The experience of loneliness among international students participating in the BBC Loneliness Experiment: Thematic analysis of qualitative survey data
Loneliness is associated with poor mental and physical health in the general population. It is thought to be prevalent among international students, but few studies have investigated this. To capture what loneliness means in the everyday lives of international students we analysed data from 521 inte...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Current Research in Behavioral Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666518223000189 |
| _version_ | 1797796302495416320 |
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| author | Kangning Zheng Sonia Johnson Ruby Jarvis Christina Victor Manuela Barreto Pamela Qualter Alexandra Pitman |
| author_facet | Kangning Zheng Sonia Johnson Ruby Jarvis Christina Victor Manuela Barreto Pamela Qualter Alexandra Pitman |
| author_sort | Kangning Zheng |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Loneliness is associated with poor mental and physical health in the general population. It is thought to be prevalent among international students, but few studies have investigated this. To capture what loneliness means in the everyday lives of international students we analysed data from 521 international students aged 16–40 years who participated online in the 2018 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Loneliness Experiment. Using the approach of thematic analysis of free‐text responses to a question probing the perceived meaning of loneliness, we identified six main themes: (1) Negative psychological and social aspects of loneliness; (2) The distressing experience of being alone; (3) Disrupted ability to make meaningful connections; (4) Sense of entrapment in a state of loneliness; (5) Awareness of others’ stigmatizing perceptions of oneself as lonely; (6) Perceptions of positive aspects of loneliness. These findings identified a range of negative social and psychological dimensions of loneliness in international students in relation to their well-being, emotional health, and social functioning, hampering the benefits to be gained from their overseas study. Higher education teaching staff, pastoral staff, and mental health professionals need to be more aware of the prevalence and impacts of loneliness and should tackle it in culturally appropriate ways. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T03:31:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-187c582de28b4d88929636f1c9c8cdb7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2666-5182 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T03:31:02Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Current Research in Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-187c582de28b4d88929636f1c9c8cdb72023-06-24T05:19:14ZengElsevierCurrent Research in Behavioral Sciences2666-51822023-01-014100113The experience of loneliness among international students participating in the BBC Loneliness Experiment: Thematic analysis of qualitative survey dataKangning Zheng0Sonia Johnson1Ruby Jarvis2Christina Victor3Manuela Barreto4Pamela Qualter5Alexandra Pitman6UCL Division of Psychiatry, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London W1W 7NF, UKUCL Division of Psychiatry, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London W1W 7NF, UK; Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust, St Pancras Hospital, St Pancras Way, London NW1 0PE, UKUCL Division of Psychiatry, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London W1W 7NF, UKDepartment of Health Sciences, College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Mary Seacole Building, Brunel University London, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 3PH, UKWashington Singer Laboratory, University of Essex, Perry Road, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter EX4 4QG, UKManchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UKUCL Division of Psychiatry, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London W1W 7NF, UK; Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust, St Pancras Hospital, St Pancras Way, London NW1 0PE, UK; Corresponding author at: UCL Division of Psychiatry, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London W1W 7NF, UK.Loneliness is associated with poor mental and physical health in the general population. It is thought to be prevalent among international students, but few studies have investigated this. To capture what loneliness means in the everyday lives of international students we analysed data from 521 international students aged 16–40 years who participated online in the 2018 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Loneliness Experiment. Using the approach of thematic analysis of free‐text responses to a question probing the perceived meaning of loneliness, we identified six main themes: (1) Negative psychological and social aspects of loneliness; (2) The distressing experience of being alone; (3) Disrupted ability to make meaningful connections; (4) Sense of entrapment in a state of loneliness; (5) Awareness of others’ stigmatizing perceptions of oneself as lonely; (6) Perceptions of positive aspects of loneliness. These findings identified a range of negative social and psychological dimensions of loneliness in international students in relation to their well-being, emotional health, and social functioning, hampering the benefits to be gained from their overseas study. Higher education teaching staff, pastoral staff, and mental health professionals need to be more aware of the prevalence and impacts of loneliness and should tackle it in culturally appropriate ways.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666518223000189LonelinessInternational studentsQualitativeSurveyMental healthWellbeing |
| spellingShingle | Kangning Zheng Sonia Johnson Ruby Jarvis Christina Victor Manuela Barreto Pamela Qualter Alexandra Pitman The experience of loneliness among international students participating in the BBC Loneliness Experiment: Thematic analysis of qualitative survey data Current Research in Behavioral Sciences Loneliness International students Qualitative Survey Mental health Wellbeing |
| title | The experience of loneliness among international students participating in the BBC Loneliness Experiment: Thematic analysis of qualitative survey data |
| title_full | The experience of loneliness among international students participating in the BBC Loneliness Experiment: Thematic analysis of qualitative survey data |
| title_fullStr | The experience of loneliness among international students participating in the BBC Loneliness Experiment: Thematic analysis of qualitative survey data |
| title_full_unstemmed | The experience of loneliness among international students participating in the BBC Loneliness Experiment: Thematic analysis of qualitative survey data |
| title_short | The experience of loneliness among international students participating in the BBC Loneliness Experiment: Thematic analysis of qualitative survey data |
| title_sort | experience of loneliness among international students participating in the bbc loneliness experiment thematic analysis of qualitative survey data |
| topic | Loneliness International students Qualitative Survey Mental health Wellbeing |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666518223000189 |
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