Depression and loneliness during COVID 19 restrictions in the United States, and their associations with frequency of social and sexual connections
Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of depression and loneliness during the US COVID 19 response, and examine their associations with frequency of social and sexual connections. Methods: We conducted an online cross sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of American adults (n=1010) aged 18 94, running from April 10 20, 2020. We assessed depressive symptoms (CES D 10 scale) loneliness (UCLA 3 Item Loneliness scale) and frequency of in person and remote social connections (4 items, e.g. hugging family member, video chats) and sexual connections (4 items, e.g. partnered sexual activity, dating app use) Results: One third of participants (32% reported depressive symptoms, and loneliness was high [mean (SD) 4.4 (1.7) Those with depressive symptoms were more likely to be women, age 20 29, unmarried, and low income. Frequent in person connections were associated with lower depression and loneliness; frequent remote connections were not. Conclusions: Depression and loneliness were elevated during the early US COVID 19 response. Those who maintained frequent in person, but not remote, social and sexual connections had better mental health outcomes. While COVID 19 social restrictions remain necessary, it will be critical to expand mental health services to serve those most at risk and identify effective ways of maintaining social and sexual connections from a distance.
medRxiv