Direct and indirect effects of relationship status through unmet need to belong and fear of being single on young adults' romantic loneliness

Prior research has 'extensively documented the association between marital and relationship status and romantic loneliness; however, the mechanism explaining this association has not yet been fully explored. Therefore, the current study was intended to investigate the link between relationship status and romantic loneliness among young adults by testing a model in which unmet need to belong and fear of being single would operate as mediators in serial in this link. In the present study, data were collected from 419 Polish adults aged 20 to 35 (M = 24.78, SD = 3.48). The tested serial mediator model explained 64.36% of the total variance in romantic loneliness. Results showed that single status had a direct negative effect on romantic loneliness, and that mediation through unmet need to belong, mediation in serial through unmet need to belong influencing fear of being single, and mediation through fear of being single were partial. Furthermore, the indirect effect of relationship status on romantic loneliness through unmet need to belong had a greater impact than the indirect effect of relationship status through unmet need to belong and fear of being single operating in serial.