Loneliness and Its Association With Social Media Use During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Abstract

Social distancing rules during the COVID-19 pandemic changed social interaction for many and increased the risk of loneliness in the general population. Social media use has been ambiguously related to loneliness, and associations may differ by age. The study aimed to examine loneliness and its association with social media use within different age groups during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia during April/May 2020, and 3,810 participants aged 18 years or above were recruited. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between social media use and social and emotional loneliness within separate age groups. Emotional loneliness was higher among young adults and among those who used social media several times daily. Adjusting by sociodemographic variables, using more types of social media was associated with lower social loneliness among the oldest participants, and with higher emotional loneliness among the youngest participants. Among middle-aged participants, using social media more frequently was associated with lower social loneliness. We found that the associations between social media use and loneliness varied by age. Older people’s engagement on social media may be a resource to reduce loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic. We observed higher levels of loneliness among high-frequent social media users of younger age.

For Better or for Worse? A Scoping Review of the Relationship between Internet Use and Mental Health in Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Two studies included social media use in their research [ 20 , 24 ]. The studies mostly touched on the social media status (user or non-user) and the frequency of using social media.…”

“…As shown in Table 3 , from seven quantitative studies, loneliness and depressive symptoms appeared to be the most typical mental health outcomes used by researchers. There were four studies that included loneliness [ 18 , 20 , 21 , 23 ] and four studies involved depressive symptoms [ 19 , 21 , 22 , 24 ] as a mental health outcome. The loneliness scale by de Jong Gierveld and van Tilburg and Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale were commonly used to measure loneliness and depressive symptoms.…”

“…Three quantitative studies summarised the individual differences in mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 20 , 23 , 24 ]. Bonsaksen and colleagues found that the older group (60 and above) had lower social and emotional loneliness levels than the younger age groups during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 20 ].…”

“…Three quantitative studies summarised the individual differences in mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 20 , 23 , 24 ]. Bonsaksen and colleagues found that the older group (60 and above) had lower social and emotional loneliness levels than the younger age groups during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 20 ]. These findings were similar to a study by Wetzel and colleagues when they found that people aged 60 and above had lower levels of loneliness and higher levels of social well-being than other younger age groups [ 23 ].…”

“…Furthermore, another study also proved that older people aged 65 and above were associated with lower depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation [ 24 ]. In terms of gender differences, Bonsaksen and colleagues reported that males had higher social and emotional loneliness [ 20 ]. In contrast, another study reported higher levels of loneliness among females [ 23 ].…”