Loneliness and social adaptation in Brazilian, Canadian, Chinese and Italian children

Background:  Research on children's loneliness has been conducted mostly in Western, especially North American, cultures. The purpose of the study was to examine relations between loneliness and social adaptation among children and adolescents in four different societies. Methods:  A total of 2263 children from grade 3 to grade 6, aged 9 to 12 years, in Brazil, Canada, P. R. China, and Southern Italy participated in the study. The participants completed a self-report measure of loneliness. Information about social behaviors and peer relationships was obtained from peer assessments. Results:  Multi-group analyses revealed that the overall patterns of relations among social behaviors, peer re…