Satisfaction with Social Life and Academic Adaptation in Students with Different Types of Loneliness in the Process of Distance Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In an age when publicity is the norm, human loneliness is a significant socio-psychological problem. Objective loneliness (e.g., as experienced during the pandemic) does not always result in subjective loneliness. Subjective loneliness directly influences various aspects of the human psyche and activities. Analysis of satisfaction with social life, as a marker of social well-being and academic adaptation of students with different loneliness types, allows determining the magnitude of subjective loneliness and how it influences the well-being and adaptation of students. In this study, we analyzed satisfaction in social life, difficulties associated with distance learning, and academic adaptation in students with different types of loneliness. The sample consisted of 500 students who studied online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mean age of the students was 19.28 years (SD = 2.16; 16.5% males and 83.5% females). The following methods were used in this study: A differential questionnaire on experiencing loneliness developed by Osin and Leontev; a modified technique for determining the level of social frustration by Wasserman, Iovlev, and Berebin; the academic adaptation scale by Shamionov, Grigoryeva, Grinina, and Sozonnik; scales for subjective evaluation of changes in life during distance learning developed by the authors of the study. Four types of loneliness were identified based on cluster analysis: positive loneliness, non-accepted loneliness, pseudo-positive loneliness, and neurotic loneliness. Students with pseudo-positive and neurotic loneliness had low levels of satisfaction with their social life, while students with positive loneliness, and those that rejected it, were satisfied with life. Distance learning was most positively viewed by students with a positive perception of loneliness, while students with neurotic loneliness experienced difficulties the most because of distance learning. Under such conditions, the most successful academic adaptation was observed in students with non-acceptance of loneliness, followed by students with positive and pseudo-positive loneliness, respectively, while students with neurotic loneliness adapted the least to the conditions.