A Cross-sectional Study on Loneliness among Orphans

Noradilah Md Nordin, Fatin Aliana Mohd Radzi, Munira Abdul Razak

Abstract


Loneliness is one of the indicators of emotional development among orphans. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to determine the level of loneliness among orphans. Specific objectives were: (i) identify the level of loneliness among orphans and (ii) identify the gender differences of loneliness among orphans.  A total of 242 respondents were recruited in this study aged 10 to 14 years old from a city in East Coast Malaysia. Children’s Loneliness Questionnaire (CLQ) which consisted of 24 items developed by Asher (1984) was used to measure loneliness. Higher scores for the CLQ indicated a higher level of loneliness. Results showed that a total of 72.3% of respondents experienced a moderate level of loneliness followed by 14.9% and 12.8% for low and high respectively. Also, this study found that there was a significant difference between male and female in terms of loneliness (t = 2.66, p < 0.05). Male experienced higher loneliness than females. Early detection of loneliness is helpful to promote healthier emotional development among the orphans.


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References


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