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Meta-Analysis
. 2024 May;29(2):388-404.
doi: 10.1177/10775595221103420. Epub 2022 Jun 2.

The Association Between Child Maltreatment and Loneliness Across the Lifespan: A Systematic Review and Multilevel Meta-Analysis

Coriena de Heer  1 , Shanshan Bi  1 , Catrin Finkenauer  1 , Lenneke Alink  2 , Marlies Maes  1   3
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

The Association Between Child Maltreatment and Loneliness Across the Lifespan: A Systematic Review and Multilevel Meta-Analysis

Coriena de Heer et al. Child Maltreat. 2024 May.

Abstract

While there is evidence that child maltreatment is positively associated with loneliness, the strength of this association is not yet clear. It is also unclear whether the magnitude and statistical significance of this association varies across groups of individuals. Therefore, this meta-analysis examines whether there are differences in loneliness between individuals with and without maltreatment histories, and which factors may influence the association between child maltreatment and loneliness. A three-level meta-analysis was conducted on 52 studies reporting 116 effect sizes (N = 1,705,493; Mage = 30.93; 49.6% females). Results showed a medium overall effect (g = 0.45, p < .001, 95% CI [0.36, 0.53]), indicating that individuals with maltreatment histories, on average, feel lonelier than individuals without maltreatment histories. Moderator analyses showed that effect sizes were larger for emotional abuse and emotional neglect as compared to other types of child maltreatment and decreased when participants were older at the time of loneliness assessment. These findings suggest that individuals with maltreatment histories, especially those who have been emotionally abused and/or emotionally neglected, are vulnerable to experiencing loneliness across the lifespan. The results also suggest that feelings of loneliness warrant attention in prevention and intervention programs for individuals with maltreatment histories.

Keywords: abuse; child maltreatment; lifespan; loneliness; meta-analysis; neglect.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PRISMA Flow Diagram. Note. n = number of articles.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Funnel Plot of the Effect Sizes Without Outliers.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. References marked with an asterisk indicate studies included in the meta-analysis.
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