This thesis focuses on conducting a theological engagement with the problem of loneliness among some people with learning disabilities As a result of witnessing the problem at close quarters in Ireland and of confirming its existence generally through an examination of the results of some research projects focused on loneliness and learning disability, the dominant rights-based legislative approach to all disability matters in Ireland, and in the UK, is tested for its ability to address the problem of loneliness It is discovered that the approach is ill-equipped to respond to the problem despite its frequent expression of the desirability of a sense of community cohesion among those with and without disabilities, but which only ever remains at the level of the aspirational As the approach here is both critical and constructive, the benefits to people with disabilities of legislative rights in the spheres of healthcare, housing and access are acknowledged but their ineffectiveness in the sphere of interpersonal relationships and in the fostering of the kinds of friendships that can alleviate the effects of loneliness is stressed. The aim of this thesis is neither to confirm the percentage of those with learning disabilities who are lonely, nor to construct a 'hierarchy' of loneliness. Rather, the aim is to show that it is a problem for many and that the solution will not be found within a rights-based approach to disability. The difficulty is discovered to be located at the level of anthropology and the understanding in all Western disability policy that human persons are, above all, individual citizens with competing rights to choice, equality and inclusion. Such a view renders those with and without learning disabilities 'combatants' in a legislative arena where the expressed wishes for freely given and received friendship among those who are lonely are frequently ignored in the battle for personal rights. The search for a solution requires then a different account of the origin and nature of the human person and of human relationships. In turning to Christian theology and its understanding of 'communion' as expressed in the Christian practices of friendship, hospitality and a particular understanding of belonging, the solution to loneliness appears in the faithful practice of these principles, concretised in the form of an ecclesiology which is neither exclusive nor rigid in form, but rather gentle and inviting, imitating the constant gentle invitation of Christ to 'come, follow me'. This first chapter is concerned with methodology. It locates the research within the field of Practical Theology generally and describes the four-stage 'pastoral cycle' which provides the framework for exploring the problem of loneliness among those with learning disabilities. The four 'stages', namely experience, analysis, reflection and response act as tools for conducting the research; The second chapter recounts the experience of meeting people with learning disabilities who were lonely despite residing in the community and having part-time employment. Their experiences are described in detail in an effort to both capture their sadness and to provoke discussion regarding the adequacy of legislative and policy-based approaches to disability which had provided them with employment and housing opportunities but which appeared helpless in the face of their heartfelt need for life-giving friendships. The third chapter begins with a reiteration of my overall aim, namely that of highlighting the particular problem of loneliness for many with learning disabilities and to highlight the limits of conventional legislative approaches to disability to successfully deal with the problem. I trace the history of disability studies and give the definition of disability that emerges, describe the models of disability that are current, discuss these models in terms of their contribution to the public perception of people with learning disabilities and focus on the shifting preference for one model over another. I point out the difficulty with agreeing on one definition but then move to a history of the thinking of the disability rights movement and how its approach to disability has shaped the accepted definitions that now underpin disability legislation. I finish this chapter by providing a working definition of 'learning disability' that is used throughout the remaining chapters. The fourth chapter focuses on the meaning of loneliness. Loneliness is difficult to define but I offer a working definition at the beginning of the chapter which will be amended at the end of the chapter in light of the analysis of loneliness among those with learning disabilities. I discuss loneliness conceptually as an issue among the population generally, and then focus on it in terms of its relationship to solitude, isolation, aloneness and estrangement with the assistance of material from psychology, sociology and medicine. I comment on how loneliness is measured and then focus specifically on the problem among those with learning disabilities through reporting on several research projects in which people with learning disabilities of various ages reported being lonely, how they felt and what they believed would improve their situations. I return to the definition of loneliness offered at the beginning of the chapter and rework it, focusing specifically on its meaning for people with learning disabilities and its prevalence among that group. The fifth chapter summarises the success of the disability rights movement in lobbying for disability legislation founded on the principles of rights, equality, inclusion and choice. The meanings of these four principles are then explored and their contribution to the improvement of the lives of people with learning disabilities acknowledged I show that disability legislation in Ireland, much of which originates at an EU level, is successful within its areas of competence which include access to employment and housing and healthcare, but limited in the sphere of fostering the sorts of relationships that can alleviate the difficulties associated with the problem of loneliness among people with learning disabilities. The legislation can promote the personal right to inclusion in the community but it cannot foster life-giving friendships. People with learning disabilities continue to experience the problem of loneliness in spite of the introduction of a raft of legislation and policy documents. The principles on which the legislation is built, namely rights, equality, inclusion and choice are blunt instruments in the shaping of communities of belonging in which the problem of loneliness can be addressed. The sixth chapter considers theological responses to the problem of loneliness among people with learning disabilities. Having described my constituency of concern, provided a working definition of loneliness, given an account of my experience of meeting people with learning disabilities who are lonely, and highlighted the limits of the legislative approach to learning disability concerning its usefulness as a solution to the problem of loneliness, I now seek to respond to the problem of loneliness with the assistance of theological anthropology regarding the nature and meaning of being 'human'. I will engage primarily with the theological anthropology of Karl Rahner. I will consider his insights in terms of the practices of friendship, hospitality, belonging and communion which are all posited as solutions to the problem of loneliness. I will not seek to design a new ecclesiology however. Rather I will take the anthropological insights of Rahner and, bringing them into the next and final chapter, discuss the fundamental connectedness of all of humanity and suggest therefore that encounters or 'conversations' are possible between those who offer different solutions to the problems faced by people with learning disabilities. Rahner's anthropology allows for the possibility of such conversations without the insistence on prerequisites which can take the focus away from the problem of loneliness and place it instead on a search for what the parties have in common before beginning the conversation. Such preliminary negotiation delays the process of searching for a response to the problem of loneliness. The seventh and final chapter represents the response to the problem of loneliness among people with learning disabilities. It urges interested parties within and outside the church to engage in a conversation in order to address the problem of loneliness among people with learning disabilities. I borrow from the work of the theologian Rowan Williams who, in interpreting the work of the historian John Bossy on 'fraternities', writes about conversations of 'charity', understood as 'caritas' or love in which all those concerned about the welfare of those with learning disabilities engage without the prerequisite of finding common ground but rather to recognise and make visible that ground which is already common to all. In this regard, the insights of theological anthropology into the nature of the human person and of human relationships will be a welcome voice in such a conversation in which the principles of friendship, hospitality and belonging can enter into the discussion about the difficulties faced by those with learning disabilities who are lonely. Such conversations of 'charity' or caritas have the potential to foster relationships of 'charity' or caritas so that people with learning disabilities who are lonely may experience the type of fellowship which can alleviate their suffering caused by loneliness.

Thesis advisor: Sara M. Moorman / There is much prior research on the benefits of marriage for adults, including for mental and physical health (Carr and Springer 2010). Further research has demonstrated that the quality of one’s marriage provides benefits, and not merely the status itself (see Carr and Springer 2010; Proulx, Helms, and Buehler 2007). A close, salient relationship such as marriage is not experienced in isolation, but is rather an interpersonal system, where the characteristics, feelings, and opinions of each partner can influence the other (Berscheid and Ammazzalorso 2001; Carr et al. 2014; Moorman 2016). However, less research has been performed that takes advantage of dyadic data to determine whether and how a partner’s marital quality may affect one’s own well-being (Carr et al. 2014; Kenny 1996). Moreover, emotional experiences rarely remain truly private; individuals unconsciously signal and express their feelings to others, and can even transmit these emotional experiences to close social partners (Christakis and Fowler 2013; Hatfield, Cacioppo, and Rapson 1994). The present dissertation examines the associations among older husbands’ and wives’ marital quality and well-being, using two sources of dyadic data, a range of measures of marital quality and well-being, and advanced analytic strategies appropriate for longitudinal and cross-sectional data. Older couples can differ from their younger and midlife counterparts, as both men and women trim their broader social networks in later life and increasingly focus on their closest and most rewarding relationships, such as marriage (Carstensen, Isaacowitz, and Charles 1999; Mancini and Bonanno 2006). Gendered roles may shift in later life, as well, as older adults cease activities such as child-rearing and full-time employment (Bookwala 2012). Thus, potential differences according to gender are also explicitly tested. The results of this dissertation will shed greater light on how older couples’ perceptions of marital quality influence various aspects of spouses’ well-being, cross-sectionally and over time. Mutual Influence and Older Married Adults’ Anxiety Symptoms: Results from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing analyzes cross-sectional dyadic data from 1,114 married older couples surveyed in the initial wave of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA; Kenny 2014), 2009-2011. Dyadic structural equation models (SEM) examined the direct and indirect associations between husbands’ and wives’ reports of marital strain and generalized anxiety symptoms in later life. Findings revealed that perceptions of marital strain were related with husbands’ and wives’ own generalized anxiety symptoms. Further, husbands’ anxiety symptoms were significantly related with wives’ anxiety symptoms, and vice versa, illustrating bi-directional feedback. Lastly, husbands’ and wives’ perceptions of marital strain were significantly indirectly related with their partners’ anxiety symptoms, with these associations being mediated by spouses’ own anxiety symptoms. These results suggest that emotional contagion may be the pathway for partner effects of marital strain on spouses’ well-being. Findings also suggest that efforts to reduce anxiety symptoms may be most effective when taking marital context and quality into account. Two-Wave Dyadic Analysis of Marital Quality and Loneliness in Later Life: Results From The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing analyzes dyadic reports of marital quality and loneliness over a two-year period, using longitudinal dyadic data collected from 932 older married couples who participated in both of the first two waves of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), collected from 2009-2013. Two-wave lagged dependent variable (LDV) models tested the cognitive perspective on loneliness, emotional contagion theory, and actor-partner interdependence by examining whether husbands’ and wives’ reports of marital quality and loneliness at baseline predicted both spouses’ loneliness two years later. Results indicated that one’s own perceptions of negative marital quality at baseline were related with greater loneliness after two years, supporting the cognitive perspective on loneliness. Further, both spouses’ reports of loneliness at baseline were related with loneliness two years later, supporting emotional contagion theory. Partners’ reports of marital quality were not related with future loneliness, failing to support actor-partner interdependence. Do “His” and “Her” Marriage Influence One Another? Older Spouses’ Marital Quality Over Four Years uses two-wave longitudinal data from the Disability and Use of Time (DUST) supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to examine associations between husbands’ and wives’ reports of marital quality over a four-year period. The sample consisted of 209 older married couples who participated in both the 2009 and 2013 waves of DUST. Lagged dependent variable (LDV) models tested whether older husbands’ and wives’ perceptions of marital quality are themselves subject to emotional contagion, by examining whether baseline reports of marital quality were related with one’s own and a partner’s marital quality after four years. Results indicated that (a) husbands reported better marital quality than their wives in both 2009 and 2013, (b) for both husbands and wives, baseline marital quality was significantly related with both one’s own and one’s partner’s marital quality four years later, and (c) there were no differences in effects according to gender. These findings offer support for the framework of “his” and “her” marriage, as well as emotional contagion theory. Together, these papers examine whether and how older spouses’ reports of marital quality and well-being are associated with one another, with a particular emphasis on assessing emotional contagion as a potential explanation and mechanism for dyadic partner effects. The results of these articles contribute empirically and theoretically to the literature(s) on marital quality and well-being; spousal interdependence; and emotional contagion. I discuss the implications of these articles for theory and future research concerning marriage and well-being in later life.

Loneliness and social isolation can have a serious impact on one’s mental health, leading to increased stress, lower self-esteem, panic attacks, and drug or alcohol addictions. Older adults and international students are disproportionately affected by loneliness. This thesis investigates Socialoscope, a smartphone app that passively detects loneliness in smartphone users based on the user’s day-to-day social interactions, communication and smartphone activity sensed by the smartphone’s built-in sensors. Statistical analysis is used to determine smartphone features most correlated with loneliness. A previously established relationship between loneliness and personality type is explored. The most correlated features are used to synthesize machine learning classifiers that infer loneliness levels from smartphone sensor features with an accuracy of 90%. These classifiers can be used to make the Socialoscope an intelligent loneliness sensing Android app. The results show that, of the five Big-Five Personality Traits, emotional stability and extraversion personality traits are strongly correlated with the sensor features such as number of messages, number of outgoing calls, number of late night browser searches, number of long incoming or outgoing calls and number of auto-joined trusted Wi-Fi SSIDs. Moreover, the classifier accuracy while classifying loneliness levels is significantly improved to 98% by taking these personality traits into consideration. Socialoscope can be integrated into the healthcare system as an early warning indicator of patients requiring intervention or utilized for personal self-reflection.

The current study investigates whether the ability to enhance and suppress emotional facial expressions display cross-sectional associations with feelings of loneliness among spousal bereaved individuals 1.5 to 3 years after a loss. We compare bereaved individuals to a demographically similar married control group to examine whether the relationship between loneliness and emotional expression regulation is moderated by grief after controlling for the effects of relationship satisfaction and symptoms of PTSD/depression. We evaluate three dimensions of loneliness: emotional loneliness, social loneliness, and collective loneliness.

Background: Psychosocial loneliness is an unpleasant and distressing experience arising from subjective discrepancies between a person’s desired and actual social relationships. An increasingly common problem in UK society, loneliness is linked with serious adverse mental health outcomes and poses a significant risk to physical health, which several experts suggest is as great as smoking and obesity. In recent years leading cancer care organisations have raised awareness of the existence of loneliness and its potential importance in the context of cancer; however little attention has been paid in the literature or in clinical practice to understanding, identifying and alleviating loneliness. AimsThe project reported in this thesis aimed to: 1) clarify the conceptual and theoretical meaning of ‘loneliness’; 2) enhance understanding of loneliness in people living with and beyond cancer; and 3) develop an assessment tool for ‘cancer-related loneliness following treatment completion’. MethodsThe project began with a theoretical concept analysis of ‘loneliness’. This was followed by a systematic scoping review of loneliness and cancer. Gaps in the knowledge base were addressed by means of an exploratory mixed methods study. Phase 1 involved collection of quantitative data concerning loneliness from 107 individuals living with and beyond cancer. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis of the data was conducted. Phase 2 involved the undertaking of semi-structured interviews with 12 individuals living with and beyond cancer who scored highly for loneliness in phase 1. Thematic Framework Analysis was employed to analyse the interview data. The findings of the qualitative phase, together with the initial conceptual work and the findings of the literature review were employed to develop the Cancer-related Loneliness Assessment Tool. Preliminary cognitive testing of this tool was conducted. FindingsLoneliness results from an interaction between personal and situational factors and is better viewed as an individual process rather than as a clinical condition for which specific diagnostic symptoms and cut-offs exist. The experience of loneliness appears to transcend the boundaries of cancer diagnosis, stage of disease, tumour site and treatment modality. The results of the quantitative phase indicated that participants in the study experienced, on average, ‘moderate’ levels of loneliness. In the study sample age was an independent predictor of cases of loneliness – the odds of individuals aged <30-59 being lonely were 23 times those of individuals aged 70+. Employment status was significantly associated with loneliness scores – non-employed individuals had higher loneliness scores than did employed individuals and retired individuals. The qualitative phase identified a contextual loneliness termed ‘cancer-related loneliness following treatment completion’. Such loneliness is a result of perceived social, emotional, cultural and healthcare-related relationship deficiencies stemming from or exacerbated by cancer-related sources. Loneliness emanating from deficiencies in relationships with healthcare professionals – termed healthcare-related loneliness – has not previously been referred to in the loneliness literature. The Cancer-related Loneliness Assessment Tool operationalised ‘cancer-related loneliness following treatment completion’ and preliminary cognitive testing indicated that the items generate the information intended and that individuals have little trouble completing the assessment tool. ConclusionsCancer-related loneliness following treatment completion should be addressed as part of comprehensive cancer care. Following further development, the Cancer-related Loneliness Assessment Tool could facilitate identification of loneliness in clinical practice. It could also aid with the development/adaptation and evaluation of interventions to address loneliness. Healthcare-related loneliness should be added to the existing tripartite (social, emotional and cultural) typology of loneliness, creating a quadripartite typology that encompasses all types of relationship deficits that can beget loneliness.

This dissertation consists of two articles. The first reviews research on repartnering by bereaved partners with recommendations for practitioners. Potential repartnering challenges, such as comparing relationships between the new and deceased partner, feelings of guilt about entering a new relationship, and lower intimacy and engagement in the new relationship are discussed, in addition to other factors that affect repartnering, such as age, gender, the types of death, and the presence of children. The second article examines repartnering among older bereaved partners. Data from two waves of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) were analyzed for bereaved partners who had experienced the death of a partner at wave 1 and who were (N = 46) or were not (N = 372) repartnered at wave 2. Specifically, analyses examined whether a) loneliness, depression, happiness, and non-partner social support (NPSS) at wave 1 (T1) affect repartnering at wave 2 (T2), b) whether repartnering is uniquely associated with time 2 loneliness, depression, and happiness, and for those bereaved partners who repartnered, c) depression, loneliness, and happiness will relate to the quality of the new relationship. Results found that a) only younger age and identifying as male were negative associated with having repartnered, b) NPSS at T2 was uniquely associated with depression, loneliness, and happiness, but repartnered status was not, c) T2 NPSS was associated with quality of the new relationship, but loneliness, depression, and happiness were not, and d) being a repartnered female was associated with lower depression when T2NPSS was high. Overall, non-partner social support appears to be a more important factor in psychological well-being than repartnering among older bereaved partners, despite some repartnering challenges.

Mermaid Rumspringa is a short story collection that focuses primarily on female protagonists at different stages in their lives. It is an exploration into the effects society has on young people, the way in which mental health issues manifest in young minds, and the way the people who are closest to the individuals dealing with these issues try to adapt and understand them, and in some cases, completely ignore them. This collection utilizes magical elements to try and soften the blow of the serious issues that are being explored both internally and externally within each of the individual stories. These stories present as allegories, as well as classic story tropes with intricate twists and subversions, to make the readers uncomfortable within their comfort zones. As a whole, these stories fit in nicely within the speculative fiction spectrum, and they draw the attention of the average millennial.

This is a book of poems exploring notions of isolation, society, and the interpersonal. The work investigates man's relationship to the world through the lens of both the quotidian and the obscure. With subjects ranging from Typhoid Mary to St. Herman of Alaska, the poems consider through rhyme, form, rhythm and sound, a small portion of the experience of loss, isolation, and discovery to which we are all eternally bound.

This study investigated the relationship between marital status, network density, and loneliness for women in the church. Participants were 144 women from several churches of the same Protestant denomination. They responded to a questionnaire which included the Revised UCLA Loneliness Scale and measures of the importance of the church as a social support to the individual. A one-way analysis of variance revealed that the married women who worship alone reported significantly higher levels of loneliness than did single women (R

Being alone is not the only definition of loneliness. Loneliness can be felt even when surrounded by a lot of people, especially in the virtual online world. Our digital devices play an important role in connecting everyone together without the restriction of time and space. Communication became more and more convenient in this era. Mostly we are digitally connected, but sometimes, we are mentally disconnected. We are online and together in this virtual world, but loneliness is always a never ended situation that we are suffering from. As a visual communicator, My works focus on using performance as an approach to explore the evolving relationship between the online communication and online loneliness. In my thesis research, I want to investigate how does the online world created more loneliness to individuals digitally and physically, and how people release their spiritual desire and overcome loneliness in the online world.