Pastoral Strategies for the Loneliness Epidemic of the Digital Generation
Abstract
In the frenzy of technological advances and the massive capabilities of social media, it turns out that there is a dangerous space that this generation often doesn't realize, namely loneliness. Since the discovery of internet technology, lonely sufferers have experienced a spike among digital people. They often feel lonely and seemingly asymptomatic. If pastoral stewardship does not address this problem, the digital generation is bound to feel lonely and depressed, which can lead to suicide. They experience a decreased quality of life despite being in the church and parental care. The question is, what are the causes and effects of this problem of loneliness? What practical steps can shepherds take? And what kind of pastoral strategy is there to tackle the loneliness epidemic ravaging the digital generation? The purpose of this study is [1] to describe the causes and adverse effects of loneliness problems. [2] Describe simply practical steps a shepherd can take in dealing with loneliness. [3] Describe her pastoral and stewardship strategies that a solution to the problem of loneliness among this digital generation. The method used in this research is Systematic Literature Review (SLR) for journal papers published in 2016-2021. Contribution of this research ; [1] For spiritual practitioners and educators who are directly related to recovery from the loneliness of the digital generation, [2] as a reference for pastoral teams and pastoral candidates in local church stewardship, [3] practical steps for parents in overcoming loneliness problems digital child they experienced.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Afolaranm, Adebayo Ola. “Towards the Possibility of Internet Ministry as an Alternative Pastoral Ministry in Nigeria during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” International Journal of Information Technology and Language Studies 4, no. 2 (2020): 12–26. https://doi.org/10.36713/epra4637
Beller, J, and A. Wagner. “Loneliness, Social Isolation, Their Synergistic Interaction, and Mortality.” APA PsycArticles 37, no. 9 (2018): 808–813. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000605
Cigna U.S. Loneliness Index. New York, 2018. Retrieved from https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8294451-cigna-us-loneliness-survey/docs/IndexReport_1524069371598-173525450.pdf.
Cincala, Petr, and Jerry Chase. “Servant Leadership and Church Health and Growth.” Journal of Applied Christian Leadership 12, no. 1 (2018): 81–89. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1406&context=jacl.
Cloete, Anita L. “Living in a Digital Culture: The Need for Theological Reflection.” HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 71, no. 2 (February 2015): 1-7. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v71i2.2073
Deckx, Laura, Marjan van den Akker, Frank Buntinx, and Mieke van Driel. “A Systematic Literature Review on the Association between Loneliness and Coping Strategies.” Psychology, Health & Medicine 23, no. 8 (September 2018): 899–916. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2018.1446096
Fried, Linda, Thomas Prohaska, Vanessa Burholt, Annette Burns, Jeannette Golden, Louise Hawkley, Brian Lawlor, et al. “A Unified Approach to Loneliness.” The Lancet 395, no. 10218 (January 2020): 114. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(19)32533-4
Graham, Elaine. “Being, Making and Imagining: Toward a Practical Theology of Technology.” Culture and Religion 10, no. 2 (July 2009): 221–236. https://doi.org/10.1080/14755610903077588
Gultom, JMP. “Penggembalaaan Yang Efektif Bagi Generasi Milenial Di Era Society 5. 0.” Shiftkey 11, no. 2 (2021): 95–108. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/5puqj
Hawkley, Louise C., and John T. Cacioppo. “Loneliness Matters: A Theoretical and Empirical Review of Consequences and Mechanisms.” Annals of Behavioral Medicine 40, no. 2 (October 2010): 218–227. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-010-9210-8
Heinrich, Liesl M., and Eleonora Gullone. “The Clinical Significance of Loneliness: A Literature Review.” Clinical Psychology Review 26, no. 6 (October 2006): 695–718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2006.04.002
Holt-Lunstad, Julianne. “Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors: The Power of Social Connection in Prevention.” American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine 15, no. 5 (September 2021): 567–573. https://doi.org/10.1177/15598276211009454
Jackelén, Antje. “Technology, Theology, and Spirituality in the Digital Age.” Zygon 56, no. 1 (2021): 6–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/zygo.12682
Kinnaman, David. “31% of U.S. Adults Report Feeling Lonely At Least Some of Each Day.” Barna Group. Last modified 2021. Accessed December 27, 2021. https://www.barna.com/research/mettes-lonely-americans/.
Krause, Neal. “Assessing the Relationships among Religiousness, Loneliness, and Health.” Archive for the Psychology of Religion 38, no. 3 (2016): 278–300. https://doi.org/10.1163/15736121-12341330
Lim, Michelle H., Robert Eres, and Shradha Vasan. “Understanding Loneliness in the Twenty-First Century: An Update on Correlates, Risk Factors, and Potential Solutions.” Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 55, no. 7 (July 2020): 793–810. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01889-7
Lisitsa, Ellie, Katherine S. Benjamin, Sarah K. Chun, Jordan Skalisky, Lauren E. Hammond, and Amy H. Mezulis. “Loneliness Among Young Adults During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediational Roles of Social Media Use and Social Support Seeking.” Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology 39, no. 8 (2020): 708–726. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2020.39.8.708
Menec, Verena H., Nancy E. Newall, Corey S. Mackenzie, Shahin Shooshtari, and Scott Nowicki. “Examining Social Isolation and Loneliness in Combination in Relation to Social Support and Psychological Distress Using Canadian Longitudinal Study of Aging (CLSA) Data.” PLOS ONE (2020): 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0230673
Mushtaq, Raheel, Sheikh Shoib, Tabindah Shah, and Sahil Mushtaq. “Relationship Between Loneliness, Psychiatric Disorders and Physical Health? A Review on the Psychological Aspects of Loneliness.” Journal Of Clinical and Diagnostic Research 8, no. 9 (2014): 1–4. https://doi.org/10.7860/jcdr/2014/10077.4828
Nwammuo, AN. “Mediamorphosis: Analyzing the Convergence of Digital Media Forms alongside African Traditional Media.” African Research Review 5, no. 2 (2011): 115–125. https://doi.org/10.4314/afrrev.v5i2.67309
Panamokta, Gerardus Hadian. “Menuju Gereja Terjaring (Networked Church).” Jurnal Teologi 7, no. 1 (2018): 9–30. https://doi.org/10.24071/jt.v7i1.1201
Pittman, Matthew, and Brandon Reich. “Social Media and Loneliness: Why an Instagram Picture May Be Worth More than a Thousand Twitter Words.” Computers in Human Behavior 62 (2016): 155–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.03.084
Prensky, Marc. “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” On the Horizon 9, no. 5 (2001): 1–6.
https://doi.org/10.1108/10748120110424816
Putri, Citra Narada. “Ini Dampak Kesepian Terhadap Kesehatan Generasi Z.” Femina. Last modified 2018. Accessed February 3, 2022. https://www.femina.co.id/health-diet/ini-dampak-kesepian-terhadap-kesehatan-generasi-z.
Reimann, Ralf Peter. “‘Uncharted Territories’: The Challenges of Digitalization and Social Media for Church and Society.” The Ecumenical Review 69, no. 1 (March 2017): 67–79. https://doi.org/10.1111/erev.12267
Ronda, Daniel. “Kepemimpinan Kristen Di Era Disrupsi Teknologi.” Evangelikal: Jurnal Teologi Injili dan Pembinaan Warga Jemaat 3, no. 1 (2019): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.46445/ejti.v3i1.125
Sadler, W. A., and Jr T. B. Johnson. From Loneliness to Anomia in The Anatomy of Loneliness. Edited by J. Hartog, J. R. Audy, and Y. A. Cohen. New York: International University Press, 1980.
Sartika, Resa Eka Ayu. “6 Bahaya Kesehatan Yang Mengintai Orang Kesepian.” Kompas.Com. Last modified 2020. Accessed January 3, 2022. https://health.kompas.com/read/2020/09/19/091000468/6-bahaya-kesehatan-yang-mengintai-orang-kesepian?page=all.
Sitepu, Nathanail. “Relasi Intelektualitas Dan Spiritualitas Dalam Berapologetika: Suatu Tinjauan Injili.” VOX DEI: Jurnal Teologi dan Pastoral 1, no. 2 (2020): 118–130. https://doi.org/10.46408/vxd.v1i2.36
Standard, Christian. “‘An Antidote to Loneliness’ for Pastors.” Christianstandard.Com. Last modified 2021. Accessed December 28, 2021. https://christianstandard.com/2021/03/an-antidote-to-loneliness-for-pastors/.
Tulgan, Bruce. “Meet Generation Z: The Second Generation within the Giant ‘Millennial’ Cohort.” RainmakerThinking. Last modified 2013. Accessed January 1, 2022. https://grupespsichoterapija.lt/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Gen-Z-Whitepaper.pdf.
Van den Berg, Jan-Albert. “Theoretical Signposts for Tracing Spirituality within the Fluid Decision-Making of a Mobile Virtual Reality.” HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 68, no. 2 (February 2012). https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v68i2.1290
Weiss, Robert S. “Reflections on the Present State of Loneliness Research.” Journal of Social Behavior and Personality 2, no. 2 (1987): 1–16.
Widjaja, Fransiskus Irwan, Fredy Simanjuntak, and Noh Ibrahim Boiliu. “Repositioning Mission in Postmodern Culture.” In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Education, Society, Economy, Humanity and Environment (ICESHE 2019). Paris, France: Atlantis Press, 2020. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.200311.038
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.25278/jj.v20i1.640
viewed = 0 times
