Impact of Longitudinal Social Support and Loneliness Trajectories on Mental Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic in France

Abstract

(1) Background: Little is known about how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted social support and loneliness over time and how this may predict subsequent mental health problems. This study aims to determine longitudinal trajectories of social support and loneliness in the French general population during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic and study whether variations in these trajectories are associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety; (2) Methods: Analyses were based on data from 681 French participants in the international COVID-19 Mental Health Study (COMET) study, collected at four periods of time between May 2020 and April 2021. Group-based trajectory modelling (GBTM) was used to determine social support and loneliness trajectories. Associations between the identified trajectories and symptoms of depression and anxiety, measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), were tested through multivariate linear regression models; (3) Results: Social support trajectories revealed four stable groups: ‘poor’ (17.0%), ‘moderate’ (42.4%), ‘strong’ (35.4%) and ‘very strong’ (5.1%). Loneliness trajectories also identified four groups: ‘low stable’ (17.8%), ‘low rising’ (40.2%), ‘moderate stable’ (37.6%) and ‘high rising’ (5.0%). Elevated symptoms of depression were associated with poor social support as well as all identified loneliness trajectories, while high levels of anxiety were associated with moderate stable and high rising loneliness trajectories; (4) Conclusions: High and increasing levels of loneliness are associated with increased symptoms of depression and anxiety during the pandemic. Interventions to address loneliness are essential to prevent common mental health problems during the pandemic and afterwards.

Longitudinal impact of the COVID19 pandemic on mental health in a general population sample in France: Evidence from the COMET Study

“…The main strength ( Laham et al, 2021 ) of this study is its longitudinal design. By collecting data at four different time points (three during confinement and one outside of it), we were able to appraise changes in depression, anxiety and PTSD throughout the different stages of the pandemic.…”

“…The COVID-19 Mental Health Survey (COMET) study is an international, online longitudinal survey aimed at evaluating the course of mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic and the identification of individuals who are at risk or resilient to these symptoms ( Laham et al, 2021 ). The COMET consortium includes participants from 14 countries (The Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Spain, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Sweden, South Africa, Indonesia, China, Australia and the United States).…”

Mental health outcomes and associated factors among vaccinated and unvaccinated teachers against COVID-19 infection in Bangladesh

“…Moreover, during the coronavirus pandemic, a study of 751 teachers in China discovered that social support can relieve acute stress symptoms when it meets individuals’ psychological needs and improves their sense of control ( 97 ). Another study involving 681 French participants discovered that poor social support was linked to increased depression symptoms ( 98 ). Furthermore, our results were consistent with those of Yenen and Çarkit ( 12 ), who discovered that in 322 Turkish teachers, lower perceived social support was linked to a higher fear of COVID-19.…”

41 st International Conference on Organizational Science Development

“…Socialna podpora je poleg odpornosti opredeljena kot zaščitni dejavniki pred osamljenostjo (Labrague et al, 2021). V povprečju so rezultati izvedene raziskave pokazali, da imajo sodelujoči študentje v povprečju zmerno socialno podporo, prav tako se je izkazalo tudi med splošno populacijo v Franciji (Laham et al, 2021). Podobno je bilo ugotovljeno med univerzitetnimi študenti v Švici, kjer jih je 15,3 % poročalo o slabi, 60 % o zmerni in 24,7 % močni socialni podpori (Volken et al, 2021) ter med mladimi (16-25 let) v Belgiji, kjer jih je 17,8 % poročalo o močni, 53,34 % zmerni in 29,48 % o slabi socialni podpori (Rens et al, 2021).…”