Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41494551›Full record

ArticleJournal of affective disorders2026

Cognitive sequala of loneliness in long COVID: Differential associations by loneliness subtypes.

Leah H Rubin, Alba Azola, Moka Yoo-Jeong, Raha M Dastgheyb, Rebecca Easter, Ana Ehrenspeck, Jennifer M Coughlin, Tracy D Vannorsdall, Rebecca T Veenhuis, Tracey E Wilson

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Article in Journal of affective disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Leah H RubinDepartment of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America; Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America; Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America. Electronic address: lrubin@jhu.edu.
Alba AzolaDepartment of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America; Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America.
Moka Yoo-JeongSchool of Nursing, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States of America.
Raha M DastgheybDepartment of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America.
Rebecca EasterDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America.
Ana EhrenspeckDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America.
Jennifer M CoughlinDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America; Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States of America.
Tracy D VannorsdallDepartment of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America.
Rebecca T VeenhuisDepartment of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America; Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America.
Tracey E WilsonDepartment of Community Health Sciences, Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, NY, United States of America.

Funding

Therapeutic CoreP30MH075673 · NIMH · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Barbara Stauch Slusher · 2006 to 2026
$33.2M
Blood brain barrier integrity and immune dynamics contributing to neuropsychiatric sequela in COVID long-haulersRF1MH133411 · NIMH · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI RUBIN, LEAH HELANE, VEENHUIS, REBECCA TERILLI · 2023 to 2023
$2.9M
NIMH NIH HHS P30 MH075673NIMH NIH HHS RF1 MH133411
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND/

objectiveLoneliness is a risk factor for cognitive decline in aging and other clinical populations, but its role in long COVID (LC) remains poorly understood. Individuals with LC may be particularly vulnerable to loneliness due to debilitating, persistent symptoms and reduced functioning. We examined associations between overall loneliness and cognition in LC versus recovered controls, and whether loneliness subtypes (social, emotional) differentially relate to cognitive function.

methodsIndividuals meeting 2024 National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine criteria (NASEM) for LC and reporting at least one neuropsychiatric symptom (n = 120), along with recovered controls (n = 51), completed the 6-item De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale and a cognitive test battery. Correlation analyses, corrected for false discovery rate, identified bivariate loneliness-cognition associations. Significant correlations were followed by age-adjusted regressions using residualized loneliness scores, which excluded variance shared with depression and social isolation.

resultsLC participants reported higher overall, emotional, and social loneliness than controls. In bivariate analyses, greater overall and emotional loneliness were associated with more subjective cognitive complaints and poorer verbal fluency in the full sample and LC group, and with cognitive complaints and poorer verbal memory in controls. In adjusted models, residual overall and emotional loneliness remained significantly associated with fluency in LC and the full sample, and with memory in controls. Associations with cognitive complaints did not persist. Social loneliness showed weaker and inconsistent associations.

conclusionOverall and emotional loneliness are independently linked to objective cognitive difficulties. Findings highlight emotional loneliness as a potential target for cognitive intervention in LC and recovered individuals.

Indexed as

Cognitive DysfunctionCOVID-19LonelinessAgedCognitionFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeuropsychological TestsSocial IsolationCognitionEmotional lonelinessLonelinessLong COVIDSocial Loneliness

Identifiers

PMID41494551
PMCPMC12954788

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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.