Adolescent Loneliness during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Pre-Pandemic Risk Factors.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic is a global mental health crisis that disproportionately impacts adolescents. Loneliness is a particularly salient pandemic psychosocial outcome to understand; however, research to date on this outcome is sparse and largely cross-sectional. In response, we examined pre-pandemic risk factors for pandemic loneliness. Further, we examined how risk may differ based on key demographics, and whether mediation or moderation models best explained potential disparities in experiencing loneliness. Self-reported, pre-pandemic mental health, trauma exposure, and family conflict survey data were collected at Wave 1 in a diverse sample of 369 adolescents (54.5% female, 45.5% male; 30.1% White; 30.9% Black; 18.4% Hispanic; M_age = 15.04; SD _age  = 

SUBMITTER: Thakur H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9589684 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature