ORIGINAL RESEARCH

published: 23 October 2020

doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.583396

Fear of Loneliness: Development and

Validation of a Brief Scale
José Ventura-León 1 , Andy Rick Sánchez-Villena 1 , Tomás Caycho-Rodríguez 1 ,
Miguel Barboza-Palomino 1 and Andrés Rubio 2,3*
1
Facultad de Salud, Escuela de Psicología, Universidad Privada del Norte, Lima, Peru, 2 Facultad de Enfermería, Universidad
Andres Bello, Santiago, Chile, 3 Facultad de Psicología, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago, Chile

This research aims to develop and validate a Spanish version of The Brief Scale of Fear
of Loneliness (BSFL). Participants were 1385 youth and adults, 347 from a pilot sample
and 1032 from the final version, whose ages were in the range of 18 to 40 years. Two
instruments, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness
Scale, in their Peruvian versions, were used to support the relationship with other
variables. Results show that the BSFL should be interpreted as a one-dimensional
measure, the same ones that were examined at the exploratory level and verified at the
confirmatory moment (RMSEA < 0.08, CFI > 0.95), and its reliability is considered good
(ω > 0.88). In addition, the quality of the item content was reviewed by six expert judges
for relevance and validity, with Aiken’s V being greater than 0.70. It is concluded that the
Edited by: BSFL is a valid and precise short instrument that can be used in future research studies.
Dario Paez,
University of the Basque Country, Keywords: loneliness, solitude, belonging, instrument validation, isolation, fear
Spain
Reviewed by:
Ginés Navarro-Carrillo, INTRODUCTION
University of Jaén, Spain
Dario Monzani, Loneliness
University of Milan, Italy
It has been known for a long time that 71% of people between 18 and 24 years old report feeling
*Correspondence: lonely sometimes or often, and between 25 and 34 years old the figure drops slightly to 69% (Parlee,
Andrés Rubio
1979). Recent figures reveal 17% of people between 18 to 24 years old and 25 to 35 years old
[Link]@[Link]
said they felt alone quite often and very often, respectively, also experiencing anxiety and concern
Specialty section:
about feeling alone (YOUGOV, 2016). Likewise, according to a prevalence study carried out in
This article was submitted to the United Kingdom, it is known that women under 25 years of age present greater amounts of
Personality and Social Psychology, loneliness than men, with 9 and 6% respectively, claiming to always feel alone (Victor and Yang,
a section of the journal 2012). Similar results are reported in university students in Amsterdam, where the prevalence of
Frontiers in Psychology loneliness reaches 23% (Pijpers, 2017).
Received: 14 July 2020 Loneliness is characterized by a lack of satisfaction in interpersonal relationships (Andersson,
Accepted: 22 September 2020 1993), which arises when support and social networks are impaired (Perlman and Peplau, 1981),
Published: 23 October 2020 and the individual experiences feelings of isolation, not belonging, incomprehension, rejection
Citation: (Rook, 1984), or lack of company (Francis, 1976). Furthermore, loneliness includes deficiencies,
Ventura-León J, disagreements, isolation, and psychological pain manifested in sadness, boredom, and a feeling of
Sánchez-Villena AR, emptiness (Stein and Tuval-Mashiach, 2015).
Caycho-Rodríguez T,
Loneliness has been linked to many other variables. For example, in the biological field, it has
Barboza-Palomino M and Rubio A
(2020) Fear of Loneliness:
been observed that loneliness has been related to different variables such as blood pressure, cortisol
Development and Validation of a Brief levels, hypersensitivity to stressors and immunosuppression (Brown et al., 2017, 2019). From a
Scale. Front. Psychol. 11:583396. clinical point of view, there is evidence of a relationship with suicidal ideation and behavior (Chang
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.583396 et al., 2017; Calati et al., 2018), depressive symptoms, and social anxiety (Lasgaard et al., 2011;

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Ventura-León et al. Fear of Loneliness Brief Scale

Danneel et al., 2019). Regarding family related factors, a in the use of social networks must also be considered, which
relationship has been found with the interaction with parents in some cases is associated with the feeling of loneliness (Song
in their positive communication and time together (Majorano et al., 2014). In this sense, and considering that the feeling of
et al., 2017), with family cohesion and adaptability (Fujimori loneliness has been shown to be associated with self-esteem in
et al., 2017), and with stress in the academic context (Stoliker many different populations (Creemers et al., 2012; Domagała-
and Lafreniere, 2015). Finally, in the intra and interpersonal Krecioch and Majerek, 2013; Kong and You, 2013; Tian, 2016),
dimensions, it has been associated with shyness (Bian and Leung, it could be thought that the fear of loneliness today plays a key
2015; Muyan et al., 2018), avoidance (Demirli and Demir, 2014), role in people’s well-being, as well as in the constitution of their
anxiety to speak (Odaci and Kalkan, 2010), and self-esteem identities. Due to the above, it is necessary to design and validate
(Chiao et al., 2019). On the other hand, loneliness has a mediating instruments that measure this particular construct.
effect on the relationship between excessive use of social networks
and real-life social interaction in university students (Ndasauka The Present Research
et al., 2016), as well as on the relationship between social skills and There are various instruments that have measured loneliness
depressive and anxious symptoms (Moeller and Seehuus, 2019). since the 1970s (Russell et al., 1978), 80s (Russell et al., 1980; De
Furthermore, it is known that loneliness is greater in men than Jong-Gierveld and Kamphuls, 1985), 90s (Russell, 1996; Cramer
in women (Wiseman et al., 1995), however, with small effect sizes and Barry, 1999) as well as periods after 2000 (Hughes et al.,
(Maes et al., 2019). 2004; Maes et al., 2015). Despite this, there is no instrument that
Despite the fact that loneliness has been studied in relation measures FL; with the closest being the Fear Survey Schedule
to many variables from various fields, there are no studies that (Rubin et al., 1969). Although these authors developed a scale
explore fear of the experience of loneliness per se, which has been with 122 items, five of which are related to fear of isolation
considered for a time as painful and acute in young and adult or loneliness, they do so in a general way, without considering
population, more than in other ages (Rokach, 2000). criteria that allow addressing the phenomenon in a more specific
and complete way. In this context, the purpose of the study
Fear of Loneliness is to develop and validate a Brief Scale of FL in youth and
Fear is an unpleasant experience that implies a degree of adults, considering the content-based evidence through expert
awareness of the individual (Uribe et al., 2007), with its etymology judgment, testing the internal structure of the scale through
being associated with the suspicion of future danger or harm exploratory and confirmatory analysis, the calculation of the
(Real Academia and Española, 2014). Despite this, the term reliability using the omega coefficient and the establishment of
fear can be understood as an attitude toward something (Uribe the invariance according to sex.
et al., 2007; Simkin and Quintero, 2017) that triggers behaviors
of fight, escape, or avoidance (Bay and Algase, 1999) to the
topic, situation or place (Wong et al., 1997), that are products MATERIALS AND METHODS
of the beliefs that the individual experiences and generates, and
have an impact in their daily life (Al-Namankany et al., 2012). Participants
Nonetheless, the terms fear and anxiety are used interchangeably Participants were 1385 youth and adults split in two groups.
(Tomás-Sábado, 2016), although the latter has a more cognitive The first one was made up of 347 people between 18 and
component (Whitley, 1992; Catherall, 2003), while the first one is 40 years old (Average = 23.26; SD = 6.51), with 204 being women
more behavioral in nature (Blanchard and Blanchard, 1990a,b). and 143 men. With these participants the EFA was performed.
Despite this, there is a reciprocal interaction between them The participants were university students from the faculties
(Bandura, 1977). of Health Sciences (49.86%), Business (20.75%), Engineering
In this sense, the Fear of Loneliness (FL) can be understood as (12.97%), Architecture and Design (6.63%) and Rights and
an attitude of avoidance accompanied by worrying thoughts and Political Sciences (4.03%), which were in academic cycles from
feelings of abandonment that the individual experiences when 1st to 10th. The second group consisted of 1,032, whose ages
she/he is alone. This definition can be used to interpret the also ranged from 18 to 40 years (Mean = 21.09; SD = 3.38),
scores on the scale. with 795 being women and 237 men, and whose responses were
The notion of studying the responses of fear toward a specific used for the CFA. It is worth mentioning that these young
object is not new since it is known that there are scales that people and adults were university students. From the faculties of
measure fear of negative evaluation (Gallego et al., 2007; Zubeidat Health Sciences (89.44%), Engineering (3.88%), Administration
et al., 2007), of death (Tomás-Sábado et al., 2007; López and (2.62%), Architecture and Design (1.55%), Business (1.16%), Law
Calle, 2008), flying (Dongil and Wood, 2009), and even fear of and political science (1.07%), and Communications (0.3%). All
dental treatment (Armfield, 2010; Al-Namankany et al., 2012; the participants were people residing in the northern area of
Ibrahim et al., 2017). Therefore, it is not strange to conceptualize Metropolitan Lima.
loneliness as a specific fear.
The problem of loneliness takes on particular relevance in the Instruments
current context, considering aspects such as the lack of sense of The Brief Scale of Fear of Loneliness (BSFL)
belonging linked to the increasing levels of individualism (Santos It is made up of five items belonging to a single factor. Possible
et al., 2017). In addition, the phenomenon of sustained growth responses indicated frequency, where 0 = Never; 1 = Rarely;

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Ventura-León et al. Fear of Loneliness Brief Scale

in the face of new measures it is necessary to evaluate its

functioning with an available alternative that measures the same
or something similar (Hunsley and Meyer, 2003) and a self-
esteem scale also validated in Peruvian context to examine the
relationship with another variable and provide evidence of the
predictive capacity of the BSFL (American Educational Research
Association [AERA] et al., 2014).

Analysis of Data
Statistical analyses were performed with two open access
programs: FACTOR version 10.9 for exploratory factor analysis
(EFA) and Rstudio version using the ‘lavaan’ library (Rosseel
et al., 2018). In the first stage, a preliminary analysis of the
items was carried out considering kurtosis and asymmetry, where
FIGURE 1 | Factorial structure of the BSFL. values greater than ± 1.5 would reflect a distortion of normality
(Ferrando and Anguiano-Carrasco, 2010).
In the second stage, the dimensionality analysis of the
2 = Sometimes; 3 = Almost always; and 4 = Always. Psychometric scale was carried out in two modalities: (a) EFA, for which
properties are the object of the present study. it was necessary to review the sample adequacy measures
(KMO and Bartlett’s sphericity test). The estimation method
The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale ([RSE]; was robust unweighted least squares (RULS) with a matrix of
Rosenberg, 1965) polychoric correlations by the ordinality of the data, and for
It made up of 10 items, distributed into five negative or inverse the determination of the number of factors, parallel analysis
items, and five positive items, with a Likert scale ranging from 1 to was used, a simulation technique that compares random values
4. The psychometric properties of the RSE in Peru were adequate with empirical values (Timmerman and Lorenzo-Seva, 2011);
(Ventura-León et al., 2018). (b) confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) where the following
adjustment indices were used (Hu and Bentler, 1999): χ2 ,
The De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale ([DJGLS]; De Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA < 0.06),
Jong-Gierveld and Kamphuls, 1985) Weighted Root Mean Square Root (WRMR < 1), Comparative
It is a scale made up of 11 items with a scale ranging from 0 to 3. Adjustment Index (CFI > 0.95) and Tucker-Lewis Index
However, the answers must be dichotomized, so that the DJGLS (TLI > 0.95). In addition, the estimator was Weighted Least
reaches a maximum score of 11 points. Psychometric properties Square Mean and Variance Adjusted (WLSMV) because it was
in Peru were analyzed by Ventura-León and Caycho (2017). ordinal data (Brown, 2015). In both types of factor analysis (EFA
and CFA), the belonging of an item to a factor was determined by
BSFL Construction Procedures factor loadings greater than or equal to 0.30 (Kline, 2015).
For the construction of the BSFL, the recommendations of the In a third stage, reliability was estimated using the omega
International Test Commission were followed (International Test coefficient (ω) that reflects the proportion of common variance
Commission [ITC], 2018). Initially, different databases (Redalyc, shared by the items (Ventura-León and Caycho-Rodríguez,
Scielo, Scopus, Proquest, Google Scholar, Taylor and Francis, 2017), where values above 0.70 are considered recommendable.
Sage) were reviewed in order to search for different theories In the fourth stage, factor invariance according to sex was
where FL is addressed. First, the variable was operationalized by calculated under the recommendations of Wu and Estabrook
means of a specification table where the definition was set and (2016), who point out that in the case of ordinal data the
five items emerged. Second, the five items were submitted to the invariance cannot be examined only by restricting a set of
scrutiny of six expert judges who rated the relevance and validity parameters at a time. In this way, configural invariance (base
of the items on a scale of 0 (not at all) to 3 (totally); furthermore, model), metric invariance (thresholds, loading constrained to
the responses were quantified using Aiken’s V (Ventura-León, be equal across groups), scalar invariance (thresholds, loadings,
2019). Third, the BSFL was applied to a pilot sample of 347 people intercepts) and strict invariance (thresholds, loadings, intercepts,
who signed an informed consent and then answered the scale; residual) were tested. Theta –parameterization was used which
their answers were subjected to an exploratory factor analysis allows the calculation of the residuals (strict invariance). Also,
to verify the quality of the items and if they belong in the the WLSMV was used as an estimator (Brown, 2015). To
factor (Ferrando and Lorenzo-Seva, 2014). Finally, the scale was observe the suitability of the invariance, minimal differences were
applied to 1,032 participants, whose responses were subjected established between the two models according to those presented
to confirmatory factor analysis and other statistical techniques by Finch and French (2018), who point out that an RMSEA
for information processing. In this final application, two tests (1RMSEA) < 0.01 is adequate for ordinal variables and what
validated in Peru are incorporated. One, about Loneliness to Chen (2007) postulated, where CFI (1CFI) ≤ 0.01 is adequate.
examine the incremental validity, because it is known that It is worth mentioning that this continuous cut-off point is

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Ventura-León et al. Fear of Loneliness Brief Scale

FIGURE 2 | Structural model of the relationship between the BSFL and DJGLS.

FIGURE 3 | Structural model of the relationship between BSFL and RSE.

TABLE 1 | Descriptive Statistics of the BSFL.

Item M SD g1 g2 Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Item 4 Item 5

1 1.11//1.04 1.11//0.93 0.77//0.69 0.13//0.10 1.00 0.73 0.73 0.43 0.67

2 1.02//0.91 1.02//0.94 0.78//0.96 0.22//0.65 0.66 1.00 0.84 0.57 0.69
3 1.01//0.86 1.01//0.92 0.89//0.92 0.34//0.35 0.70 0.80 1.00 0.60 0.69
4 1.58//0.97 1.58//0.97 0.36//0.56 −0.17//0.05 0.41 0.42 0.42 1.00 0.55
5 1.42//0.98 1.42//0.98 0.66//0.66 0.13//0.16 0.62 0.61 0.63 0.48 1.00

From the//symbol to the left EFA and to the right CFA; From the diagonal down the matrix of the EFA and upward of the CFA. M, mean; SD, standard deviation; g1,
asymmetry; g2, kurtosis.

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Ventura-León et al. Fear of Loneliness Brief Scale

used because it does not have a categorical version, as there are Factor Invariance According to Sex
minimal differences between the models. Table 3 shows the measurement invariance, which was evaluated
The fifth stage consisted of contrasting the evidence in relation starting from a base model called configural invariance (M1),
to other variables. Therefore, correlations were modeled from metric (M2), scalar (M3), strict (M4), the estimator used WLSMV
SEM with the De Jong Gierveld loneliness scale (Ventura- was robust because it considers ordinal variables (Brown, 2015).
León and Caycho, 2017) and Rosenberg’s Self-esteem (Ventura- In this sense, the base model examined the fit in both groups
León et al., 2018), following Cohen’s recommendations for without restrictions on some of the parameters. Then, the M2
the magnitude of the effect (2009) where: r ≥ 0.10 is model, which is a model where the loads and thresholds of each
small; r ≥ 0.30 is considered moderate; r ≥ 0.50 shows item so that they have the same value in men and women. It
a strong effect. is seen that the difference between M1 and M2 are minimal
(1CFI < 0.01), accepting the hypothesis that the thresholds
are invariant. Subsequently, invariance in loads, thresholds and
RESULTS intercepts is examined adding restrictions on all items across
subgroups (M3). It is observed that the difference between M3
Evidence Based on Content and M1 is minimal (1CFI < 0.01). Finally, the strict invariance
The analysis of the content of the items was carried out by is evaluated where the loads, thresholds, intercepts and residuals
expert judges who rated the scale based on two criteria: (a) are the same in the two groups, examining that the differences are
Representativeness, indicating the correspondence between the within expectations (1CFI < 0.01).
content of the items and the definition of the construct, and (b) In view of the fact that factorial invariance was achieved, we
Relevance, the importance of including the items on the scale. proceeded to examine the differences according to sex through
An Aiken’s V of 1.00 is observed for all items in the two criteria, the latent means. In relation to the fear of loneliness, it is
suggesting evidence about the content of the BSFL. observed that women (M = 0.85) present a slightly higher
value than men (M = 0.81); although it is not statistically
Preliminary Analysis of the Items significant and the effect size is trivial [t(405.89) = 0.70,
As seen in Table 1, items 4 and 5 have a higher arithmetic p = 0.482, d = 0.05].
mean. All items show kurtosis and asymmetry values below ± 1.5
(Ferrando and Anguiano-Carrasco, 2010) with positive kurtosis,
except for item 4. Additionally, the Mardia coefficient was
TABLE 2 | Standardized factor loadings of the BSFL in the exploratory
calculated, which presented a value of 45.98, which indicates little factor analyses.
deviation from multivariate normality.
Item F1 h2
Evidence Based on Internal Structure (1) I fear someone may leave me [Temo que alguien 0.80 0.64
For the EFA (Table 2), RULS were used, with a polychoric pueda abandonarme]
correlation matrix and Parallel Analysis (PA) with optimal (2) The idea of being alone worries me [La idea de estar 0.85 0.73
implementation (Timmerman and Lorenzo-Seva, 2011). The solo me preocupa]
KMO test (0.83) and Bartlett’s sphericity test [χ2 (10) = 743.9, (3) I am afraid of being alone [Tengo miedo a estar solo] 0.88 0.77
p < 0.001] indicated that it is possible to carry out an EFA (4) When I am alone, I look for someone’s company 0.52 0.27
[Cuando estoy solo, busco la compañía de alguien]
(Abad et al., 2012).
(5) I am concerned that someone is leaving my side [Me 0.76 0.57
The PA pointed out the existence of a single underlying factor,
preocupa que alguien se aleje de mi lado]
which explains 66.68% of the total variance, with an Eigenvalue
ω 0.88
of 3.33. Goodness of fit indices were excellent (χ2 = 10.70, df = 5,
Load/h2 mean 0.76/0.59
p = 0.060; RMSEA = 0.06, CFI = 1.00. WRMR = 0.05). It should
Eigenvalue 3.33
be noted that robust Chi square was used with mean and scaled
% of Variance 66.68
variance (Asparouhov and Muthen, 2010).
The CFA (Figure 1) was carried out with a second group of h2 = communality; F1 = Fear of loneliness.
participants (N = 1032) in order to verify what was obtained in
the EFA. A single factor structure was modeled that revealed good
goodness of fit (χ2 = 12.93, df = 5, χ2/df = 2.59, RMSEA = 0.04, TABLE 3 | Analysis of factor invariance according to the gender of the BSFL.
CFI = 1.00, TLI = 1.00).
Models χ2 (df) 1χ2 1df p CFI 1CFI

Reliability M1 31.88 (10) - - - - -

Reliability was calculated for each of the moments of the factor M2 37.17 (20) 7.68 10 0.011 0.99 0.001

analysis. Thus, at the exploratory level the omega coefficient M3 34.58 (24) 1.25 4 0.075 0.99 0.002
M4 41.13 (28) 5.88 4 0.052 0.99 −0.001
is considered good (ω = 0.88) and at the confirmatory level
M5 49.09 (33) 6.78 5 0.035 0.99 −0.001
considered excellent (ω = 0.91). In this way, it can be seen that
the factor loads are strong. M1: configural; M2: threshold; M3: metric; M4: scalar; M5: strict.

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Ventura-León et al. Fear of Loneliness Brief Scale

Incremental Validity In relation to incremental validity, a similar test with Peruvian

The incremental validity of the BSFL was evaluated with a similar validation was used, as it is a recommendation by Hunsley
test that was validated in the Peruvian context, such as the DJGLS and Meyer (2003). This in order to observe that if there is a
(De Jong-Gierveld and Kamphuls, 1985). In this sense, the results relationship between both tests, that it is not large enough to
(Figure 2) show a moderate relationship (r = 0.43, CFI = 0.93; suppose a conceptual overlap (American Educational Research
RMSEA = 0.06; SRMR = 0.08); which is good, because if the Association [AERA] et al., 2014). These findings reveal that
correlation is very high it would imply a conceptual overlap. the BSFL measures something similar to the DJGLS, but not
the same; therefore, they are constructs that are associated,
but not the same.
Evidence Based on the Relationship With To provide evidence based on the relationship with other
Other Variables variables, the convergence of the BSFL was evaluated, which
To evaluate convergence with other tests, a concurrency method demonstrated its predictability by presenting a moderate
was used. In this sense, the scores of the BSFL of the participants correlation (r = 0.29;Cohen, 1988) with the loneliness scale
were correlated with the RSE (Rosenberg, 1965). The results adapted to the Peruvian context (Ventura-León and Caycho,
showed (Figure 3) that RSE was negatively correlated with BSFL 2017) and the self-esteem scale (Ventura-León et al., 2018)
(r = −0.29, CFI = 0.94; RMSEA = 0.07; SRMR = 0.07). In this way, showing an expected theoretical direction. Thus, the correlation
the predictive power of the BSFL is revealed. between loneliness and self-esteem is consistent with previous
studies; evidencing that experiencing fear of loneliness is
associated in a moderate way with the self-assessment of the
DISCUSSION self (Brewer and Kerslake, 2015; Błachnio and Przepiorka, 2019;
Chiao et al., 2019).
Loneliness is a frequent event in youth and adulthood and It is important to note that the present study reviewed the
for many years it has been known that the prevalence gender invariance of the BSFL. The measurement invariances
reaches 69% (Parlee, 1979) and that there is a concern (configurational, thresholds, and factor loads) were stable across
about feeling alone in this age group (YOUGOV, 2016). the groups. In this sense, the items measure the latent trait in
Although there are various instruments that have measured men and women in the same way (Brown, 2015), which is a
loneliness since the 1970s (Russell et al., 1978, 1980; De requirement of the measurement instruments for comparison by
Jong-Gierveld and Kamphuls, 1985; Russell, 1996; Cramer and groups (Byrne, 2008). Therefore, the one-dimensional structure
Barry, 1999; Hughes et al., 2004; Maes et al., 2015). There of the BSFL according to sex, indicates that in the sample of
is no instrument that assesses the fear of loneliness. In this Peruvian youth and adults (men and women) they conceptualize
sense, the main objective of the present study was to develop FL in an equivalent way, a situation that suggests that the factor
and validate a Brief Scale of Fear of Loneliness in Young structure is similar in both groups and that the differences
People and Adults. between men and women are real and not the product of a
Regarding the evidence of validity, the content of the items measurement bias.
was reviewed through the judgment of experts who found high Regarding the theoretical implications, having this scale will
representativeness and relevance of the items in the BSFL, allow evaluating theoretical models and seeing the relationship
which is often a forgotten action, but one that is necessary that the fear of loneliness (and not only the feeling of loneliness)
(International Test Commission [ITC], 2018). This accompanied has with well-being, the sense of belonging and with the
by the Aiken’s V coefficient (Ventura-León, 2019) allowed construction of identity of individuals, in a society that becomes
verifying the quality of the items. more and more individualistic (Santos et al., 2017) and consumer
Regarding its internal structure, the BSFL is a one-dimensional of social networks, which, in some cases, increase people’s
measure of fear of loneliness. Thus, the EFA produced with feelings of loneliness (Song et al., 2014). Regarding the practical
polychoric correlation matrices by the ordinality of the data, implications, the scale developed, due to its reduced number
revealed that a single factor underlies the five items, which of items, allows a pragmatic and rapid measurement of the
explains 66.68% of the variance of the construct. Likewise, their fear of loneliness in large populations, which would allow to
factor loads were > 0.30 (Kline, 2015). These findings were orient preventive interventions on the psychosocial variables
corroborated by the CFA, which showed excellent goodness of commonly associated with loneliness (drug use, excessive use of
fit indices (Hu and Bentler, 1999). Similarly, the assumption of the internet, for example).
one-dimensionality is consistent with theoretical arguments of The study has some limitations. First, more participants are
previous studies regarding fear of a specific object (Zubeidat et al., required in the invariance analysis for further studies. Second,
2007; Dongil and Wood, 2009; Ibrahim et al., 2017). it was not feasible to review the temporal stability of the scale;
Regarding the reliability of the BSFL, it revealed good so, a test–retest is recommended in future studies. Third, the
values both in its exploratory version (ω = 0.88) and participants were people with higher studies, so the scale can only
confirmatory (ω = 0.91). These results are consistent be interpreted for a population with similar characteristics; it is
with cut-off points established by various authors who recommended to explore its operation in other populations.
suggest that values > 0.70 are considered acceptable It is concluded that the BSFL is a measure that has evidence of
(Ventura-León and Caycho-Rodríguez, 2017). validity, reliability in its scores, being invariant regarding sex and

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Ventura-León et al. Fear of Loneliness Brief Scale

predicting other behaviors quite well. Therefore, it is a short self- AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
reported measure, easy and quick to apply, which will be useful in
future research studies. JV-L involved in planning and supervised the work, processed
data, performed the analysis, drafted the manuscript, and
designed the figures. AS-V contributed in preparation of the
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT published work, specifically critical review, commentary. TC-R
and MB-P performed the measurements, sample design, aided
The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be in interpreting the results, and worked on the manuscript. AR
made available by the authors, without undue reservation. contributed in presentation of the published work, specifically
writing the initial draft (including substantive translation). All
authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.
ETHICS STATEMENT
Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on FUNDING
human participants in accordance with the local legislation and
institutional requirements. The patients/participants provided This study was financed by CONICYT PIA CIE160009, as well as
their written informed consent to participate in this study. Universidad Privada del Norte.

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