Hysing Mari, Petrie Keith J, Harvey Allison G, Lønning Kari-Jussie, Sivertsen Børge
Department of Psychosocial Science, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Clin Psychol Eur. 2023 Sep 29;5(3):e10483. doi: 10.32872/cpe.10483. eCollection 2023 Sep.
There is evidence of increasing levels of loneliness in Norwegian young people before the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not clear how the COVID-19 pandemic, and the associated necessary restrictions, impacted on these trends.
To examine how loneliness in young people changed across the pandemic, how loneliness relates to demographic characteristics and how different pandemic restrictions impacted loneliness.
We analyzed data from three waves of a Norwegian national higher education student survey (the SHoT-study). Data was examined from 2018 from a total of 49,836 students, 2021 from 62,212 students, and from 2022 from 53,362 (response rates 31-35%). Loneliness was measured by "The Three-Item Loneliness Scale" (T-ILS).
There was a sharp increase in loneliness from 2018 to 2021, and a reduction in levels of loneliness in 2022, although at increased levels compared to prior to the pandemic. Females consistently report higher levels of loneliness than males, with a larger difference during the peak of the pandemic. There were higher rates of loneliness in geographical regions with higher COVID rates and greater pandemic-related restrictions during 2021. Loneliness was lower among students reporting more days on campus in 2021 and for those with lectures on campus in 2022, both with dose-response associations.
Loneliness is a major public health problem among young adults in higher education. Loneliness increased during the pandemic and has decreased but is still not back to pre-pandemic levels. The results suggest the importance of open campuses and in-person lectures, for increased social connectedness among young people.
有证据表明，在新冠疫情之前，挪威年轻人的孤独感在不断增加。目前尚不清楚新冠疫情及其相关的必要限制措施对这些趋势产生了怎样的影响。
研究年轻人的孤独感在疫情期间如何变化，孤独感与人口统计学特征之间的关系，以及不同的疫情限制措施如何影响孤独感。
我们分析了挪威全国高等教育学生调查（SHoT研究）三波的数据。数据来自2018年的49836名学生、2021年的62212名学生以及2022年的53362名学生（回复率为31%-35%）。孤独感通过“三项孤独量表”（T-ILS）进行测量。
从2018年到2021年，孤独感急剧上升，2022年孤独感水平有所下降，尽管与疫情前相比仍处于较高水平。女性始终报告的孤独感水平高于男性，在疫情高峰期差异更大。2021年，新冠感染率较高且与疫情相关限制措施较多的地理区域，孤独感发生率更高。2021年报告在校园天数较多的学生以及2022年有校园讲座的学生中，孤独感较低，两者均存在剂量反应关联。
孤独感是高等教育中青年成年人面临的一个主要公共卫生问题。疫情期间孤独感增加，虽有所下降但仍未恢复到疫情前水平。结果表明开放校园和面对面授课对于增强年轻人的社会联系具有重要意义。
