Loneliness among Senior High School Students in Ghana

Abstract

The experience of loneliness varies across cultures. This study explored loneliness among students in two metropolitan senior high schools in Ghana. A sample of 244 students (40.5% males, 59.5% females; mean age =18.4 years) completed Revised University of California Los Angeles (R-UCLA) Loneliness Scale developed by Russell (1982). A series of one-way analysis of variance tests (ANOVA) were used to determine the existence of any significant differences among variables. The results of the findings indicate that the mean R-UCLA scores among the senior high school students fell in the lower range (N=244; M=45.81; SD=10.001). There were significant differences in gender F (1, 240) = 7.858, p = .005. ; In age, F (1, 240) = 4.958, p = .0027, and religious affiliation F (1, 240) = 9.030, p = .003. The results of this study indicate that varying degrees of loneliness is felt in different cultures because the way people live and approach problem solving in their social context are different. This paper explains why this new knowledge can be used to inform parents, school administrators and counselors appreciate the effect of other demographic variables on loneliness in the life of Ghanaian adolescents.