and the negative consequences of use. This method will eliminate myths about the harmlessness of certain types of surfactants, as well as comprehensively analyze cases demonstrating the harm from the use of surfactants, which is possible within the framework of expanded comprehensive seminars. At the same time, it is important for a specialist to rely on facts and a clear evidence base. The undoubted advantage will be to provide students with materials that are publicly available, so that students can independently double-check the information received and consolidate the effect of the seminars. In the light of working with students of predominantly adolescent age, it is also necessary to follow the principles of objective storytelling without negative subjective assessment in order not to cause a counter-effect among the target audience.

At the stages of secondary prevention, the most important component is the individualization of psychological and pedagogical measures for schoolchildren who are noticed for use or who are at risk (for example, those who suffer from loneliness or are noticed for destructive behavior). In this case, an objective approach is also important, but individualizing the conversation will prevent pedagogical events from turning into collective bullying. Most often, teenagers who have problems experiencing loneliness and autodestructive behavior suffer from bullying among their peers, whereas analyzing specific cases or addressing a conversation in a team can only exacerbate this problem or give it a start, significantly worsening the psychological state of a teenager. In this case, individual interviews are conducted in accordance with the established procedure upon request from parents, the class teacher or the school administration, as well as in connection with certain resonant incidents within the school microsociety.

As part of both the primary and secondary prevention of surfactant use and the fight against the severe experience of loneliness, it is important to create a structure for the teenager's employment, within which he will be able to show his creative and individual skills in a constructive way. Here, the job of a psychologist or educational psychologist may be to organize events or extracurricular activities for teenagers.

Work directly with teenagers who use drugs can be carried out simultaneously both in an individual format and in the format of group classes in groups of dependent adolescents, preferably in an anonymous format to minimize conflicts based on ridicule and intimidation, as well as to create a new, healthy communication environment as opposed to a codependent team (interdepartmental classes for dependent adolescents, organization of anonymous meetings with teenagers from different schools). In addition, individual work with such adolescents may also involve creating a safe environment for the teenager in the psychologist's office and at school in general, for example, in cases of dysfunctional families. In this case, the work of a school specialist can be significantly complicated by the conditions of dependence of the agents of primary socialization (parents and other relatives or acquaintances), however, it will allow you to show a teenager an alternative to his current lifestyle.