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 formulated in a positive spirit and 6 in a negative spirit. The negative items mainly relate to respondents missing their partner or best friend very much and represent a subscale of emotional loneliness. The positive items relate mainly to the absence of a wider category of acquaintances, colleagues and friends and represent a subscale of social loneliness. It is also possible to use the scale as a one-dimensional tool for measuring overall loneliness.

Length of filling

It takes approximately 3-5 minutes to complete the entire scale.

Individualized feedback for the respondent

By filling out the scale, the respondent gets 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 the neutral and positive responses (“more or less”, “yes” and “yes!”) to items 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10 (positively worded items). The score for social loneliness is the sum of neutral and negative responses to items 1, 4, 7, 8, 11 (worded in a negative spirit). 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 answers are “yes!”, “yes”, “more or less”, “no” 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