The Social Determinants of Loneliness During COVID-19: Personal, Community, and Societal Predictors and Implications for Treatment

Abstract Objective The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically altered social determinants of health including work, education, connections, movement, and perceived control; loneliness was commonly experienced. This longitudinal study examined how at the personal (micro), community (meso), societal (macro) levels predicted during pandemic. Methods Participants were 2056 Australian adults surveyed up to three times over 18 months in 2020 2021. Multi-level mixed-effect regressions conducted predicting from baseline two follow-ups. Results Loneliness associated with numerous micro determinants: male gender, lifetime diagnosis a mental disorder, experience recent stressful event(s), low income, living alone or couples children, housing natural light, noise, major building defects. Lower resilience control life also greater loneliness. At meso level, reduced engagement groups, inner regional areas, neighbourhoods belongingness collective increased macro State/Territory residence. Conclusions Therapeutic initiatives must go beyond psychological intervention, recognise levels.