ArticleThe Australian journal of social issues2022
Beware the "loneliness gap"? Examining emerging inequalities and long-term risks of loneliness and isolation emerging from COVID-19.
Article in The Australian journal of social issues, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 48 citations in OpenAlex.
- Belongingness and loneliness in higher education: a meta-analysis of pre- and post-pandemic trends.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Social isolation and social connectedness among young adult cancer survivors: A systematic review.Cancer · 2023Pooled it
- Comparing Perceptions of Technology-Based Interactions Among Depressed Older Adults Participating in a Randomized Controlled Trial During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Trial
- The Relationship Between Loneliness and Sleep Disturbances: The Roles of Community Resilience, Social Support, Anxiety, and Substance Use Coping.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Multifactorial determinants of health status: insights from the MEDIET4ALL large-scale survey on eco-sociodemographic, psychological, and lifestyle (diet, physical activity, and sleep) factors.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- The Scent of Intimacy: Exploring the Associations Between Intimacy, Disgust, and Olfactory Ability.Archives of sexual behavior · 2025Article
- Friendlessness and loneliness: Cultural frames for making sense of disconnection.Canadian review of sociology = Revue canadienne de sociologie · 2025Article
- Loneliness in older primary care patients and its relationship to physical and mental health-related quality of life.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2024Article
- The use of technology to address loneliness and social isolation among older adults: the role of social care providers.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Lessons Learned during a Rapidly Evolving COVID-19 Pandemic: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-Led Mental Health and Wellbeing Responses Are Key.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Beware the "loneliness gap"? Examining emerging inequalities and long-term risks of loneliness and isolation emerging from COVID-19.The Australian journal of social issues · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Emerging evidence suggests COVID lockdowns have not only increased the social problem of loneliness but widened the 'loneliness gap' between the most and least lonely people. Qualitative investigation can reveal why this gap might have increased, for whom, and whether the loneliness gap will remain long term. Using multi-wave qualitative survey data conducted during Australia's 2020 lockdown period and beyond, we examine personal experiences of interaction transitioning out of lockdown. We find substantial and uneven impacts of COVID lasting well beyond lockdown. Participants reported heightened loneliness attributable to: physical isolation, health anxieties, ceased activities, reduced connection quality, and poor motivation. COVID also created new interactive difficulties for singles, those with physical and mental disabilities, their carers, and those with low social capital. There was also reported 'pruning' of social networks (i.e. reduced bridging, increased bonding social capital), and evidence that increased digital interaction did not substitute for lost physical contact. Younger people also experienced isolating COVID-induced life disruptions (e.g. travel, university attendance etc). Findings suggest COVID has increased potential long-term inequalities in loneliness, highlight the post COVID risks faced by vulnerable groups, and suggest caution in advocating digital solutions as a panacea for diminished physical interaction in the post-pandemic world.
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Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.