Objectives: The potential impact of social distancing policies during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on social isolation and loneliness is of increasing global concern. Although many studies focus primarily on loneliness, patterns of social isolation-particularly physical and digital isolation-are understudied. We examined changes in social isolation, physical isolation, digital isolation, and loneliness in U.S. adults older than 50 before and during the lockdown.
Methods: Two waves of the Health and Retirement Study, a national panel sample of U.S. adults older than 50 years, were used. Fixed-effects regression models were fitted to identify within-person change from 2016 to 2020 to examine the impact of social distancing policies during the pandemic.
Results: There was an increase in physical isolation and social isolation among respondents during the COVID-19 social distancing policies. However, respondents experienced no change in digital isolation or loneliness. The increase in physical isolation was only present for people with high COVID-19 concern, whereas people with low concern experienced no change in physical isolation.
Discussion: Despite an increase in physical isolation due to the social distancing policies, U.S. adults aged older than 50 stayed connected through digital contact and were resilient in protecting themselves from loneliness.
Keywords: Digital isolation; Mental health; Social relationships; Social support.
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America 2021.