Teen loneliness may follow young people into the workplace

What happens when loneliness follows a young person from the school hallway into the workplace? New research suggests that feeling lonely during adolescence may be linked to a greater risk of unstable or less secure employment in young adulthood.

The study, led by researchers at the University of Michigan, University of Texas and Korea University, also points to a potential protective role for schools: Teens who felt more connected to their schools appeared less likely to experience the link between loneliness and precarious employment later in life. A similar pattern was not found for neighborhood attachment.

The findings highlight schools as more than places of academic learning. They can also be important social environments where young people build relationships, develop confidence and find a sense of belonging—experiences that may carry into adulthood and the workplace.

“Loneliness is often viewed primarily as a mental health concern, but our findings suggest its potential reach may be much broader,” said Kyungeun Song, a U-M doctoral student in social work. “The social experiences young people have during adolescence may have implications for how they navigate the transition into adulthood, including the kinds of employment they experience.”

Adolescence is a critical period for developing social skills, confidence and aspirations through relationships with peers, schools and other institutions. Loneliness has been associated with poorer mental health, lower educational attainment and poorer physical health later in life. But less is known about whether loneliness during adolescence is also associated with the quality and stability of employment in young adulthood.

Rather than simply asking whether someone has a job or how much they earn, Song and colleagues examined precarious employment, a broader measure of job security and quality that can include unstable contracts, limited benefits and less control over working conditions.

To investigate the relationship, they analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, commonly known as Add Health. The study followed students in grades 7–12 who were first surveyed during the 1994–95 school year, with follow-up surveys in 1996, 2001–02 and 2008–09. The data capture a wide range of social, economic, psychological, cognitive and physical factors, including participants’ family, school, neighborhood, peer and romantic relationships.

For this analysis, the researchers focused on participants identified as siblings, which allowed them to account for factors brothers and sisters shared growing up, including aspects of their family background. The analysis included 3,703 participants at the initial survey, with 3,105 followed through the final survey, when employment outcomes were measured.

The sibling comparisons showed that the association between adolescent loneliness and precarious employment persisted even after researchers accounted for individual characteristics and shared family background. In other words, the connection was not fully explained by differences between families.

Song and colleagues then asked a different question: Could the social environments surrounding teens change that relationship?

They examined two forms of attachment—connection to school and connection to the neighborhood. Song said the results showed a difference between the two. Stronger school attachment appeared to weaken the association between adolescent loneliness and employment precarity, while neighborhood attachment did not show the same pattern.

One possible explanation is that schools and neighborhoods provide different kinds of social experiences. Schools can connect young people with teachers and other supportive adults, provide opportunities to develop competence and confidence, and link students to educational pathways that can shape the transition into adulthood, Song said. Neighborhoods can also offer community and social support, but those resources may be less directly connected to the educational and institutional pathways that influence entry into the workforce.

The researchers emphasize that the findings do not show that loneliness causes precarious employment. Loneliness was measured as a subjective experience of social disconnection rather than an assessment of the size or quality of a person’s social network.

The findings appear in the Journal of Research on Adolescence.

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