Coproducing a new scale with young people aged 10–24 years: a protocol for the development and validation of the Youth Loneliness Scale (YLS)
Introduction The high prevalence of loneliness in young people, aged 10–24 years, is increasingly recognised as an urgent global health concern. The experience of loneliness is linked to a wide range of adverse physical and mental health outcomes. A lack of loneliness scales that can accurately capt...
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BMJ Publishing Group
2025-07-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/7/e097497.full |
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| author | Lauren Turner Jennifer Y F Lau Delia Fuhrmann Laura Riddleston Lily Verity Iqra Alam Lizet Chavez Jasmine Conway Amilah Niaz Ayla Pollmann Pamela Qualter Poppy Spowage Wahida Walibhai |
| author_facet | Lauren Turner Jennifer Y F Lau Delia Fuhrmann Laura Riddleston Lily Verity Iqra Alam Lizet Chavez Jasmine Conway Amilah Niaz Ayla Pollmann Pamela Qualter Poppy Spowage Wahida Walibhai |
| author_sort | Lauren Turner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction The high prevalence of loneliness in young people, aged 10–24 years, is increasingly recognised as an urgent global health concern. The experience of loneliness is linked to a wide range of adverse physical and mental health outcomes. A lack of loneliness scales that can accurately capture the authentic experiences of young people has hampered progress in our understanding of the aetiology and sequelae of youth loneliness, as well as the development of preventative policies and interventions. Here, we provide a protocol for developing and validating an age-sensitive loneliness scale for young people aged 10–24 years: the Youth Loneliness Scale (YLS). The scale is designed to measure loneliness in the general population of young people in the UK.Methods and analysis The scale is coproduced with young people from design to dissemination. The scale development process follows a three-phased, multistep approach that includes item development, scale construction and scale evaluation. Item development is achieved via deductive (literature review) and inductive methods (arts workshops and focus groups), as well as a Delphi survey of experts (by profession and experience) for initial refinement. The scale is then constructed via pretesting items in cognitive interviews with young people, and exploratory testing for preliminary evaluation and refinement. Finally, the scale is administered in confirmatory testing, where a full psychometric evaluation is provided.Ethics and dissemination The project was approved by the Queen Mary University of London Research Ethics Committee (Reference: 2024-0231-341) as the lead site and subsequently endorsed by the University of Manchester Research Ethics Committee. The YLS scale and results of its psychometric evaluation will be published open-access. The protocol provided here will allow researchers to evaluate the final scale generated against the plans set out. We also encourage the use and adaptation of the protocol to develop age-sensitive loneliness scales for other populations. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-63cf2238f2a24b8da8df28fc1051ddd6 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-63cf2238f2a24b8da8df28fc1051ddd62025-08-20T03:13:48ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552025-07-0115710.1136/bmjopen-2024-097497Coproducing a new scale with young people aged 10–24 years: a protocol for the development and validation of the Youth Loneliness Scale (YLS)Lauren Turner0Jennifer Y F Lau1Delia Fuhrmann2Laura Riddleston3Lily Verity4Iqra Alam5Lizet Chavez6Jasmine Conway7Amilah Niaz8Ayla Pollmann9Pamela Qualter10Poppy Spowage11Wahida Walibhai12Queen Mary University of London, London, UKQueen Mary University of London, London, UKKing’s College London, London, UKQueen Mary University of London, London, UKThe University of Manchester, Manchester, UKQueen Mary University of London, London, UKQueen Mary University of London, London, UKThe University of Manchester, Manchester, UKQueen Mary University of London, London, UKKing’s College London, London, UKThe University of Manchester, Manchester, UKQueen Mary University of London, London, UKThe University of Manchester, Manchester, UKIntroduction The high prevalence of loneliness in young people, aged 10–24 years, is increasingly recognised as an urgent global health concern. The experience of loneliness is linked to a wide range of adverse physical and mental health outcomes. A lack of loneliness scales that can accurately capture the authentic experiences of young people has hampered progress in our understanding of the aetiology and sequelae of youth loneliness, as well as the development of preventative policies and interventions. Here, we provide a protocol for developing and validating an age-sensitive loneliness scale for young people aged 10–24 years: the Youth Loneliness Scale (YLS). The scale is designed to measure loneliness in the general population of young people in the UK.Methods and analysis The scale is coproduced with young people from design to dissemination. The scale development process follows a three-phased, multistep approach that includes item development, scale construction and scale evaluation. Item development is achieved via deductive (literature review) and inductive methods (arts workshops and focus groups), as well as a Delphi survey of experts (by profession and experience) for initial refinement. The scale is then constructed via pretesting items in cognitive interviews with young people, and exploratory testing for preliminary evaluation and refinement. Finally, the scale is administered in confirmatory testing, where a full psychometric evaluation is provided.Ethics and dissemination The project was approved by the Queen Mary University of London Research Ethics Committee (Reference: 2024-0231-341) as the lead site and subsequently endorsed by the University of Manchester Research Ethics Committee. The YLS scale and results of its psychometric evaluation will be published open-access. The protocol provided here will allow researchers to evaluate the final scale generated against the plans set out. We also encourage the use and adaptation of the protocol to develop age-sensitive loneliness scales for other populations.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/7/e097497.full |
| spellingShingle | Lauren Turner Jennifer Y F Lau Delia Fuhrmann Laura Riddleston Lily Verity Iqra Alam Lizet Chavez Jasmine Conway Amilah Niaz Ayla Pollmann Pamela Qualter Poppy Spowage Wahida Walibhai Coproducing a new scale with young people aged 10–24 years: a protocol for the development and validation of the Youth Loneliness Scale (YLS) BMJ Open |
| title | Coproducing a new scale with young people aged 10–24 years: a protocol for the development and validation of the Youth Loneliness Scale (YLS) |
| title_full | Coproducing a new scale with young people aged 10–24 years: a protocol for the development and validation of the Youth Loneliness Scale (YLS) |
| title_fullStr | Coproducing a new scale with young people aged 10–24 years: a protocol for the development and validation of the Youth Loneliness Scale (YLS) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Coproducing a new scale with young people aged 10–24 years: a protocol for the development and validation of the Youth Loneliness Scale (YLS) |
| title_short | Coproducing a new scale with young people aged 10–24 years: a protocol for the development and validation of the Youth Loneliness Scale (YLS) |
| title_sort | coproducing a new scale with young people aged 10 24 years a protocol for the development and validation of the youth loneliness scale yls |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/7/e097497.full |
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