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. 2020 Aug:290:113117.
doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113117. Epub 2020 May 23.

Loneliness: A signature mental health concern in the era of COVID-19

William D S Killgore  1 , Sara A Cloonan  2 , Emily C Taylor  2 , Natalie S Dailey  2
Affiliations

Loneliness: A signature mental health concern in the era of COVID-19

William D S Killgore et al. Psychiatry Res. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most communities in the United States imposed stay-at-home orders to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus, potentially leading to chronic social isolation. During the third week of shelter-in-place guidelines, 1,013 U.S. adults completed the UCLA Loneliness Scale-3 and Public Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Loneliness was elevated, with 43% of respondents scoring above published cutoffs, and was strongly associated with greater depression and suicidal ideation. Loneliness is a critical public health concern that must be considered during the social isolation efforts to combat the pandemic.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interests None.

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