Face-to-face and digital social interaction, loneliness, sense of belonging and self-rated general health during the COVID-19 pandemic : ecological momentary assessment

• The COVID-19 pandemic entailed restrictions to social interactions, which may have affected people’s well-being. Face-to-face and digital social interaction could alleviate distress and improve well-being during a pandemic. However, the short-term psychological response to these modes of social interaction in the context of an ongoing pandemic warrants further exploration. We investigated how social activities in the past 24 hours were associated with short-term mental states (loneliness, sense of belonging and health) during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how associations varied due to age, gender and social isolation. Adults from the general public in Sweden (n = 697, 90.24% female, age m = 52.71, sd = 11.19) responded to ecological momentary assessments during 14 consecutive days in 2020. Based on 40,358 observations, people who socialized more face-to-face reported less loneliness, greater sense of belonging and health. These associations differed depending on social isolation and age. Digital social interactions were generally not associated with outcomes; however, people aged ≥70 years reported greater sense of belonging when they socialized digitally more than usual. Substituting face-to-face socializing with digital interactions may affect resiliency during prolonged pandemic restrictions.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Psykologi -- Psykologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Psychology -- Psychology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

social interaction

digital

face-to-face

COVID-19

loneliness

sense of belonging

self-rated health

Sweden

Psychology

Psykologi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)