@article{ref1,
title="Safe but lonely? Loneliness, anxiety, and depression symptoms and COVID-19",
journal="Frontiers in psychology",
year="2020",
author="Okruszek, Łukasz and Aniszewska-Stańczuk, Aleksandra and Piejka, Aleksandra and Wiśniewska, Marcelina and Żurek, Karolina",
volume="11",
number="",
pages="e579181-e579181",
abstract="BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has led governments worldwide to implement unprecedented response strategies. While crucial to limiting the spread of the virus, &quot;social distancing&quot; may lead to severe psychological consequences, especially in lonely individuals.   Methods: We used cross-sectional (n = 380) and longitudinal (n = 74) designs to investigate the links between loneliness, anxiety, and depression symptoms (ADS) and COVID-19 risk perception and affective response in young adults who implemented social distancing during the first 2 weeks of the state of epidemic threat in Poland.   Results: Loneliness was correlated with ADS and with affective response to COVID-19's threat to health. However, increased worry about the social isolation and heightened risk perception for financial problems was observed in lonelier individuals. The cross-lagged influence of the initial affective response to COVID-19 on subsequent levels of loneliness was also found.   Conclusion: The reciprocal connections between loneliness and COVID-19 response may be of crucial importance for ADS during the COVID-19 crisis.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1664-1078",
doi="10.3389/fpsyg.2020.579181",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.579181"
}