Loneliness has, in recent years, become a priority in national public health agendas in developed countries, given increasing recognition of the detrimental effects of loneliness on health and mortality. The literature has often focussed on loneliness among older adults, but recent surveys have revealed a similar prevalence among younger adults up to age 25.

The aim of this research project is to understand whether circumstances and experiences from childhood can be linked to loneliness and social isolation reported in adulthood. The ALSPAC also contains multiple reports of loneliness across teenage years and young adulthood, which would allow us to understand its dynamics; for example, whether there are different patterns of loneliness across time between individuals. Rich reports of physical and mental health, including disease-related biomarkers, would also aid in analysing relationships between loneliness and health, to complement evidence seen in later adulthood.

It is imperative to identify individuals at higher risk of loneliness in later life, and early life events or circumstances that can play an important role in predicting later life loneliness, towards reducing societal loneliness via public policy and private decisions. Identifying factors from early life, rather than contemporaneous factors, is beneficial to inform early preventive strategies, and to target such factors rather than mechanisms (via which these factors operate) for more efficient allocation of resources. Understanding whether and how loneliness is predictive of poor health earlier in life may also provide some insights into the mechanisms via which loneliness predicts excess mortality in late adulthood.