The Possibilities and Challenges of Passively Sensing Young People’s Loneliness

Abstract:
Young people are vulnerable to experiencing loneliness, which has serious consequences for their well-being. With passive sensing techniques, different behavioral, social, and physiological features can be continuously monitored. Likewise, with machine-learning techniques, the relationship between loneliness and the information collected with passive sensing techniques can be analyzed and possibly further utilized to deliver suitable interventions when needed. However, there are still multiple challenges related to the existing loneliness detection solutions that need to be solved in the future. In this paper, we present a review of the existing studies that have applied passive sensing and machine-learning techniques to detect specifically young people’s loneliness. In addition, we especially focus on the recognized challenges that currently need to be or are being solved in the field. The results summarize the future research contributions that are needed while at the same time highlighting the need for multidisciplinary collaboration.