ArticleJournal of affective disorders2021
Loneliness, but not social distancing, is associated with the incidence of suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 outbreak: a longitudinal study.
Article in Journal of affective disorders, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 97 citations in OpenAlex.
- Longitudinal associations between loneliness and outcomes of Common Mental Disorders (CMDs): A systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Loneliness as an Interface Between Alzheimer's Disease and Suicidal Behaviour: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis and Meta-Analytic Factor Analysis.Psychogeriatrics : the official journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society · 2026Pooled it
- Social support and internalizing psychopathology among sexual and gender minority individuals: A meta-analysis.Clinical psychology review · 2026Pooled it
- Global Overview of Suicidal Behavior and Risk Factors among General Population during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and a Meta-Regression.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2025Pooled it
- Loneliness and the onset of new mental health problems in the general population.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2022Pooled it
- Digital interventions for depressive symptoms: a randomized clinical trial.Trends in psychiatry and psychotherapy · 2025Trial
- Predicting suicidal ideation in academic communities using machine learning methods: a cross-sectional study.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2026Article
- Loneliness, Anxiety Symptoms, Depressive Symptoms, and Suicidal Ideation in the All of Us Dataset.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Exploring the unique and cumulative effects of individual-level and social determinants on suicidal ideation trajectories during health and environmental crises - a longitudinal study of Australians.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Internalized Stigma Is a Predictor of Mental Health Secrecy and Loneliness in Young People With Clinical Depression Symptoms: A Longitudinal Study.Journal of clinical psychology · 2025Article
- The Key Role of Personality Functioning in Understanding the Link Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Loneliness: A Cross-Sectional Mediation Analysis.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Double Burden of Distress: Exploring the Joint Associations of Loneliness and Financial Strain with Suicidal Ideation During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Canada.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- The association between loneliness, suicidal ideation, and psychological distress considering family compositions: a cross-sectional study in a Japanese rural area.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Exploring the association of social isolation and loneliness on the experience of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization in the Japanese population: the JACSIS study.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- Unexpected effects of pandemic-related changes on mental health: Evidence from a nationwide survey in South Korea.PloS one · 2025Article
- Longitudinal relationships between daily activities, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and suicidality during the COVID-19 pandemic: a three-wave cross-lagged study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Barriers and risk factors associated with non-treatment-seeking for suicidality onset during the COVID-19 pandemic among young adults.Psychiatry research · 2024Article
- The development of suicide risk in people with severe mental disorders during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic: a claims-based cohort study.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2024Article
- Comparison of networks of loneliness, depressive symptoms, and anxiety symptoms in at-risk community-dwelling older adults before and during COVID-19.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- How Mental Health and Suicidality Changed during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study in the General and Psychiatric Population Illustrating Risk and Protective Factors.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlthough social distancing is necessary to decrease COVID-19 dissemination, it might also be associated with suicidal ideation. Therefore, we analyzed the impact of social distancing and loneliness in suicidal ideation.
methodsWe performed two waves of a snowball sample, web-based survey in Brazil (W1: from May 6th to June 6th, 2020; W2: from June 6th to July 6th, 2020). We assessed whether risk factors related to social relationships (loneliness, living alone, not leaving home, and the number of days practicing social distancing) at W1 were associated with suicidal ideation at W1 and W2 using multiple regression models. Analyses were adjusted for sociodemographic, mental health, and lifestyle variables.
resultsA total of 1,674 (18-75 years old; 86.5% females) were included in our longitudinal sample. Living alone (OR: 1.16; 95%CI = 1.03 - 1.30; p=0.015), number of days practicing social distancing (OR: 1.002; 95%CI = 1.000 - 1.004; p=0.027), and loneliness (OR: 1.49; 95%CI = 1.32 - 1.68; p<0.001) were associated with suicidal ideation in the cross-sectional analysis of W1. Only loneliness (OR= 2.12; 95%CI = 1.06 - 4.24; p = 0.033) remained significant as a risk factor to suicidal ideation in the longitudinal analysis between both waves. LIMITATION: Snowball, convenience sample design limits outcome estimates. Assessments were not objectively performed.
conclusionLoneliness was consistently associated with the incidence of suicidal ideation, while other variables, such as living alone, not leaving home, and the number of days practicing social distancing, were not. Measures to overcome loneliness are therefore necessary to reduce suicidal ideation during pandemics.
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