Loneliness During Strict and Lifted Social Distancing Protocols Against the COVID-19 Pandemic

Description The aim of the present study is to investigate (a) changes in the levels of loneliness in the general adult population from a period of strict distancing protocols designed to impede transmission of the corona virus (T1) to a later period of lifted distancing protocols period (T2), (b) the risk and resilience factors for persistence in loneliness across these periods and (c) the associations between loneliness at T1 and changes in loneliness from T1 to T2 and changes in psychopathology symptoms from T1 to T2. An investigation of loneliness persistence in addition to its association with risk factors and the persistence of psychopathology provides a knowledge basis for employing interventions that protect the general public against increased distress and dysfunction during and after society's handling of pandemics.