Stress, Loneliness, and Quality of Life in Emerging Adults During COVID-19

• In Event: Poster Session 05
  In Poster Session: PS 05 Topic - Social, Emotional, Personality

Abstract

In early 2020, the emergence of the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus initiated a near-exponential outbreak of the COVID-19 disease worldwide. By March 2020, the outbreak was characterized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2020) and a national emergency by President Donald Trump (White House, 2020). States nationwide soon implemented physical (social) distancing protocols and closures of schools and nonessential businesses (Lee, 2020). While these measures helped control COVID-19 transmission, concern exists of an accompanying rise in loneliness as daily routines and social interactions are drastically interrupted.

On its own, loneliness is a strong risk factor of morbidity and mortality (Cacioppo et al., 2014), with personality characteristics such as neuroticism correlating strongly (Wang, 2018). Though some recent studies have not found overall changes in loneliness due to social distancing, stress associated with social distancing may predict loneliness and may further differ among individuals (Luchetti et al., 2020). In particular, emerging adults may be more vulnerable to the effects of loneliness due to the hallmark transitions and instabilities of this period (Tanner, 2011). The current study examined loneliness in emerging adults during the height of statewide “stay at home” orders in the United States, as well as individual differences in personality, COVID-19-related news consumption, stress, and quality of life.

In late April and May of 2020, emerging adults (N=679, Mage=23.26 years) completed an online survey consisting of demographic questions and the Short version of the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2-S; Soto & John, 2017). Participants were then asked to report any changes in employment and/or living arrangements before and after March 15, 2020, and how often they watched news regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey also contained items from the Health-Related Quality of Life Measure (HRQOL-14; CDC, 1995), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen et al., 1983), the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1997), and the UCLA Loneliness Scale-Version 3 (LS3; Russell, 1996).

Emerging adults who watched COVID-19-related news reported feeling lonelier, with news consumption predicting feelings of loneliness. Those who had recently lost a job also reported higher loneliness. Interestingly, individuals who had moved in with someone else due to the pandemic reported higher stress. After controlling for neuroticism, there was a significant indirect effect of reported stress on depression through loneliness (see Figure 1). A significant indirect effect of stress was also found on how frequently poor health interrupted usual activities via loneliness when neuroticism was controlled for, b=.59, SE=.18, 95%CI[.24,.96]. Similarly, higher levels of stress predicted higher levels of loneliness, which in turn predicted how often participants reported feeling anxious (see Figure 2) and feeling healthy, b=-.97, SE=.21, 95%CI[-1.41,-.57]. Significant indirect effects of stress were also found on daily junk food consumption, b=-.11, SE=.18, 95%CI[-.46,.23], and maintenance of self-care, b=-.24, SE=.20, 95%CI[-.63,.14]. Overall, results of the current study provide insight into the acute effects of loneliness on quality of life and depression in emerging adults within the novel context of the COVID-19 pandemic, wherein future research may then identify ways to buffer these negative effects.

Authors

• Michelle Bland, The University of Texas at Arlington
  Presenting Author

• Abigail Heller, University of Texas at Arlington
  Non-Presenting Author

• Lauri A Jensencampbell, University of Texas at Arlington
  Non-Presenting Author