The INTERACT study analysed self-reported loneliness, measured by the UCLA 3-item scale and the ONS direct measure, and a neighbourhood social capital composite in 135,725 community-dwelling adults across England. Higher loneliness was associated with ages 16 to 25, being single, unemployed or living with disability on both scales, while reporting nine or more friends carried much lower odds (UCLA adjusted OR 0.09). University education went in opposite directions on the two measures, and respondents with disability had lower odds of high social capital (adjusted OR 0.77).
Why it is interesting: The UCLA 3-item and ONS direct measures give opposite associations with university education in the same respondents.