Loneliness and transitions in meaning-in-life profiles among college students: a latent transition analysis

The study followed 1,415 students from three universities in Henan Province, China, and found that loneliness measured at the first assessment was prospectively associated with later meaning-in-life profile membership for students who initially occupied either the low or high profile. The results show an association rather than evidence that loneliness caused the transitions. Participants completed assessments in September 2025 and again in December 2025.

The researchers used latent profile analysis to identify groups characterized by different levels of meaning in life, followed by latent transition analysis to estimate movement among those groups over time. The analyses were performed in Mplus 8.0, with preliminary analyses conducted in SPSS 26.0. A three-profile solution emerged at both time points: low, moderate and high meaning in life.

The distribution shifted over the study period. In September, 26% of students belonged to the low profile, 37% to the moderate profile and 37% to the high profile. By December, the low group accounted for 17%, the moderate group for 48% and the high group for 35%.

The moderate profile had the greatest stability, with 59% of its members remaining in that profile, compared with 48% for the high profile. Transitions occurred in both directions: 31% of students initially in the low profile moved to the moderate profile and 16% moved to the high profile, while 26% of those initially in the moderate profile moved to the low profile and 34% of those initially in the high profile moved to the moderate profile. Loneliness was associated with different later outcomes depending on a student’s starting profile.

After the researchers controlled for sex and age, greater loneliness at the first assessment was linked to greater odds of membership in the low or moderate profile rather than the high profile at the second assessment among students who were initially assigned to either the low or high profile. Specifically, the analysis indicated that greater loneliness was associated with movement from the high profile to a lower profile. The observational two-wave design does not establish whether loneliness influenced changes in meaning in life or whether other factors affected both variables.

It also cannot determine whether the transitions were temporary or persistent beyond December 2025. Nevertheless, the study shows that students did not remain fixed within a single meaning-in-life category over a relatively short interval and identifies loneliness as a prospective correlate of later profile membership in two starting groups. The authors call for intervention studies to examine whether reducing loneliness can prevent declines in meaning in life and promote greater stability, but the present research does not test an intervention or establish that any program would produce those outcomes.

Subject of Research: Loneliness and changes in meaning-in-life profiles among college students

Article Title: Loneliness and transitions in meaning-in-life profiles among college students: a latent transition analysis

Article References: Wang, S. (2026). Loneliness and transitions in meaning-in-life profiles among college students: a latent transition analysis. BMC Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05828-0

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s40359-026-05828-0

Keywords: loneliness, meaning in life, college students, longitudinal study, latent profile analysis, latent transition analysis, student psychology, profile transitions, transitions, meaning-in-life, profiles, college