ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
Loneliness during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comparison between Older and Younger People.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 54 citations in OpenAlex.
- The global evolution of mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.Journal of affective disorders · 2022Pooled it
- The dynamics of loneliness: A longitudinal exploration of transitions in Japan across the COVID-19 period, 2020-2024.PloS one · 2026Article
- An integrative review of loneliness and quality of life in older adults who lived alone during COVID-19: considerations for supporting reconnection.BMC geriatrics · 2025Review
- Predictors of Loneliness and Psychological Distress in Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic: National Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2025Article
- Experiences of hospice staff beyond the frontlines during COVID-19: A qualitative secondary analysis study.Palliative care and social practice · 2025Article
- The association of financial resources and loneliness among older adults during a state of emergency.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Pandemic Loneliness in Healthcare Workers. Does It Predict Later Psychological Distress?Psychological reports · 2024Article
- Reducing Loneliness and Improving Social Support among Older Adults through Different Modalities of Personal Voice Assistants.Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The Impact of Interaction Time and Verbal Engagement with Personal Voice Assistants on Alleviating Loneliness among Older Adults: An Exploratory Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Factors associated with loneliness in Latin-American family care partners during the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- How loneliness linked to anxiety and depression: a network analysis based on Chinese university students.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Maternal Social Loneliness Detection Using Passive Sensing Through Continuous Monitoring in Everyday Settings: Longitudinal Study.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- The Buffering Role of Self-compassion in the Association Between Loneliness with Depressive Symptoms: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study Among Older Adults Living in Residential Care Homes During COVID-19.International journal of mental health and addiction · 2023Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Older People's Loneliness: Findings from a Longitudinal Study between 2019 and 2021 among Older Home-Dwellers in Finland.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2023Article
- Changes in social isolation and loneliness prevalence during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan: The JACSIS 2020-2021 study.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Psychological impact of COVID-19: A cross-lagged network analysis from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging COVID-19 database.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Prevalence and correlates of loneliness, perceived and objective social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence from a representative survey in Germany.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2022Article
- Longitudinal changes in mental health following the COVID-19 lockdown: Results from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe.Annals of epidemiology · 2022Article
- Psychosocial Determinants of Loneliness in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic-Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The precautionary measures and uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic have serious psychological impacts on peoples' mental health. We used longitudinal data from Hiroshima University to investigate loneliness before and during the pandemic among older and younger people in Japan. We provide evidence that loneliness among both older and younger people increased considerably during the pandemic. Although loneliness among younger people is more pervasive, the magnitude of increase in loneliness during the pandemic is higher among older people. Our logit regression analysis shows that age, subjective health status, and feelings of depression are strongly associated with loneliness before and during the pandemic. Moreover, household income and financial satisfaction are associated with loneliness among older people during the pandemic while gender, marital status, living condition, and depression are associated with loneliness among younger people during the pandemic. The evidence of increasing loneliness during the pandemic is concerning for a traditionally well-connected and culturally collectivist society such as Japan. As loneliness has a proven connection with both physical and mental health, we suggest immediate policy interventions to provide mental health support for lonely people so they feel more cared for, secure, and socially connected.
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