Psychosocial predictors and outcomes of loneliness trajectories from childhood to early adolescence.

Using latent class growth analysis, we were interested in investigating how experiences of loneliness emerge in distinct developmental patterns over the course of middle childhood and adolescence (NICHD Study of Early Child Care, N = 832). Second, we examined the role of demographic, mental health, and behavioral variables in association with these discrete patterns of loneliness. Loneliness was measured at 3 time points: age 9, age 11, and age 15.