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; Thomas R. Prohaska

doi:10.3390/ijerph18199982

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, Thomas R. Prohaska

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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.

Original language	English
Article number	9982
Number of pages	18
Journal	International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume	18
Issue number	19
Early online date	23 Sept 2021
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18199982
Publication status	Published (in print/issue) - 8 Oct 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We would like to thank all the organizations and individuals who supported dissemination of the CLIC survey and for the support of the membership of the International Loneliness and Isolation research Network (I-LINK) in the development and promotion of the survey. We would also like to acknowledge the funding support for survey translation from Professor Brian Lawlor of GBHI, Trinity College Dublin and Ulster University for providing Ethical review.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

loneliness
social isolation
public health
COVID-19
risk factors
SARS-CoV-2
Pandemics
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Loneliness
Retrospective Studies
Social Isolation
Risk factors
Social isolation
Public health

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cite this

O’Sullivan, R., Burns, A., Leavey, G., Leroi, I., Burholt, V., Lubben, J., Holt-Lunstad, J., Victor, C., Lawlor, B., Vilar-Compte, M., Perissinotto, C. M., Tully, M. A., Sullivan, M. P., Rosato, M., Power, J. M., Tiilikainen, E., & Prohaska, T. R. (2021). Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Loneliness and Social Isolation: A Multi-Country Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(19), Article 9982. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18199982

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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.",

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note = "Funding Information: We would like to thank all the organizations and individuals who supported dissemination of the CLIC survey and for the support of the membership of the International Loneliness and Isolation research Network (I-LINK) in the development and promotion of the survey. We would also like to acknowledge the funding support for survey translation from Professor Brian Lawlor of GBHI, Trinity College Dublin and Ulster University for providing Ethical review. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",

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O’Sullivan, R, Burns, A, Leavey, G, Leroi, I, Burholt, V, Lubben, J, Holt-Lunstad, J, Victor, C, Lawlor, B, Vilar-Compte, M, Perissinotto, CM, Tully, MA, Sullivan, MP, Rosato, M, Power, JM, Tiilikainen, E & Prohaska, TR 2021, 'Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Loneliness and Social Isolation: A Multi-Country Study', International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 18, no. 19, 9982. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18199982

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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