The social relevance of loneliness is increasing in recent years. Attention to the mental health and emotional well-being of the population involves considering different aspects, previously invisible, that have an important impact on health and well-being, and among them, unwanted loneliness should be mentioned.
In the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, the Basque Government's five-yearly Health Survey (ESCAV) has asked about loneliness in its latest measurements for 2018 and 2023. According to the results of the 2023 survey, 7.3% of people aged 15 to 29 say that they always or often feel lonely. This percentage has increased significantly compared to 1.6% in 2018.
In the total population of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, the percentage of people who say that they always or often feel lonely is slightly lower than that recorded among young people, 5.1%, although it has also increased slightly compared to 2018 (3.3%).
Looking at the data for 2023, we see that the percentage of young women who say they feel lonely is slightly higher than the percentage of young men who feel lonely (8.9% and 5.7%, respectively). The age group in which most young people report that they always or often feel lonely is the 20-24 age group (11.0%).
Another indirect indicator of loneliness is the lack of confidential social support. For its measurement, the Basque Health Survey uses the Duke-UNC-11 questionnaire, which is an internationally validated tool used to assess perceived functional social support. It consists of 11 items, and it is considered that there is a lack of confidential social support when the score obtained is equal to or lower than 21.
According to these parameters, in 2023, 10.2% of people aged 15-29 would be lacking confidential social support. This percentage is also significantly higher than in 2018 (1.6%). In this case, there is data from previous years; specifically, in 2013 the percentage of young people under 30 years of age with a lack of confidential social support was 6.1 % and in 2007 it was 6.0 %.
In the total Basque population aged 15 and over, the percentage of those lacking confidential social support in 2023 was 10.7%, very similar to that recorded among young people. The lack of confidential social support has also increased in the whole of the Basque population compared to that recorded in 2018, when it stood at 5.0 %.
In 2023, young women have two percentage points more lack of confidential social support than young men (11.3% and 9.1% respectively). As the age of young people increases, so does the percentage of those lacking confidential support, rising from 6.6 % among 15–19-year-olds to 13.1% among 25-29-year-olds.
‘Good health and well-being’ is Goal number 3 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 Agenda.
