Loneliness, affectivity and psychological distress in people living alone during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cluster analysis.

INTRODUCTION

During the COVID-19 pandemic, rates of loneliness increased significantly due to the challenging and adverse context arising from this global health emergency.

OBJECTIVE

To classify adults living alone according to perceived loneliness and affectivity and to examine their association with symptoms of psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHOD: The design of this study was cross-sectional, descriptive and correlational. The sample consisted of 418 adults living alone, recruited through a non-probabilistic snowball sampling procedure using an online survey distributed via social media and email. To analyze the data, a cluster analysis was applied using the k-means method, the chi-squared test and the Odds Ratio statistic.

RESULTS

Two homogeneous groups were identified: Group 1 (n = 233) characterized by high levels of perceived loneliness, low levels of positive affect and high levels of negative affect; Group 2 (n = 185) showed low levels of perceived loneliness, high levels of positive affect and low levels of negative affect. Cluster 1 was more likely to have symptoms of psychological distress than cluster 2.

CONCLUSIONS

To summarize, loneliness among individuals who reside alone can have an impact on the likelihood of experiencing psychological distress and adverse effects.