Socially Distant? Social Network Confidants, Loneliness, and Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Alex Bierman,Scott Schieman,Laura Upenieks

doi:10.1177/23294965211011591

Alex Bierman, Scott Schieman + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1177/23294965211011591

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Abstract

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many nations around the world instituted strict social distancing measures. Although necessary to deter the spread of the virus, these measures may also have had adverse health repercussions by increasing social isolation. Using a national longitudinal study from Canada, in which respondents were surveyed in March 2020 at the beginning of stay-at-home orders and again two months later in May, we show that, at baseline, loneliness was inversely associated with perceptions of self-rated health, and there was a beneficial indirect association between respondents’ number of social network confidants and perceived health through lower levels of loneliness. Between March and May, social network confidants decreased and loneliness increased; these changes were independent of each other and contributed to declines in self-rated health. Greater loneliness at baseline was also associated with declines in self-rated health. Our observations suggest that social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic impaired social connectedness, thereby resulting in declines in perceptions of health. We conclude by discussing several policy-related implications of our findings.

Highlights

IntroductionThis model locates loneliness as a key influence on health
Loneliness and HealthFigure 1 depicts our conceptual model for this study
We focus on self-rated health as an outcome because changes in loneliness during the pandemic are likely to have had acute detrimental consequences for health that would be reflected in perceived health

Summary

Introduction

This model locates loneliness as a key influence on health. The central role of loneliness as an evaluative construct leads loneliness to serve as a primary conduit for the effects of supportive social networks on perceptions of health (Uchino 2004). We begin by detailing the ramifications of loneliness for self-perceptions of health, giving special attention to the onset of social distancing measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We expand on these ideas, describing how social networks of close confidants will influence perceptions of health through loneliness, as well as how changes in the number of social network confidants during the pandemic may have negatively influenced perceptions of health through increased loneliness

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Discussion

Conclusion