Loneliness in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic: Cross-sectional results from the COVID-19 Psychological Wellbeing Study

Loneliness is a significant public health issue. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in lockdown measures limiting social contact. The UK public are worried about the impact of these measures on mental health outcomes. Understanding the prevalence and predictors of loneliness at this time is a priori...

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Vydané v:PloS one Ročník 15; číslo 9; s. e0239698
Hlavní autori: Groarke, Jenny M., Berry, Emma, Graham-Wisener, Lisa, McKenna-Plumley, Phoebe E., McGlinchey, Emily, Armour, Cherie
Médium: Journal Article
Jazyk:English
Vydavateľské údaje: United States Public Library of Science 24.09.2020
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Predmet:
Adolescent
Adult
Adults
Age Factors
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Anxiety - epidemiology
Anxiety disorders
Betacoronavirus
Biology and Life Sciences
Coronavirus Infections - psychology
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Cross-Sectional Studies
Emotions
Female
Health aspects
Health risks
Humans
Loneliness
Male
Medicine and Health Sciences
Mental health
Middle Aged
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral - psychology
Prevalence
Protective Factors
Psychological aspects
Psychological factors
Public health
Regression analysis
Risk analysis
Risk Factors
SARS-CoV-2
Sleep
Social aspects
Social interactions
Social networks
Social Sciences
Social Support
Socioeconomic factors
United Kingdom
Well being
Young Adult
United Kingdom
United Kingdom > UK
United States > US
ISSN:1932-6203, 1932-6203
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Shrnutí:Loneliness is a significant public health issue. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in lockdown measures limiting social contact. The UK public are worried about the impact of these measures on mental health outcomes. Understanding the prevalence and predictors of loneliness at this time is a priority issue for research. The study employed a cross-sectional online survey design. Baseline data collected between March 23rd and April 24th 2020 from UK adults in the COVID-19 Psychological Wellbeing Study were analysed (N = 1964, 18-87 years, M = 37.11, SD = 12.86, 70% female). Logistic regression analysis examined the influence of sociodemographic, social, health and COVID-19 specific factors on loneliness. The prevalence of loneliness was 27% (530/1964). Risk factors for loneliness were younger age group (OR: 4.67-5.31), being separated or divorced (OR: 2.29), scores meeting clinical criteria for depression (OR: 1.74), greater emotion regulation difficulties (OR: 1.04), and poor quality sleep due to the COVID-19 crisis (OR: 1.30). Higher levels of social support (OR: 0.92), being married/co-habiting (OR: 0.35) and living with a greater number of adults (OR: 0.87) were protective factors. Rates of loneliness during the initial phase of lockdown were high. Risk factors were not specific to the COVID-19 crisis. Findings suggest that supportive interventions to reduce loneliness should prioritise younger people and those with mental health symptoms. Improving emotion regulation and sleep quality, and increasing social support may be optimal initial targets to reduce the impact of COVID-19 regulations on mental health outcomes.
Bibliografia:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0239698