Moore, G;
Fardghassemi, S;
Joffe, H;
(2023)
Wellbeing in the city: Young adults' sense of loneliness and social connection in deprived urban neighbourhoods.
Wellbeing, Space and Society
, 5
, Article 100172. 10.1016/j.wss.2023.100172.
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Abstract
Neighbourhood characteristics can facilitate or hinder the development of social ties, thereby influencing the loneliness of those who live in them. Most research to date has focused upon how either older adults (65+) or youth (under 19 years old) view and experience their neighbourhood, paying little attention to young adults (aged 16–24). Young adults are the loneliest age-group within the UK and other Western countries. Their loneliness is associated with living in deprived communities (e.g., areas experiencing social-economic inequalities), feeling a strong sense of disconnection from their neighbourhoods and having little trust in others within these spaces. Therefore, this study utilises social representations theory to explore how young adults (18–24 years old) from London's four most deprived boroughs view and experience their neighbourhood using a systematic, qualitative methodology. In particular, the concept of dialogical antimonies, known as themata are used. A purposive sample of forty-eight participants was asked to write and/or draw where they felt loneliest and where they felt most socially connected in their neighbourhoods. These associations were then explored via an open-ended, exploratory interview. This revealed that the experience of neighbourhood was structured around four themata: 1) having no one to talk to/being disconnected from others vs. being with family or friends, 2) feeling bored/having nothing to do vs. having shared interests, goals or activities, 3) being in an unfamiliar environment vs. seeing familiar faces/having a sense of community, 4) busy vs. peaceful environment. On this basis, suggestions and implications for the design of wellbeing-enhancing neighbourhoods are discussed.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Wellbeing in the city: Young adults' sense of loneliness and social connection in deprived urban neighbourhoods |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.wss.2023.100172 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wss.2023.100172 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Young adults, Neighbourhood, Loneliness, Social connection, Deprivation, Urban communities |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences > Clinical, Edu and Hlth Psychology |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10178729 |
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