Increased experiences of loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, emotional distress and changes in perceived physical and mental health: A structural equation model.
JoAnn Jabbari, Stephen Roll, Amy McQueen and 1 others
PMID 38429914WHAT IT FOUND
47% of adults said the pandemic made life lonelier.
Loneliness was linked to worse perceived mental health more than physical health, partly through emotional distress. This is association, not proof of cause.
Key findings
01Nearly half of respondents (47%) said the pandemic made their life lonelier; 21% reported worse mental health and 9% worse physical health than before the pandemic.
02Increased loneliness was linked to poorer perceived mental health (β = 0.234) and poorer perceived physical health (β = 0.065), and to emotional distress (β = 0.294).
03Emotional distress partially mediated the link between increased loneliness and poorer perceived mental and physical health.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot show that loneliness caused poorer perceived health; the authors say causal interpretations cannot be applied. Health changes were retrospective self-report, asking people about the past during the present, which can affect reliability. The sample came from an online panel and had higher educational attainment than the U.S. population, so results may not generalise to less educated groups. Perceived physical and mental health may influence each other, and the study did not establish directionality.
Declared interests
Funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, JP Morgan Chase Foundation and Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that loneliness caused declines in physical or mental health. The study is cross-sectional, and the mediation model was tested with observational data, so causal interpretations cannot be applied.