Loneliness and Mental Health in Young People: Possible Effects of COVID-19 Lockdowns

School closures and sheltering at home in the COVID-19 pandemic isolate children and adolescents from peers, teachers, extended family, and community. In a survey performed during the pandemic, fully one third of adolescents reported high levels of loneliness. To determine whether measures for disease containment might portend future mental health problems, researchers performed a rapid review of studies focused on the relationship between loneliness and mental health in young people.

Generalized and social anxiety were also associated with isolation. Associations were found between isolation/loneliness and suicidal ideation, self-harm, and disordered-eating behaviors.

(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2020.05.009)