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Main Authors: Qirtas, Malik Muhammad, Zafeirid, Evi, Pesch, Dirk, White, Eleanor Bantry
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.01845
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author Qirtas, Malik Muhammad
Zafeirid, Evi
Pesch, Dirk
White, Eleanor Bantry
author_facet Qirtas, Malik Muhammad
Zafeirid, Evi
Pesch, Dirk
White, Eleanor Bantry
contents Background: Loneliness among students is increasing across the world, with potential consequences for mental health and academic success. To address this growing problem, accurate methods of detection are needed to identify loneliness and to differentiate social and emotional loneliness so that intervention can be personalized to individual need. Passive sensing technology provides a unique technique to capture behavioral patterns linked with distinct loneliness forms, allowing for more nuanced understanding and interventions for loneliness. Methods: To differentiate between social and emotional loneliness using digital biomarkers, our study included statistical tests, machine learning for predictive modeling, and SHAP values for feature importance analysis, revealing important factors in loneliness classification. Results: Our analysis revealed significant behavioral differences between socially and emotionally lonely groups, particularly in terms of phone usage and location-based features , with machine learning models demonstrating substantial predictive power in classifying loneliness levels. The XGBoost model, in particular, showed high accuracy and was effective in identifying key digital biomarkers, including phone usage duration and location-based features, as significant predictors of loneliness categories. Conclusion: This study underscores the potential of passive sensing data, combined with machine learning techniques, to provide insights into the behavioral manifestations of social and emotional loneliness among students. The identification of key digital biomarkers paves the way for targeted interventions aimed at mitigating loneliness in this population.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2404_01845
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Unmasking the Nuances of Loneliness: Using Digital Biomarkers to Understand Social and Emotional Loneliness in College Students
Qirtas, Malik Muhammad
Zafeirid, Evi
Pesch, Dirk
White, Eleanor Bantry
Human-Computer Interaction
Background: Loneliness among students is increasing across the world, with potential consequences for mental health and academic success. To address this growing problem, accurate methods of detection are needed to identify loneliness and to differentiate social and emotional loneliness so that intervention can be personalized to individual need. Passive sensing technology provides a unique technique to capture behavioral patterns linked with distinct loneliness forms, allowing for more nuanced understanding and interventions for loneliness. Methods: To differentiate between social and emotional loneliness using digital biomarkers, our study included statistical tests, machine learning for predictive modeling, and SHAP values for feature importance analysis, revealing important factors in loneliness classification. Results: Our analysis revealed significant behavioral differences between socially and emotionally lonely groups, particularly in terms of phone usage and location-based features , with machine learning models demonstrating substantial predictive power in classifying loneliness levels. The XGBoost model, in particular, showed high accuracy and was effective in identifying key digital biomarkers, including phone usage duration and location-based features, as significant predictors of loneliness categories. Conclusion: This study underscores the potential of passive sensing data, combined with machine learning techniques, to provide insights into the behavioral manifestations of social and emotional loneliness among students. The identification of key digital biomarkers paves the way for targeted interventions aimed at mitigating loneliness in this population.
title Unmasking the Nuances of Loneliness: Using Digital Biomarkers to Understand Social and Emotional Loneliness in College Students
topic Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.01845