The isolation necessary to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can give rise to anxiety, especially for lonely people who often feel upset without others' company. Although isolated from others, people can still receive support from others, which might lower their COVID-19 anxiety. To examine the relationship between loneliness, perceived social support, and anxiety, we measured 222 Chinese participants' (54.50% female, M age = 31.53, SD = 8.17) trait loneliness, chronic anxiety before the outbreak, COVID-19 anxiety at the peak and decline stages of COVID-19, and their perceived social support across the three time points. The results showed that people's perceived social support dramatically increased from the pre-pandemic to the peak COVID-19 stage, and remained stable during the decline of COVID-19 stage. In contrast, COVID-19 anxiety decreased from the peak to the decline stage. Further, perceived social support consistently moderated the relationship between loneliness with both chronic anxiety and COVID-19 anxiety. The current study provides initial evidence that perceived social support provides protection for lonely people in daily life as well as during unexpected disasters, which will contribute to finding ways to alleviate lonely people's anxiety during this global health crisis.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic threatens human beings' livelihoods and mental health, which lowers their well-being and gives rise to anxiety. This study examines whether there is a causal relationship (and, if so, in which direction) between people's well-being and COVID-19 anxiety. Two hundred and twenty-two participants (54.50% female, M age = 31.53, SD = 8.17) from 26 provinces of China completed measures of subjective well-being (SWB) and COVID-19 anxiety at three key nodes of the development of COVID-19 in China. The results showed that people's SWB and COVID-19 anxiety fluctuated with the peak (T1), decline (T2), and trough stages (T3) of the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the cross-lagged analysis showed that the participants' SWB at T0 (pre-pandemic stage; the base level of SWB) and T1 could significantly predict their COVID-19 anxiety at T1 and T2 respectively. However, SWB at T2 was not associated with the COVID-19 anxiety at T3. Furthermore, COVID-19 anxiety could not predict subsequent SWB from T1 to T3. The current findings contribute to clarifying the causal relationship between well-being and anxiety through the development of epidemics, as well as finding ways to alleviate people's COVID-19 anxiety.

The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has pervasive implications for the well-being of people, especially for the social withdrawn individuals. The present study examined changes of well-being among people in distinct subgroups of social withdrawal – shyness, unsociability, and social avoidance –in different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic using six-wave longitudinal data in China ( N = 222; 54.50% female). Results showed that, in general, well-being sharply decreased from the initial phase to the peak phase of the pandemic, but steadily recovered after the peak phase. People in different withdrawal groups displayed different levels and trajectories of well-being during a period of six months. The current study has implications for developing targeted interventions for vulnerable people in public health crisis.

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