Overview

The COVID-19 pandemic and measures aimed at its mitigation, such as physical distancing, have been discussed as risk factors for loneliness, which increases the risk of premature mortality and mental and physical health conditions. To ascertain whether loneliness has increased since the start of the pandemic, this study aimed to narratively and statistically synthesize relevant high-quality primary studies. To figure out whether the pandemic actually increased loneliness, the researchers reviewed 34 studies from four continents—primarily in North America and Europe—involving more than 200,000 total participants. All of the data came from long-term studies that measured participants’ levels of loneliness before the onset of the pandemic and again during the pandemic. The researchers found a small but significant increase in loneliness during the pandemic—about a 5 percent increase in the prevalence of loneliness across the individual studies, on average. However, not all groups experienced that increase. More research is needed on the factors that put some individuals and groups at higher risk of experiencing loneliness, whether the changes in loneliness were primarily due to alterations in the quality or the quantity of people’s social interactions, and whether those differed across subpopulations, such as students and older adults. Such studies could help researchers develop better targeted interventions to increase people’s amount of social interaction or to improve the quality of their close relationships.