Abstract

Background: The prevalence of loneliness among students indicates the need for its assessment by a valid and reliable tool. This study investigates the psychometric properties of the Arabic version of the short-form University of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (ULS-8) among Saudi undergraduate students.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was distributed to the participants (n = 753) through their university emails to target female students in two universities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. They completed an Arabic translation of the eight items ULS-8 and the Arabic version of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Construct validity of the Arabic version of ULS-8 was evaluated by exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The convergent validity of the scale was assessed using PHQ-9. Reliability was assessed by Cronbach alpha.
Results: Construct validity showed that the ULS-7, which excluded item #3 from the ULS-8, had had a greater good-fit model. The score of ULS-7 had converged significantly and positively on the depression score (r = 0.679, p < 0.010). The overall Cronbach's an of the ULS-6 was 0.78.
Conclusion: The present study results indicate that the Arabic version of ULS-7 was an adequate concise measure of loneliness.

Key words: Loneliness, validity, reliability, UCLA loneliness scale, students