Psychological correlates of perceived loneliness in college students before and during the COVID-19 stay-at-home period: a longitudinal study.
BMC Psychol
; 11(1): 60, 2023 Mar 06.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2255529
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Loneliness is increasingly acknowledged as a serious public health issue. This longitudinal study aimed to assess the extent to which psychological distress and alexithymia can predict loneliness among Italian college students before and one year after the COVID-19 outbreak.METHODS:
A convenience sample of 177 psychology college students were recruited. Loneliness (UCLA), alexithymia (TAS-20), anxiety symptoms (GAD-7), depressive symptoms (PHQ-9), and somatic symptoms (PHQ-15) were assessed before the COVID-19 outbreak and one year after the spread of COVID-19 worldwide.RESULTS:
After controlling for baseline loneliness, students with high levels of loneliness during lockdown showed worsening psychological distress and alexithymic traits over time. Suffering from depressive symptoms before COVID-19 and the aggravation of alexithymic traits independently predicted 41% of perceived loneliness during the COVID-19 outbreak.CONCLUSIONS:
College students with higher levels of depression and alexithymic traits both before and one year after the lockdown were more at risk of suffering from perceived loneliness and may constitute the target sample for psychological support and intervention.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
BMC Psychol
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S40359-023-01099-1
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