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Table 2 The comparisons of baseline variables between three loneliness groupsa

From: Trajectories of loneliness and objective social isolation and associations between persistent loneliness and self-reported personal recovery in a cohort of secondary mental health service users in the UK

Variables

Loneliness groups

 
 

Persistent loneliness group

(Group 1)

Intermittent loneliness group

(Group 2)

Never loneliness group

(Group 3)

 
 

Mean (SD) or %

N

Mean (SD) or %

N

Mean (SD) or %

N

P value

95% CI

Age

40.90 (11.49)

36

36.54 (12.25)

75

41.95 (12.68)

113

Group 1 vs. Group 3: 0.66

Group 2 vs. Group 3: 0.004b

Group 1 vs. Group 2: 0.08

Group 1 (37.01, 44.79)

Group 2 (33.72, 39.36)

Group 3 (39.58, 44.31)

Gender

      

0.25

 

 Male

27.78%

10

44.00%

33

40.71%

46

  

 Female

72.22%

26

5.00%

42

59.29%

67

  

Ethnicity

      

0.77

 

 White British/Irish/other

62.86%

22

56.00%

42

65.49%

74

  

 Black, Black British/Caribbean/African/other

17.14%

6

25.33%

19

20.35%

23

  

 Asian, Asian British/Indian/ Pakistani/Bangladeshi/ other, Chinese

11.43%

4

9.33%

7

5.31%

6

  

 Mixed White/Black Caribbean, mixed White/Black African, mixed White/Asian, other mixed, other ethnic groups

8.57%

3

9.33%

7

8.85%

10

  

Marital status

      

< 0.001

 

 Single/Separated/divorced/widowed

88.89%

32

86.87%

65

61.95%

70

  

 Married/Cohabiting

11.11%

4

13.33%

10

38.05%

43

  

UK born

      

0.99

 

 No

25.71%

9

24.332%

18

25.00%

28

  

 Yes

74.29%

26

75.68%

56

75.00%

84

  

Housing

      

0.49

 

 Permanent/supported accommodation

100%

36

96.00%

72

96.46%

109

  

 Unstable accommodation

0%

0

4.00%

3

3.54%

4

  

Contact with children under 16

      

0.78

 

 No contact

2.78%

1

8.00%

6

6.19%

7

  

 Contact with dependent children

27.78%

10

20.00%

15

22.12%

25

  

 Having no children

69.44%

25

72.00%

54

71.68%

81

  

Educational attainment

      

0.11

 

 No qualification

2.71%

9

13.33%

10

13.27%

15

  

 Other qualification

37.14%

13

60.00%

45

48.67%

55

  

 Degree

37.14%

13

26.67%

20

38.05%

43

  

Employment/education status

      

0.002

 

 Not in employment/education/full time caring role

68.57%

24

46.58%

34

34.51%

39

  

 Yes

31.43%

11

53.42%

39

65.49%

74

  

Baseline loneliness score

27.77 (2.13)

36

23.52 (3.76)

75

19.28 (3.15)

113

Group 1 vs. Group 3: <.001

Group 2 vs. Group 3: <.001

Group 1 vs. Group 2: <.001

Group 1 (27.05, 28.49)

Group 2 (22.66, 24.39)

Group 3 (18.69, 19.87)

Baseline social network size

3.19 (2.10)

36

4.73 (2.37)

75

5.69 (1.93)

113

Group 1 vs. Group 3: <.001

Group 2 vs. Group 3: 0.003

Group 1 vs. Group 2: 0.001

Group 1 (2.49, 3.90)

Group 2 (4.19, 5.28)

Group 3 (5.33, 6.05)

Numbers of psychiatric inpatient hospitalisations

      

0.49

 

 Never

69.44%

25

64.00%

48

59.29%

67

  

 Once

19.44%

7

13.33%

10

15.93%

18

  

 More than 2 times

11.11%

4

22.67%

17

24.78%

28

  

Number of years since first contact mental health services

      

0.08

 

 Less than 3 months

5.56%

2

18.67%

14

17.70%

20

  

 3 months – 2 years

5.56%

2

22.67%

17

15.04%

17

  

 2–10 years

41.67%

15

32.00%

24

32.74%

37

  

 More than 10 years

47.22%

17

26.67%

20

34.51%

39

  

Current diagnosis

      

0.09

 

 Psychosis or bipolar disordersc

19.44%

7

21.92%

16

39.09%

43

  

 Depression or anxiety disordersd

36.11%

13

30.14%

22

21.82%

24

  

 Personality disorderse

16.67%

6

13.70%

10

8.18%

9

  

 Other diagnosis

27.78%

10

34.25%

25

30.91%

34

  

Baseline BPRS total score

51.19 (12.62)

36

44.77 (9.33)

75

39.79 (9.23)

112

Group 1 vs. Group 3: <.001

Group 2 vs. Group 3: 0.0004

Group 1 vs. Group 2: 0.003

Group 1 (46.93, 55.46)

Group 2 (42.63, 46.92)

Group 3 (38.06, 41.51)

Baseline QPR total score

35.06 (13.92)

36

49.59 (16.83)

75

57.43 (15.65)

113

Group 1 vs. Group 3: <.001

Group 2 vs. Group 3: 0.0013

Group 1 vs. Group 2: <.001

Group 1 (30.34, 39.77)

Group 2 (45.71, 53.46)

Group 3 (54.52, 60.35)

  1. Abbreviations: SD standard deviation, CI confidence interval, N number of participants, BPRS the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, QPR the Questionnaire about the Process of Recovery
  2. a. t-test and chi-square test were conducted to examine the differences in baseline characteristics between three loneliness groups
  3. b. significant p-values are marked in bold
  4. c. Schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder or bipolar affective disorder or other psychosis
  5. d. Depression or Anxiety disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder
  6. e. Borderline or emotionally unstable personality disorder or other personality disorder