Emotional, Social, and Existential Loneliness Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Prevalence and Risk Factors Among Dutch Older Adults.

Abstract

Objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, with its accompanying isolation measures, has led to increasing loneliness among older adults. In this study, we examine whether the increased level of loneliness observed in the Netherlands persisted into the fall of 2020, whether there were differences in emotional, social, and existential loneliness, and whether the presence of well-known risk factors for loneliness also led to further increases in loneliness during the pandemic.

Methods: Data were obtained from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, with observations of 404 community-dwelling older adults aged 74-96 years from 2019 and fall 2020.

Results: Loneliness increased between 2019 and 2020, and the increase was particularly high for emotional loneliness (partial η 2 = 0.19). Having a partner and a high mastery and good physical functioning before the pandemic provided some protection against an increase in loneliness.

Discussion: Loneliness increased for almost all older people. Targeted policies can reduce the negative impact of vulnerabilities. Efforts to combat loneliness during the pandemic should focus not only on groups traditionally considered vulnerable, such as socially isolated people, but also on older adults with a partner and who have daily contact with others.