The UCLA Loneliness Scale calculator is designed to assess an individual's feeling of loneliness based on their responses to three specific questions regarding companionship, perceived being left out, and social isolation. Each response is assigned a numerical score reflecting the frequency of these feelings.

Here's a breakdown of how the scoring works:

For each of the three questions, responses are scored as follows:
- "Hardly ever" = 1
- "Some of the time" = 2
- "Often" = 3

The calculator sums these scores to generate a total score, which ranges between 3 and 9. This score provides a quantitative measure of the individual’s loneliness and helps in interpreting their level of loneliness, as explained below:

- A total score of 3 suggests that the person is "Not lonely." This means they rarely experience feelings of lacking companionship, being left out, or isolation.
  
- Scores of 4 and 5 indicate that the person is "Less lonely." This suggests occasional loneliness but not a pervasive experience of it.
  
- Scores ranging from 6 to 9 signify that the person is "Lonely." This indicates a more frequent and noticeable experience of feelings of lacking companionship, exclusion, or social isolation.

This scoring system helps interpret the user's emotional state by quantifying their personal experience of loneliness, offering a valuable tool for self-assessment or further psychological studies.

The UCLA Loneliness Scale is a clinical calculator used to assess subjective feelings of loneliness or social isolation. This tool is applicable to a wide range of patient populations, including both adults and adolescents, and can be used in various settings such as mental health clinics, schools, and community health centers. The clinical utility of the UCLA Loneliness Scale lies in its ability to identify individuals who may be experiencing significant loneliness, which can be a risk factor for various mental and physical health conditions, including depression, anxiety, and cardiovascular disease. There are no specific exclusion criteria for its use, but it should be noted that this scale is subjective and relies on self-report, so it may not be as accurate in populations with cognitive impairment or difficulty with introspection.