Locked and lonely? A longitudinal assessment of loneliness before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway

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  • Thomas Hansen
    Department of Mental Health and Suicide, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
  • Thomas S. Nilsen
    Department of Health Studies, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
  • Baeksan Yu
    Department of Mental Health and Suicide, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
  • Marit Knapstad
    Department of Health Promotion, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
  • Jens Christoffer Skogen
    Department of Health Promotion, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
  • Øystein Vedaa
    Department of Health Promotion, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
  • Ragnhild Bang Nes
    Department of Mental Health and Suicide, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway

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<jats:sec><jats:title>Aims:</jats:title><jats:p> There are concerns that lockdown measures taken during the current COVID-19 pandemic lead to a rise in loneliness, especially in vulnerable groups. We explore trends in loneliness before and during the pandemic and differences across population subgroups. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods:</jats:title><jats:p> Data were collected via online questionnaires in June 2020 and four to eight months prior in two Norwegian counties ( N=10,740; 54% women; age 19–92 years). Baseline data come from the Norwegian Counties Public Health Survey (participation rate 46%, of which 59% took part in a COVID-19 follow-up study). </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results:</jats:title><jats:p> Overall loneliness was stable or falling during the lockdown. However, some subgroups, single individuals and older women, reported slightly increased loneliness during lockdown. Interestingly, individuals with low social support and high levels of psychological distress and loneliness before the pandemic experienced decreasing loneliness during the pandemic. </jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions:</jats:title><jats:p> Although data limitations preclude strong conclusions, our findings suggest that, overall, Norwegians seem to have managed the lockdown without alarming increases in loneliness. It is important to provide support and to continue investigating the psychological impact of the pandemic over time and across regions differentially affected by the pandemic. </jats:p></jats:sec>

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