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Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults, Short Form (SELSA-S)3

Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults, Short Form (SELSA-S) Test

Understand whether loneliness is romantic, social, or family-based in about 4 minutes. With 19 items, it pinpoints where support is missing to guide care and track progress.

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Questions: 194 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

31,506 views

2,644 completions

2,156 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

2/5

Romantic Emotional Loneliness (REL)

Measures perceived loneliness and emotional unfulfillment within romantic relationships.

Low

High

1 – 3.2: Low | 3.3 – 5: High

A score of 2 falls in the Low range, suggesting relatively little romantic emotional loneliness and generally adequate emotional satisfaction in romantic connection.

example score

3/5

Romantic Relationships (RR)

Measures perceived loneliness due to a lack of closeness and support in romantic relationships.

Low loneliness

High loneliness

1 – 3.9: Low loneliness | 4 – 5: High loneliness

A score of 3 suggests relatively low loneliness in romantic relationships, indicating generally adequate perceived closeness or support.

example score

2/5

Non-Family Emotional Loneliness (NFEL)

Measures perceived emotional loneliness in friendships by assessing closeness and emotional support from friends outside the family.

Low

High

1 – 2.9: Low | 3 – 5: High

A score of 2 falls in the Low range, suggesting you generally experience adequate emotional closeness and support in relationships with friends.

example score

3/5

Family Emotional (FE)

Measures how emotionally isolated a person feels within their family relationships.

Low

Moderate

High

1 – 2.5: Low | 2.6 – 3.7: Moderate | 3.8 – 5: High

A score of 3 falls in the Moderate range, suggesting a noticeable but not extreme sense of emotional distance or insufficient support within the family circle.

example score

3/5

Loneliness (L)

Measures the overall intensity of social and emotional loneliness (perceived isolation and lack of support in close connections).

Low

Moderate

High

1 – 1.3: Low | 1.4 – 2.8: Moderate | 2.9 – 5: High

A score of 3 falls in the High range, suggesting a pronounced sense of loneliness and perceived disconnection.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Feeling lonely in a crowd

41%OF USERS

Adults who have people around them but still feel emotionally disconnected and want to pinpoint whether it’s romantic, social, or family loneliness.

Navigating relationship changes

34%OF USERS

People going through a breakup, divorce, bereavement, or a new move who want to understand which connections feel most lacking right now.

Therapy and counseling clients

25%OF USERS

Clients working on anxiety, depression, or isolation who use the results to clarify therapy goals and track progress in specific relationship areas.

BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.

Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.

Romantic emotional (Re)

Average

2.6

Normal range

2 — 3.1

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

In romantic relationships (Irr)

Average

Normal range

2.3 — 3.7

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Non-family emotional (Ne)

Average

2.5

Normal range

1.8 — 3.1

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Family emotional (Fe)

Average

Normal range

2.4 — 3.6

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

Loneliness (L)

Average

3.7

Normal range

3.2 — 4.3

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Below are statements that reflect different types of a person’s relationships with other people. Please read each statement carefully and indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with it.

- Disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Not sure
- Somewhat agree
- Agree
- Disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Not sure
- Somewhat agree
- Agree
- Disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Not sure
- Somewhat agree
- Agree

These are 3 of the 19 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults, Short Form (SELSA-S) Test - Symptoms and Signs

loneliness

aging

This instrument assesses perceived loneliness across key interpersonal domains in adult populations. The Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults, Short Form (SELSA-S) is intended to help differentiate patterns of loneliness related to romantic, family, and social relationships.

Developed by Daniel W. Russell, it consists of 19 items and typically requires about 4 minutes to complete. Responses can support clinical case formulation by clarifying whether perceived disconnection is most prominent in partner, family, or peer contexts. The Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults, Short Form (SELSA-S) may be used alongside other assessment data to inform treatment planning and to monitor change over time.

Author: Daniel W. Russell, Letitia Anne Peplau

Literature: Cacioppo, J. T., & Patrick, W. Loneliness: Human nature and the need for social connection. W. W. Norton & Company. 2008.; DiTommaso, E., Brannen, C., & Best, L. A. Measurement and validity characteristics of the short version of the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults. Educational and Psychological Measurement. 2004.