Children’s Loneliness, Sense of Coherence, Family Climate, and Hope: Developmental Risk and Protective Factors

RELATIONS WITH PEERS play a critical role in children's and adolescents' well-being, and thus the experience of loneliness has been considered a major source of distress and also a noteworthy developmental risk that can predispose them to immediate and long-term negative consequences (Margalit, 2010). However, not every lonely episode is considered a risk factor, given that most children experience short-term loneliness as a normal consequence of everyday social interactions within different contextual conditions. Nevertheless, for some children, these feelings of loneliness may become a chronic condition and a developmental risk.