De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (DJGLS)

The De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (DJGLS) is a reliable and valid instrument designed to capture the severity of feelings of loneliness. It contains 11 items: 5 are worded in a positive way and 6 in a negative way. The negative items refer mainly to the respondents' perception that they miss their partner or best friend very much and represent a subscale of emotional loneliness. Positive items refer mainly to the absence of a broader category of acquaintances, colleagues and friends and represent the social loneliness subscale. The scale can also be used as a unidimensional instrument to measure overall loneliness.

Length of completion

The entire scale takes approximately 3-5 minutes to complete.

Individualized feedback for the respondent

By completing the scale, the respondent receives information about the severity of their own loneliness.

Keywords

De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale, DJGLS, loneliness, emotional loneliness, social loneliness

Scoring and interpretation

The score for emotional loneliness is the sum of neutral and positive responses (“more or less”, “yes” and “yes!") for items 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10 (items phrased in a positive vein). The score for social loneliness is the sum of neutral and negative responses for items 1, 4, 7, 8, 11 (phrased in a negative vein). The total scale score is the sum of the emotional and social loneliness scores ranging from 0 (not lonely) to 11 (extremely lonely).

Response Scale

Possible responses are “yes!”, “yes”, “more or less”, and “no!”.

References

de Jong-Gierveld, J., & Kamphuls, F. (1985). The Development of a Rasch-Type Loneliness Scale. Applied Psychological Measurement, 9(3), 289–299. https://doi.org/10.1177/014662168500900307

de Jong Gierveld, J., van Tilburg, T. (1999). Living arrangements of older adults in the Netherlands and Italy: Coresidence values and behaviour and their consequences for loneliness. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 14, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006600825693

de Jong-Gierveld, J., & van Tilburg, T. G. (1999). Manual of the Loneliness Scale. Methoden en technieken https://research.vu.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/1092113

de Jong Gierveld, J., Van Tilburg, T., & Dykstra, P. (2006). Loneliness and Social Isolation. In A. Vangelisti & D. Perlman (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Personal Relationships (Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology, 485-500). Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-handbook-of-personal-relationships/loneliness-and-social-isolation/246AFB3CA8837959725B67497331E0A8