Susanne Buecker|Kai T. Horstmann
Loneliness and Social Isolation During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Ruhr University Bochum|Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
abstract outbreak global covid19 pandemic drastically altered peoples lives loneliness social isolation publicly discussed possible psychological consequences measures taken slow virus spread public discussions sparked surge empirical studies loneliness social isolation study first provide systematic review synthesizing recent literature prevalence correlates loneliness social isolation early phase covid19 pandemic k 53 studies found quantitative studies included systematic review crosssectional longitudinal studies mainly reported increases loneliness especially prepandemic measurement occasions months years covid19 pandemic studies prepandemic measures weeks days pandemic reported relatively stable even decreasing loneliness trends second enrich systematic review empirical investigation daily changes perceived quality quantity social relationships pandemic compared pandemic n 4823 empirical investigation showed average quality social relationships perceived worse pandemic perception got slightly stronger first 2 weeks pandemic stagnated thereafter regarding quantity social relationships participants reported average fewer social interactions beginning study pandemic perceived reduction quantity social interactions linearly decreased time