Alleviating Loneliness During COVID-19: The Impact of Neighbour Cohesion and Social Connections in England

This paper explores the role of pre-pandemic levels of social interactions in alleviating the impact of mobility restrictions, implemented to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, on feelings of loneliness. Using individual-level data from the U.K. Household Longitudinal Study (U.K.HLS) on ’Understanding Society,’ we examine the correlation between loneliness and both neighborhood social cohesion and individual social networks, both before and during the pandemic. Our analysis reveals a protective role played by both social cohesion and social relations in mitigating the adverse effects of pandemic-related restrictions on loneliness. This highlights the crucial importance of fostering and sustaining social connections, even amid the challenges posed by the pandemic.

BELLO Piera;  DI NOVI Cinzia;  MARTINI Gianmaria;  STURARO Caterina; 

2024-05-15

ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC

JRC137659

0038-0121 (online),   

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0038012124001125?dgcid=author,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC137659,   

10.1016/j.seps.2024.101913 (online),