Increased experiences of loneliness during the COVID‐19 pandemic, emotional distress and changes in perceived physical and mental health: A structural equation model
Abstract Aim To explore how experiences of increased loneliness during the COVID‐19 pandemic affected emotional distress and changes in perceptions of physical and mental health. Design Cross‐sectional study. Methods Data from the Socio‐Economic Impacts of Covid‐19 Survey, a national survey administ...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2024-03-01
|
| Series: | Nursing Open |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.2125 |
| _version_ | 1797235354751729664 |
|---|---|
| author | JoAnn Jabbari Stephen Roll Amy McQueen Nancy Ridenour |
| author_facet | JoAnn Jabbari Stephen Roll Amy McQueen Nancy Ridenour |
| author_sort | JoAnn Jabbari |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Aim To explore how experiences of increased loneliness during the COVID‐19 pandemic affected emotional distress and changes in perceptions of physical and mental health. Design Cross‐sectional study. Methods Data from the Socio‐Economic Impacts of Covid‐19 Survey, a national survey administered to 5033 adults in August and September 2020 in the United States, was utilized in this study. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the associations between increased experiences of loneliness during the pandemic, emotional distress and changes in perceptions of physical and mental health. Results Among the 47% of participants who reported increased experiences of loneliness during the pandemic, 31% reported a poorer perceived change in mental health and 12% reported a poorer perceived change in physical health. Increased experiences of loneliness during the pandemic were significantly associated with emotional distress and poorer perceived mental and physical health changes. Emotional distress significantly mediated the effect between increased experiences of loneliness during the pandemic and poorer perceived mental and physical health changes. These findings highlight the importance of producing preventative actions to combat increased loneliness and emotional distress during and after future pandemics in order to improve health perceptions, which can result in negative health outcomes over time. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T16:46:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bcc2800cce544faab498c56e91d62e9f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-1058 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T16:46:38Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nursing Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-bcc2800cce544faab498c56e91d62e9f2024-03-29T07:12:29ZengWileyNursing Open2054-10582024-03-01113n/an/a10.1002/nop2.2125Increased experiences of loneliness during the COVID‐19 pandemic, emotional distress and changes in perceived physical and mental health: A structural equation modelJoAnn Jabbari0Stephen Roll1Amy McQueen2Nancy Ridenour3Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine St. Louis Missouri USAGeorge Warren Brown School of Social Work Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis Missouri USAWashington University in St. Louis School of Medicine St. Louis Missouri USAGoldfarb School of Nursing, Barnes‐Jewish College St. Louis Missouri USAAbstract Aim To explore how experiences of increased loneliness during the COVID‐19 pandemic affected emotional distress and changes in perceptions of physical and mental health. Design Cross‐sectional study. Methods Data from the Socio‐Economic Impacts of Covid‐19 Survey, a national survey administered to 5033 adults in August and September 2020 in the United States, was utilized in this study. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the associations between increased experiences of loneliness during the pandemic, emotional distress and changes in perceptions of physical and mental health. Results Among the 47% of participants who reported increased experiences of loneliness during the pandemic, 31% reported a poorer perceived change in mental health and 12% reported a poorer perceived change in physical health. Increased experiences of loneliness during the pandemic were significantly associated with emotional distress and poorer perceived mental and physical health changes. Emotional distress significantly mediated the effect between increased experiences of loneliness during the pandemic and poorer perceived mental and physical health changes. These findings highlight the importance of producing preventative actions to combat increased loneliness and emotional distress during and after future pandemics in order to improve health perceptions, which can result in negative health outcomes over time.https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.2125COVID‐19emotional distresspandemic lonelinessperceived mental healthperceived physical health |
| spellingShingle | JoAnn Jabbari Stephen Roll Amy McQueen Nancy Ridenour Increased experiences of loneliness during the COVID‐19 pandemic, emotional distress and changes in perceived physical and mental health: A structural equation model Nursing Open COVID‐19 emotional distress pandemic loneliness perceived mental health perceived physical health |
| title | Increased experiences of loneliness during the COVID‐19 pandemic, emotional distress and changes in perceived physical and mental health: A structural equation model |
| title_full | Increased experiences of loneliness during the COVID‐19 pandemic, emotional distress and changes in perceived physical and mental health: A structural equation model |
| title_fullStr | Increased experiences of loneliness during the COVID‐19 pandemic, emotional distress and changes in perceived physical and mental health: A structural equation model |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increased experiences of loneliness during the COVID‐19 pandemic, emotional distress and changes in perceived physical and mental health: A structural equation model |
| title_short | Increased experiences of loneliness during the COVID‐19 pandemic, emotional distress and changes in perceived physical and mental health: A structural equation model |
| title_sort | increased experiences of loneliness during the covid 19 pandemic emotional distress and changes in perceived physical and mental health a structural equation model |
| topic | COVID‐19 emotional distress pandemic loneliness perceived mental health perceived physical health |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/nop2.2125 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT joannjabbari increasedexperiencesoflonelinessduringthecovid19pandemicemotionaldistressandchangesinperceivedphysicalandmentalhealthastructuralequationmodel AT stephenroll increasedexperiencesoflonelinessduringthecovid19pandemicemotionaldistressandchangesinperceivedphysicalandmentalhealthastructuralequationmodel AT amymcqueen increasedexperiencesoflonelinessduringthecovid19pandemicemotionaldistressandchangesinperceivedphysicalandmentalhealthastructuralequationmodel AT nancyridenour increasedexperiencesoflonelinessduringthecovid19pandemicemotionaldistressandchangesinperceivedphysicalandmentalhealthastructuralequationmodel |