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. 2021 Sep;31(3):678-691.
doi: 10.1111/jora.12648.

Fall From Grace: Increased Loneliness and Depressiveness Among Extraverted Youth During the German COVID-19 Lockdown

Philipp Alt  1 , Julia Reim  1   2 , Sabine Walper  1   2
Affiliations

Fall From Grace: Increased Loneliness and Depressiveness Among Extraverted Youth During the German COVID-19 Lockdown

Philipp Alt et al. J Res Adolesc. 2021 Sep.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has substantially affected young people's social and emotional life. Based on longitudinal data provided by 843 adolescents (57.3% female) of the German Family Panel (pairfam), we investigated effects of extraversion on changes in loneliness and depressiveness between 2018 and 2019 and the first German COVID-19 lockdown in the first half of 2020. Findings of latent change modeling show that highly extraverted adolescents experienced a larger rise in depressiveness, and a third of this total effect was mediated through increases in loneliness. These results contradict previous work evidencing lower depressiveness among extraverted youth and challenge the notion of extraversion as a mere protective factor. Under conditions of restricted access to others, this personality trait may become a burden.

Keywords: COVID-19; adolescence; depressiveness; extraversion; loneliness.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Simplified representation of final mediation model. Standardized coefficients are displayed. Rectangular variables indicate manifest variables, whereas oval variables indicate latent constructs. The (latent) change variables are indicated through Δ and the naming of the change variable reflects the direction of its mean. Analyses were controlled for sex. *p ≤ .05; **p ≤ .01. ***p ≤ .001.
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