ArticlePsychiatry research2020
Alarming levels of psychiatric symptoms and the role of loneliness during the COVID-19 epidemic: A case study of Hong Kong.
Article in Psychiatry research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 143 citations in OpenAlex.
- State-of-the-Art Sensors for Remote Care of People with Dementia during a Pandemic: A Systematic Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Pooled it
- Global prevalence of mental health issues among the general population during the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Prevalence and associated risk factors of psychotic experiences in the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of general psychiatry · 2026Article
- Prevalence, persistence, and severity of 12-month and 30-day DSM-5 disorders in the World Mental Health Hong Kong Study.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2025Article
- Association between game addiction and lifetime psychotic-like experiences among high school students: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Using Music to Promote Hong Kong Young People's Emotion Regulation and Reduce Their Mood Symptoms and Loneliness: Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Analyzing Themes, Sentiments, and Coping Strategies Regarding Online News Coverage of Depression in Hong Kong: Mixed Methods Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Evaluation of the effects of pandemic-related fears on anxiety and depression: the mediating roles of traumatic stress and loneliness.BMC psychology · 2024Article
- Effects of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for Chinese adults with PTSD symptoms: protocol for a randomised controlled trial.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Network analysis on psychopathological symptoms, psychological measures, quality of life and COVID-19 related factors in Chinese psychiatric patients in Hong Kong.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Racial differences in attenuated psychotic symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.Early intervention in psychiatry · 2024Article
- COVID-19 perseverative cognition and depressive symptoms in Hong Kong: The moderating role of resilience, loneliness and coping strategies.Journal of affective disorders · 2023Article
- The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on hallucinations and delusions in youth at clinical high-risk for psychosis and outpatients with schizophrenia.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2023Article
- Differences in infant negative affectivity during the COVID-19 pandemic.Infant mental health journal · 2023Article
- Social connectedness and resilience post COVID-19 pandemic: Buffering against trauma, stress, and psychosis.Psychiatry research communications · 2023Article
- Interpersonal distance regulation and psychological wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: A comparison between the USA and Korea.Asian journal of psychiatry · 2023Article
- Moderation effects of loneliness between fatalism and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Reduction in COVID-19 related resource loss and decline in prevalence of probable depression in Chinese adults: an application of the Conservation of Resource Theory.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2023Article
- 'Women in the front': Psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic: Depression, anxiety, loneliness, and somatization in the Israel population.Psychiatry research · 2023Article
- Gender in the disclosure of loneliness on Twitter during COVID-19 lockdowns.Frontiers in digital health · 2023Article
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2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Public health strategies to curb the spread of the coronavirus involve sheltering at home and social distancing are effective in reducing the transmission rate, but the unintended consequences of prolonged social isolation on mental health have not been investigated. We focused on Hong Kong for its very rapid and comprehensive response to the pandemic and strictly enacted social distancing protocols. Thus, Hong Kong is a model case for the population-wide practice of effective social distancing and provides an opportunity to examine the impact of loneliness on mental health during the COVID-19. We conducted an anonymous online survey of 432 residents in Hong Kong to examine psychological distress in the community. The results indicate a dire situation with respect to mental health. An astonishing 65.6% (95% C.I. = [60.6%, 70.4%]) of the respondents reported clinical levels of depression, anxiety, and/or stress. Moreover, 22.5% (95% C.I. = [18.2%, 27.2%]) of the respondents were showing signs of psychosis risk. Subjective feelings of loneliness, but not social network size, were associated with increased psychiatric symptoms. To mitigate the potential epidemic of mental illness in the near future, there is an urgent need to prepare clinicians, caregivers and stakeholders to focus on loneliness.
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