Coping with loneliness through music listening as a young adult: a correlational study

Abstract: Loneliness has proven to be a problem for people all over the world, at all ages. Although the focus is often on adolescents and the elderly, studies have shown that young adults experience high levels of loneliness, especially in the last two years with restrictions due to the covid-19 pandemic. To cope with loneliness, people have used different ways, and listening to music is one of them. The present study investigated how young adults use music listening to cope with their loneliness. Data were collected for 110 participants through an anonymous online survey shared through social media. The questionnaire consisted of two instruments: 3-items UCLA Loneliness Scale and Musical Coping Scale. In addition to these instruments, the survey consisted of questions regarding routines for listening to music, musical preferences, and its’ connections to the covid-19 pandemic. The data analysis was done via correlations and multiple linear regression. There was a positive correlation between loneliness and avoidance, as well as with emotion-oriented coping. Surprisingly, problem-oriented coping and loneliness did not correlate at all in the present study, which is being discussed. Overall, the results suggest that avoidance is commonly used to cope with loneliness through music listening. Future studies are encouraged to examine a larger number of coping strategies for the same issue and for the same age.