TY - JOUR

T1 - Loneliness among Middle-Aged and Older Middle-Aged Adults in Russia (Saint Petersburg) before and during COVID-19 Pandemic

AU - Strizhitskaya, Olga

AU - Petrash, Marina

AU - Murtazina, Inna

AU - Vartanyan, Gayane

AU - Shchukin, Anton

N1 - Funding Information: Participants were recruited via community (information was given at social meetings) and social networks (like Facebook and Vkontakte). There was a preliminary talk where participants were explained the aims of the study, its focus, main procedures and their rights. The talk was performed in person or via conference means of communication. The talk was individual. No incentives were given to the participants. Participation in the study was anonymous, and no personal data such as names, phone numbers or addresses were collected. The questionnaires were distributed in person and via online forms (google forms). The links to google forms were sent only to participants who had completed the preliminary talk and given their consent to participate in the study. The research design, procedures, measures and sampling were approved by the review board of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project No. 19-513-18015). Informed consent was obtained from all the participants and the Helsinki declaration was respected. Our research questions were: Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2021/9/20

Y1 - 2021/9/20

N2 - Loneliness has been considered a major challenge since long before the pandemic. Changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic included modifications in social communications and activities. Thus, it was expected that loneliness would increase during the pandemic. The first studies of loneliness during the pandemic revealed inconsistent results. We hypothesized that physical isolation led to changes in the quality of relationships; thus, loneliness trends could be different from those predicted. For our study we used methods to measure loneliness: the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale (SELSA-S) for Adults and Older Adults; the Multidimensional Inventory of Loneliness Experience; and demographic data. Participants were middle-aged and older middle-aged adults (n = 457) aged 35-59 (M = 45.5, SD = 6.88, 35.4% males). Participants came from two studies: Study 1 consisted of 280 participants aged 35-59 (M = 44.8; SD = 6.93; 29.6% males), the study was conducted before the pandemic in late 2019; participants in Study 2 were adults (n = 177) aged 35-59 (M = 46.5; SD = 6.68; 44.6% males), data were collected in the fall of 2020. The results did not confirm increase in loneliness; moreover, participants reported lower scores of loneliness in some domains. Regression analyses showed that general experience of loneliness was predicted by different loneliness characteristics in pre-pandemic and pandemic age groups. We found some similar mechanisms that were activated within different situations. Our results confirmed the complex nature of loneliness, they argue that pandemic effects were not limited to increase in loneliness and that the mechanism of loneliness can adjust to environmental factors.

AB - Loneliness has been considered a major challenge since long before the pandemic. Changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic included modifications in social communications and activities. Thus, it was expected that loneliness would increase during the pandemic. The first studies of loneliness during the pandemic revealed inconsistent results. We hypothesized that physical isolation led to changes in the quality of relationships; thus, loneliness trends could be different from those predicted. For our study we used methods to measure loneliness: the Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale (SELSA-S) for Adults and Older Adults; the Multidimensional Inventory of Loneliness Experience; and demographic data. Participants were middle-aged and older middle-aged adults (n = 457) aged 35-59 (M = 45.5, SD = 6.88, 35.4% males). Participants came from two studies: Study 1 consisted of 280 participants aged 35-59 (M = 44.8; SD = 6.93; 29.6% males), the study was conducted before the pandemic in late 2019; participants in Study 2 were adults (n = 177) aged 35-59 (M = 46.5; SD = 6.68; 44.6% males), data were collected in the fall of 2020. The results did not confirm increase in loneliness; moreover, participants reported lower scores of loneliness in some domains. Regression analyses showed that general experience of loneliness was predicted by different loneliness characteristics in pre-pandemic and pandemic age groups. We found some similar mechanisms that were activated within different situations. Our results confirmed the complex nature of loneliness, they argue that pandemic effects were not limited to increase in loneliness and that the mechanism of loneliness can adjust to environmental factors.

KW - Adulthood

KW - COVID-19

KW - Emotional loneliness

KW - Isolation

KW - Loneliness

KW - Positive loneliness

KW - Solitude

KW - Pandemics

KW - Humans

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Male

KW - Russia

KW - SARS-CoV-2

KW - Female

KW - Aged

KW - loneliness

KW - HEALTH

KW - LIFE

KW - solitude

KW - TIME

KW - isolation

KW - adulthood

KW - CONSEQUENCES

KW - EXPERIENCE

KW - positive loneliness

KW - emotional loneliness

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85115196054&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/cbe4ef39-5424-3b36-ba98-0e8d61fda1ce/

U2 - 10.3390/ijerph18189889

DO - 10.3390/ijerph18189889

M3 - статья

C2 - 34574812

AN - SCOPUS:85115196054

VL - 18

JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

SN - 1661-7827

IS - 18

M1 - 9889

ER -