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Review
. 2023 Jan 31;10(2):279.
doi: 10.3390/children10020279.

Loneliness and Well-Being in Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Ann H Farrell  1 , Irene Vitoroulis  2 , Mollie Eriksson  3 , Tracy Vaillancourt  2   4
Affiliations
Review

Loneliness and Well-Being in Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Ann H Farrell et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

Concerns have been raised about the loneliness and well-being of children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The extent to which the ongoing pandemic has impacted loneliness and the association between loneliness and well-being is unclear. Therefore, a systematic review of empirical studies on the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted to examine the (1) prevalence of loneliness in children and adolescents, (2) associations between loneliness and indicators of well-being, and (3) moderators of these associations. Five databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycInfo, Web of Science, ERIC) were searched from 1 January 2020 to 28 June 2022 and 41 studies met our inclusion criteria (cross-sectional: n = 30; longitudinal: n = 11; registered on PROSPERO: CRD42022337252). Cross-sectional prevalence rates of pandemic loneliness varied, with some finding that over half of children and adolescents experienced at least moderate levels of loneliness. Longitudinal results reflected significant mean increases in loneliness compared to pre-pandemic levels. Cross-sectional results indicated that higher levels of loneliness were significantly associated with poorer well-being, including higher depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, gaming addiction, and sleep problems. Longitudinal associations between loneliness and well-being were more complex than cross-sectional associations, varying by assessment timing and factors in the statistical analyses. There was limited diversity in study designs and samples, preventing a thorough examination of moderating characteristics. Findings highlight a broader challenge with child and adolescent well-being that predates the pandemic and the need for future research to examine underrepresented populations across multiple timepoints.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; adolescents; anxiety; children; depression; loneliness; mental health; social isolation; systematic review; well-being.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no known conflict of interest. A version of this study was authored by the research team and submitted as a Research Report to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). This report was also presented at SSHRC’s Emerging Asocial Society Knowledge Synthesis Grants Virtual Forum 2022.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA Flow Diagram for Systematic Review Study Selection. Note. PRISMA = Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. From Page et al. [14].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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