Adaptation of the Short-form 6-item UCLA Loneliness Scale (ULS-6) into Turkish


ELBİ H., ÇETİNKAYA A., Ulaş S. C., Atay E., AYDEMİR Ö.

Turk Psikiyatri Dergisi, cilt.36, 2025 (SSCI) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 36
  • Basım Tarihi: 2025
  • Doi Numarası: 10.5080/u27219
  • Dergi Adı: Turk Psikiyatri Dergisi
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Central & Eastern European Academic Source (CEEAS), MEDLINE, Psycinfo
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Loneliness, validity, reliability
  • Manisa Celal Bayar Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Objective: The short-form 6-item UCLA Loneliness Scale is a brief assessment scale developed to determine the level of loneliness from a onedimensional perspective while preserving psychometric properties equivalent to the original 20-item version. This study aimed to adapt the shortform 6-item UCLA Loneliness Scale into Turkish and to analyze its validity and reliability. Method: The convenience sampling method was preferred for this methodological study, in which 411 clinical and non-clinical individuals were included. The clinical group included 41 patients with major depressive disorders attending the psychiatric outpatient ward. The study’s data were collected with the Descriptive Information Form, short-form 6-item UCLA Loneliness Scale, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, Beck Depression Inventory, and Trait Anxiety (A-Trait) Scale. Results: The Cronbach’s alpha value of the UCLA Loneliness Scale-6 Item Short Form was calculated as 0.884, and the scale’s internal consistency level was quite high. For the UCLA Loneliness Scale-6 Item Short Form, the variability level of the items constituting the one-dimensional structure produced from the explanatory factor analysis was 63.411%, and it could distinguish patients with descriptive features and clinical diagnosis (p<0.05). The scores of the UCLA Loneliness Scale-6 Item Short Form and other scales assessing loneliness showed a significant correlation (r=- 0.476 - 0.618). Conclusion: The short-form 6-item UCLA Loneliness Scale is a simple, easy-to-apply, reliable, and valid scale that can be used in studies assessing loneliness.