UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3)

UCLA-LS3

psychologysocial scienceshealth sciencesFree for research use

Permission: Free for research use. Free for non-commercial academic research, with no license fee. Cite the original publication.

A 20-item self-report instrument measuring subjective feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Version 3 uses simpler wording than earlier versions and balances positively and negatively worded items.

Items

Response format

4-point frequency scale

Version

1.0

Ready-to-cite methods sentence

Loneliness was assessed using the 20-item UCLA Loneliness Scale, Version 3 (Russell, 1996), with nine positively-worded items reverse-scored. The scale showed high internal consistency across the original validation samples (α = .89 to .94).

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Reliability & validation

Validation population

Undergraduate students, nurses, teachers, and elderly adults (combined validation samples)

Test–retest

0.73

Cronbach's α

0.89–0.94

Response anchors

Never · Rarely · Sometimes · Often

Known limitations

Designed as a unidimensional measure, although factor analyses have supported two- and three-factor solutions in some samples.

Original citation

Russell, D. W. (1996). UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3): Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66(1), 20-40.

https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa6601_2

Questions researchers ask

What does the UCLA-LS3 measure?

How many items does the UCLA-LS3 have?

The UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3) (UCLA-LS3) has 20 items.

Is the UCLA-LS3 free to use?

The UCLA-LS3 is free to use for non-commercial academic research. You don't need to pay a license fee, but you should always cite the original publication.

Is the UCLA-LS3 reliable?

Validation studies report Cronbach's α of 0.89–0.94, test–retest reliability of 0.73. See the reliability section for the population studied and full statistics.

Who developed the UCLA-LS3, and how do I cite it?

Russell, D. W. (1996). UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3): Reliability, validity, and factor structure. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66(1), 20-40. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327752jpa6601_2

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Library entry verified September 2026. Metadata is provided for reference. Questionnaires are built in Folio Surveyor, subject to each instrument's licensing, and can be taken to Qualtrics, Google Forms or Microsoft Forms, with their CSV responses brought back for scoring.