Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Loneliness and Social Isolation: A Multi-Country Study

Roger O’Sullivan, Annette Burns, Gerard Leavey, Iracema Leroi, Vanessa Burholt, James Lubben, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Christina Victor, Brian Lawlor, Mireya Vilar-Compte, Carla M. Perissinotto, Mark A. Tully, Mary Pat Sullivan, Michael Rosato, Joanna McHugh Power, Elisa Tiilikainen and Thomas R. Prohaska
Additional contact information
Roger O’Sullivan: Institute of Public Health, D08 NH90 Dublin, Ireland
Annette Burns: Institute of Public Health, D08 NH90 Dublin, Ireland
Gerard Leavey: The Bamford Centre, Ulster University, Coleraine BT52 1SA, UK
Iracema Leroi: The Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College Dublin, D02 PN40 Dublin, Ireland
Vanessa Burholt: School of Nursing/School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
James Lubben: School of Social Work, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467, USA
Julianne Holt-Lunstad: Department of Psychology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Christina Victor: College of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, Brunel University London, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, UK
Brian Lawlor: The Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College Dublin, D02 PN40 Dublin, Ireland
Mireya Vilar-Compte: Research Center for Equitable Development (EQUIDE), Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City 01219, Mexico
Carla M. Perissinotto: Division of Geriatrics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA
Mark A. Tully: Institute of Mental Health Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Ulster University, Newtownabbey BT37 0QB, UK
Mary Pat Sullivan: School of Social Work, Faculty of Education and Professional Studies, Nipissing University, North Bay, ON P1B 8L7, Canada
Michael Rosato: The Bamford Centre, Ulster University, Coleraine BT52 1SA, UK
Joanna McHugh Power: Department of Psychology, Maynooth University, W23 F2K8 Kildare, Ireland
Elisa Tiilikainen: Department of Social Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, FI-70211 Kuopio, Finland
Thomas R. Prohaska: College of Health and Human Services, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 19, 1-18

Abstract: The COVID-19 global pandemic and subsequent public health social measures have challenged our social and economic life, with increasing concerns around potentially rising levels of social isolation and loneliness. This paper is based on cross-sectional online survey data (available in 10 languages, from 2 June to 16 November 2020) with 20,398 respondents from 101 different countries. It aims to help increase our understanding of the global risk factors that are associated with social isolation and loneliness, irrespective of culture or country, to support evidence-based policy, services and public health interventions. We found the prevalence of severe loneliness was 21% during COVID-19 with 6% retrospectively reporting severe loneliness prior to the pandemic. A fifth were defined as isolated based on their usual connections, with 13% reporting a substantial increase in isolation during COVID-19. Personal finances and mental health were overarching and consistently cross-cutting predictors of loneliness and social isolation, both before and during the pandemic. With the likelihood of future waves of COVID-19 and related restrictions, it must be a public health priority to address the root causes of loneliness and social isolation and, in particular, address the needs of specific groups such as carers or those living alone.

Keywords: loneliness; social isolation; public health; COVID-19; risk factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/9982/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/19/9982/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:19:p:9982-:d:640986

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().