Current theories of loneliness posit that biases in social information processing play a key role in the development and maintenance of loneliness. However, this assumption has rarely been tested in longitudinal research in adolescence. The current study concentrated on two constructs associated with such biases, that is, fear of negative evaluation and self-esteem. More specifically, we examined whether changes in loneliness were associated with simultaneous changes in fear of negative evaluation and self-esteem. A sample of Dutch adolescents (N = 1,174; 50% female) in Grades 7 to 10 completed well-established measures of loneliness, fear of negative evaluation, and self-esteem on four measurement occasions with yearly intervals. Correlations among both initial levels and rates of change for these three variables were examined using a Parallel Process Model (PPM). Adolescents scoring high on loneliness scored high on fear of negative evaluation, but low on self-esteem. Changes in loneliness were accompanied by changes in the same direction for fear of negative evaluation and in the opposite direction for self-esteem. These findings indicate that fear of negative evaluation and low self-esteem could indeed play a role in the development and maintenance of loneliness. Future research will need to clarify how exactly these variables can hamper re-affiliation efforts and lead to sustained loneliness over time.

当前的孤独理论认为，社会信息处理中的偏见在孤独的发展和维持中起着关键作用。但是，这个假设很少在青春期的纵向研究中得到检验。当前的研究集中在与这种偏见相关的两种结构上，即害怕负面评价和自尊。更具体地说，我们研究了孤独感的变化是否与同时对恐惧的负面评价和自尊的变化有关。荷兰青少年样本（N= 1,174; 7至10年级的女性（50％女性）在每年四次的测量场合中完成了完善的孤独感，害怕受到负面评价和自尊的测量。使用并行过程模型（PPM）检查了这三个变量的初始水平和变化率之间的相关性。在孤独感上得分高的青少年在害怕负面评价方面得分高，但是在自尊心方面得分低。孤独感的变化伴随着朝着同一方向的变化，以免产生负面评价，而相反的方向则导致自尊心的变化。这些发现表明，对负面评价和自卑感的恐惧确实可能在孤独感的发展和维持中起作用。