Loneliness

Participants in the BrainWaves Cohort study were asked “How often do you feel lonely?”

The graphs show the distribution of responses to this question about loneliness, and split by sex, on the first occasion that they completed the BrainWaves Cohort Study questionnaire.

Overall, 14.4% of respondents said that they were lonely often or always, which was higher for female respondents (16.1%) compared to male respondents (11.5%).

The BrainWaves Cohort Study has collected responses from over 24,000 people aged 16-18 in schools across the UK, over three time points in 2024 and 2025.