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Social Psychology and Society
2025. Vol. 16, no. 4, 71–89
doi:10.17759/sps.2025160405
ISSN: 2221-1527 / 2311-7052 (online)

The experience of loneliness and coping with it in a situation of forced isolation (in Russia and Bulgaria)

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. Loneliness is one of the most important challenges for modern society. Being socially conditioned, loneliness is sensitive to various changes in the social environment, including forced isolation. However, even in situations of forced isolation and social restrictions, people have shown varying degrees of loneliness, making it important to explore ways to cope with loneliness in such difficult circumstances.
Objective. To study the characteristics of experiencing loneliness and coping with it in Russia and Bulgaria in a situation of social restrictions and isolation.
Hypothesis. The experience of loneliness, as well as the mechanisms for coping with it, vary depending on cross-cultural and age-related factors.
Methods and materials. The study involved 422 people aged 30–75 years from Russia and Bulgaria (M = 50,58 years; SD = 12,55). Loneliness was examined using the Differential Questionnaire of the Experience of Loneliness, coping strategies were assessed using the questionnaire “Ways of Coping”, autonomy – using the scale of the questionnaire “Sociotropy – Self-sufficiency”, and sex and age were also taken into account. 
Results. The level of loneliness is more sensitive to cross-cultural effects than to age-related effects. Respondents from both countries actively used various coping strategies to overcome loneliness in a situation of forced isolation, and in the younger age group (30–45), these strategies were actively used by respondents from both countries, while in the 50–75 age group, these strategies are more commonly used by Bulgarian respondents.
Conclusions. The results showed that, in general, the level of loneliness in our sample was lower than in similar studies conducted before the pandemic. Our data suggests that coping strategies may undergo structural changes in order to overcome loneliness in difficult and unusual life situations, forming specific patterns.

General Information

Keywords: loneliness, social isolation, forced isolation, adults, coping strategies, coping, Russia, Bulgaria

Journal rubric: Empirical Research

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/sps.2025160405

Funding. The study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), project number 19-513-18015.

Received 15.08.2025

Revised 27.10.2025

Accepted

Published

For citation: Stoilova, L.V., Strizhitskaya, O.Y. (2025). The experience of loneliness and coping with it in a situation of forced isolation (in Russia and Bulgaria). Social Psychology and Society, 16(4), 71–89. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/sps.2025160405

© Stoilova L.V., Strizhitskaya O.Y., 2025

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Liliya V. Stoilova, Candidate of Science (Psychology), Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Pedagogics, Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Arts “Prof. Asen Diamandiev”, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8666-4323, e-mail: iliya.babakova@artacademyplovdiv.com

Olga Y. Strizhitskaya, Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Head of the Department of Developmental Psychology and Differential Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Saint-Petersburg State University, St.Petersburg, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7141-162X, e-mail: o.strizhitskaya@spbu.ru

Contribution of the authors

Lilia V. Stoilova — ideas; annotation, writing and design of the manuscript; planning of the research; control over the research; data collection and analysis (Bulgarian part of the study).

Olga Yu. Strizhitskaya — writing and design of the manuscript; planning of the research; control over the research; data collection and analysis (Russian part of the study); application of statistical methods for data analysis; visualization of research results.

All authors participated in the discussion of the results and approved the final text of the manuscript.

 

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethics statement

The research design, procedures, measures and sampling were approved by the review board of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project No. 19-513-18015). Informed consent was obtained from all the participants and the Helsinki declaration was respected.

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