Loneliness, but not social distancing, is associated with the incidence of suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 outbreak: a longitudinal study.
J Affect Disord
; 290: 52-60, 2021 07 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1213303
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Although social distancing is necessary to decrease COVID-19 dissemination, it might also be associated with suicidal ideation. Therefore, we analyzed the impact of social distancing and loneliness in suicidal ideation.METHODS:
We performed two waves of a snowball sample, web-based survey in Brazil (W1 from May 6th to June 6th, 2020; W2 from June 6th to July 6th, 2020). We assessed whether risk factors related to social relationships (loneliness, living alone, not leaving home, and the number of days practicing social distancing) at W1 were associated with suicidal ideation at W1 and W2 using multiple regression models. Analyses were adjusted for sociodemographic, mental health, and lifestyle variables.RESULTS:
A total of 1,674 (18-75 years old; 86.5% females) were included in our longitudinal sample. Living alone (OR 1.16; 95%CI = 1.03 - 1.30; p=0.015), number of days practicing social distancing (OR 1.002; 95%CI = 1.000 - 1.004; p=0.027), and loneliness (OR 1.49; 95%CI = 1.32 - 1.68; p<0.001) were associated with suicidal ideation in the cross-sectional analysis of W1. Only loneliness (OR= 2.12; 95%CI = 1.06 - 4.24; p = 0.033) remained significant as a risk factor to suicidal ideation in the longitudinal analysis between both waves.LIMITATION:
Snowball, convenience sample design limits outcome estimates. Assessments were not objectively performed.CONCLUSION:
Loneliness was consistently associated with the incidence of suicidal ideation, while other variables, such as living alone, not leaving home, and the number of days practicing social distancing, were not. Measures to overcome loneliness are therefore necessary to reduce suicidal ideation during pandemics.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
/
Loneliness
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Brazil
Language:
English
Journal:
J Affect Disord
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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