ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
'It's Easily the Lowest I've Ever, Ever Got to': A Qualitative Study of Young Adults' Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Lockdowns in the UK.
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 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Unsuspectingly Vulnerable: A Rapid Evidence Assessment on the vulnerability of University Students to Criminal Exploitation.International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology · 2026Review
- Simulating COVID-19 lockdowns' impact on depressive symptoms in the northern Netherlands.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Students' attitudes and experiences toward mental health support services in Ireland: A qualitative study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young adults' mental health and beyond: a qualitative investigation nested within an ongoing general population cohort study.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2024Article
- Pathological buying on the rise? Compensative and compulsive buying in Poland in the pre- and (Post-)pandemic times.PloS one · 2024Article
- Generational, sex, and socioeconomic inequalities in mental and social wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: prospective longitudinal observational study of five UK cohorts.Psychological medicine · 2023Observational
- Liminality and insecurity: A qualitative study of young adults' vulnerabilities during the first twelve months of COVID-19 in Australia.SSM. Qualitative research in health · 2023Article
- Pandemic-related experiences, mental health symptoms, substance use, and relationship conflict among older adolescents and young adults from Manitoba, Canada.Psychiatry research · 2022Article
- Credibility and Involvement of Social Media in Education-Recommendations for Mitigating the Negative Effects of the Pandemic among High School Students.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- The Phenomenon of Social and Pastoral Service in Eastern Slovakia and Northwestern Czech Republic during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparison of Two Selected Units of Former Czechoslovakia in the Context of the Perspective of Positive Solutions.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Worldwide Perspective.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
(1) Background: Social connectivity is key to young people's mental health. Local assets facilitate social connection, but were largely inaccessible during the pandemic. This study consequently investigates the social isolation of young adults and their use of local assets during the COVID-19 lockdowns in the UK. (2) Methods: Fifteen semi-structured Zoom interviews were undertaken with adults aged 18-24 in the UK. Recruitment took place remotely, and transcripts were coded and analysed thematically. (3) Results: Digital assets were key to young people's social connectivity, but their use was associated with stress, increased screen time and negative mental health outcomes. The lockdowns impacted social capital, with young people's key peripheral networks being lost, yet close friendships being strengthened. Finally, young people's mental health was greatly affected by the isolation, but few sought help, mostly out of a desire to not overburden the NHS. (4) Conclusions: This study highlights the extent of the impact of the pandemic isolation on young people's social capital and mental health. Post-pandemic strategies targeting mental health system strengthening, social isolation and help-seeking behaviours are recommended.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.