A Longitudinal Study of Loneliness Before the End of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Trajectories, Predictors, and Impact on Chinese Adolescent Mental Health

作者：Jingyi Wang, Wei Zhang, Peige Song, Tingting Wang, Ye Yao, Yun Chen, Haijiang Lin, Xiaoqi Yang, Xiaoxiao Chen, Chaowei Fu · 发表于：Psychology Research and Behavior Management · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.2147/prbm.s484113 · 被引用次数：4 · 研究领域：COVID-19 and Mental Health、Health disparities and outcomes、Resilience and Mental Health

Background: COVID-19 threatened global health, however little is known about the long-term courses of loneliness and their effect on mental health in adolescents. This study aimed to explore the trajectories of loneliness among adolescents in Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China, during the last phase of the pandemic. We also aimed to identify risk factors in each loneliness course and the impact of loneliness on emotional problems, peer problems, hyperactivity and conduct problems. Methods: The study employed multistage cluster sampling to collect four waves of data from 2347 Chinese adolescents (average baseline age of 14.7 years) covering a period of 20 months (October 2021 - May 2023). The UCLA 3-Item Loneliness Scale and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were utilized to assess loneliness and mental health problems, respectively. Growth mixture modelling was employed to identify latent classes of loneliness trajectories. Associated risk factors were investigated using multinomial logistic regression model. Mixed-effects logistic regression models were constructed to examine the long-term impact of loneliness classes on mental health outcomes. Results: The overall percentage of loneliness increased from 22.9% at baseline to 32.2% at the fourth wave in our sample. Three classes of loneliness were identified: Decreasing Low Loneliness (58.71%), Increasing Medium Loneliness (36.52%), and Increasing High Loneliness (4.77%). Risk factors for poorer loneliness trajector...