A new study reveals that one out of three Canadians experienced severe loneliness during the second wave of COVID-19. Dr. Lamson Lin Shen of the City University of Hong Kong estimates that loneliness affected 34.7 percent of the population, which is much higher than previous estimates of 14–27 percent that were established in other parts of the world.
According to the study, individuals who experienced job instability during the pandemic had double the risk of developing severe loneliness compared to people with secure employment.
“This concerning magnitude implies that during the pandemic lockdown, severe loneliness was ubiquitous in Canada,” said Dr. Lin. “This is probably due to the disruption in daily social activities, which normally help people cope with stress, as well as the intense social isolation caused by the lockdown measures implemented in many provinces of Canada.”
The research was focused on data from thousands of participants in the Canadian Perspective Survey Series, which was conducted during the second wave of the pandemic. Dr. Lin used machine learning to identify population patterns of loneliness.