Loneliness and Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Study Among Dutch Older Adults
Open accessAbstract
Objectives: With the spread of COVID-19, the Netherlands implemented a policy to keep citizens physically distanced. We hypothesize that consequent reduction in the frequency of social contacts, personal losses, and the experience of general threats in society reduced well-being. Methods: Data were collected from 1,679 Dutch community-dwelling participants aged 65–102 years comprising a longitudinal online panel. Social and emotional loneliness and mental health were measured in May 2020, that is, 2 months after the implementation of the measures, and earlier in October and November 2019. Results: In this pandemic, the loneliness of older people increased, but mental health remained roughly stable. The policy measures for physical distancing did not cause much social isolation but personal losses, worries about the pandemic, and a decline in trust in societal institutions were associated with increased mental health problems and especially emotional loneliness. Discussion: The consequences of long-term social isolation and well-being must be closely monitored.
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Loneliness increased in the target group during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Indeed, loneliness increased in our target group during the pandemic [49].”
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- Authors
- van Tilburg, T. G., Steinmetz, S., Stolte, E., van der Roest, H., & de Vries, D. H.
- Affiliations
- Department of Sociology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- University of Amsterdam (NL)
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
- Department on Aging, Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction, Trimbos Institute, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Department of Anthropology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Venue
- The Journals of Gerontology: Series B
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2020-08-05
- Volume
- 76
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- e249-e255
- ISSN
- 1079-5014 (ISSN-L)
- 1758-5368
- PMC
- PMC7454922
- OpenAlex
- W3045703442
- Cited by
- 690
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 53 · 2024: 84 · 2023: 131 · 2022: 201 · 2021: 177 · 2020: 23
- FWCI
- 53.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The Journals of Gerontology Series B (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VU Research Portal (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- SERVAL (Université de Lausanne) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- UvA-DARE (University of Amsterdam) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- IRIS (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (10150062010007)
- Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Aging, Health, and Disability
- Keywords
- loneliness, mental health, COVID-19 pandemic, older adults, social isolation, emotional loneliness, social contact, personal loss, well-being, community-dwelling older adults
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Communicable Disease Control, Female, Humans, Loneliness, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Mental Health, Netherlands, Social Isolation, Independent Living
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