The Lack of Friends amongst Adolescents and Well-Being

Author(s): Gina Tomé, Margarida Gaspar de Matos, Inês Camacho, Celeste Simões, José Alves Diniz

The purpose of this study is to analyze the risk behaviour and the well-being of adolescents that declare not to have friends. The national representative sample was composed by individuals that participated in the study in Portugal, integrating the European study HBSC – Health Behaviour in School – aged Children. The study occurred during January 2006 and included a total of 4877 students from the 6th, 8th and 10th grades from Portuguese public schools, randomly selected with an average age of 14 years old. The instrument used was the HBSC questionnaire. The unit was the class. The results revealed that the lack of friends can influence the well-being of adolescents. Youngsters who do not have friends are unhappy, have more psychological complains and are less satisfied with life. The lack of friends may also interfere with another important area of adolescents’ lives: school environment. Adolescents who do not have friends do not enjoy school and are involved more often in bullying behaviours.Peer group is often associated to great engagement in risk behaviour, yet the lack of friends can also have a negative impact on health and well-being.

Lack of friends, Risk behaviour, Well-being, Adolescents

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