Loneliness levels of middle school students in terms of various variables and the relationship between loneliness and social emotional learning skills

The present study aimed to investigate loneliness levels of middle school students in terms of various variables and the relationship between loneliness and social emotional learning skills. It was examined by this study whether loneliness levels show difference depending on some personal characteristics (gender, academic performance, parents? education level, father?s status of work, number of siblings, parents? togetherness and the level of income) and the effectiveness of some personal characteristics and social emotional learning skills (coping with stress, problem solving, skills raising sense of self-esteem, communication skills) in inferring loneliness level.The sample of present study included 1993 students attending secondary schools located in central districts of Eskisehir in 2010-2011 school years. The data on loneliness levels of the students was collected by ?School-Based Loneliness Scale For Children? (Kaya, 2005) and that of social emotional learning skills was gathered by ?Social Emotional Learning Skills Scale? (Kabakci, 2006). To obtain data on personal characteristics (gender, academic performance, parents? education levels, father?s status of work, number of siblings, parents? togetherness and level of income), ?Personal Information Form? was used prepared by the investigator.Analysis of the data obtained by the data collection tools was carried out in computer environment by using ?SPSS/WINDOWS? pocket program. In addition to descriptive statistics, ?t-test for independent groups? and ?one-way variance analysis? were performed in order to determine whether loneliness levels differ according to some personal characteristics. First, in the analyses, it was identified whether the variances are homogenous or not by Levene Test. Tamhane test was used when the result of Levene test is < .05 assuming the variances are not homogenous, on the other hand, Tukey test was performed when the result of Levene test is >.05 assuming the variances are homogenous. Moreover, ?progressive multiple regression analysis? was conducted in order to pinpoint whether some personal characteristics and social emotional learning skills are important in inferring feeling of loneliness. Significance level was accepted as .05 for all statistical analyses. However, significant values at the level of .01are also stated.In this study, it was determined that middle school students differ significantly in loneliness levels depending on gender, academic performance, parents? education levels, father?s status of work, number of siblings, parents? togetherness and level of income. It was found that loneliness level is higher in male students than female students, in students whose academic performance is low than students whose academic performance is moderate or high. In addition, loneliness points were decreased with increased level of parents? education. It was also stated that students whose fathers are not working are more experiencing the loneliness than those whose fathers are working, and loneliness points increased with increased number of siblings, and the students whose parents live separately feel more lonesome. Besides, loneliness points decreased with increased level of income.It was concluded that variables inferring loneliness of middle school students are mother?s education level, academic performance level and skills raising sense of self-esteem and communication skills from social emotional learning skills.Keywords: Loneliness, social emotional learning skills, adolescence.