Social Isolation and Loneliness during COVID-19 Lockdown: Associations with Depressive Symptoms in the German Old-Age Population

Author:

Müller Felix,Röhr SusanneORCID,Reininghaus Ulrich,Riedel-Heller Steffi G.

Abstract

Lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic increase the risk of social isolation and loneliness, which may affect mental wellbeing. Therefore, we aimed to investigate associations between social isolation and loneliness with depressive symptoms in the German old-age population during the first COVID-19 lockdown. A representative sample of randomly selected individuals at least 65 years old (n = 1005) participated in a computer-assisted standardized telephone interview in April 2020. Sociodemographic data, aspects of the personal life situation, attitudes towards COVID-19 and standardized screening measures on loneliness (UCLA 3-item loneliness scale), depression (Brief Symptom Inventory/BSI-18), and resilience (Brief Resilience Scale/BRS) were assessed. Associations were inspected using multivariate regression models. Being lonely, but not isolated (β = 0.276; p < 0.001) and being both isolated and lonely (β = 0.136; p < 0.001) were associated with higher depressive symptoms. Being isolated, but not lonely was not associated with depressive symptoms. Thus, the subjective emotional evaluation, i.e., feeling lonely, of the social situation during lockdown seems more relevant than the objective state, i.e., being isolated. Normal (β = −0.203; p < 0.001) and high resilience (β = −0.308; p < 0.001) were associated with lower depressive symptoms across groups. Therefore, strengthening coping skills may be a support strategy during lockdowns, especially for lonely older individuals.

Funder

Hans und Ilse Breuer-Stiftung

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Reference39 articles.

1. The continuing 2019-nCoV epidemic threat of novel coronaviruses to global health — The latest 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China

2. Besprechung der Bundeskanzlerin mit den Regierungschefinnen und Regierungschefs der Länder vomhttps://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/themen/coronavirus/besprechung-der-bundeskanzlerin-mit-den-regierungschefinnen-und-regierungschefs-der-laender-vom-22-03-2020-1733248

3. RKI-Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2-COVID-19: Fallzahlen in Deutschland Und Weltweithttps://www.rki.de/DE/Content/InfAZ/N/Neuartiges_Coronavirus/Fallzahlen.html

4. Mental Health and Psychosocial Considerations during the COVID-19 Outbreakhttps://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/WHO-2019-nCoV-MentalHealth-2020.1

5. Psychosoziale Folgen von Quarantänemaßnahmen bei schwerwiegenden Coronavirus-Ausbrüchen: ein Rapid Review

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3