‘It’s Easily the Lowest I’ve Ever, Ever Got to’: A Qualitative Study of Young Adults’ Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Lockdowns in the UK

(1) Background: Social connectivity is key to young people’s mental health. Local assets facilitate social connection, but were largely inaccessible during the pandemic. This study consequently investigates the social isolation of young adults and their use of local assets during the COVID-19 lockdo...

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Autores principales:	Chloe C. Dedryver, Cécile Knai
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	mental health COVID-19 social isolation young people anxiety depression Medicine R
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/574258e39bb64334a9475a898e6958c7
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:574258e39bb64334a9475a898e6958c72021-11-25T17:48:17Z‘It’s Easily the Lowest I’ve Ever, Ever Got to’: A Qualitative Study of Young Adults’ Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Lockdowns in the UK10.3390/ijerph1822117771660-46011661-7827https://doaj.org/article/574258e39bb64334a9475a898e6958c72021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/22/11777https://doaj.org/toc/1661-7827https://doaj.org/toc/1660-4601(1) Background: Social connectivity is key to young people’s mental health. Local assets facilitate social connection, but were largely inaccessible during the pandemic. This study consequently investigates the social isolation of young adults and their use of local assets during the COVID-19 lockdowns in the UK. (2) Methods: Fifteen semi-structured Zoom interviews were undertaken with adults aged 18–24 in the UK. Recruitment took place remotely, and transcripts were coded and analysed thematically. (3) Results: Digital assets were key to young people’s social connectivity, but their use was associated with stress, increased screen time and negative mental health outcomes. The lockdowns impacted social capital, with young people’s key peripheral networks being lost, yet close friendships being strengthened. Finally, young people’s mental health was greatly affected by the isolation, but few sought help, mostly out of a desire to not overburden the NHS. (4) Conclusions: This study highlights the extent of the impact of the pandemic isolation on young people’s social capital and mental health. Post-pandemic strategies targeting mental health system strengthening, social isolation and help-seeking behaviours are recommended.Chloe C. DedryverCécile KnaiMDPI AGarticlemental healthCOVID-19social isolationyoung peopleanxietydepressionMedicineRENInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 18, Iss 11777, p 11777 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	mental health COVID-19 social isolation young people anxiety depression Medicine R
spellingShingle	mental health COVID-19 social isolation young people anxiety depression Medicine R Chloe C. Dedryver Cécile Knai ‘It’s Easily the Lowest I’ve Ever, Ever Got to’: A Qualitative Study of Young Adults’ Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Lockdowns in the UK
description	(1) Background: Social connectivity is key to young people’s mental health. Local assets facilitate social connection, but were largely inaccessible during the pandemic. This study consequently investigates the social isolation of young adults and their use of local assets during the COVID-19 lockdowns in the UK. (2) Methods: Fifteen semi-structured Zoom interviews were undertaken with adults aged 18–24 in the UK. Recruitment took place remotely, and transcripts were coded and analysed thematically. (3) Results: Digital assets were key to young people’s social connectivity, but their use was associated with stress, increased screen time and negative mental health outcomes. The lockdowns impacted social capital, with young people’s key peripheral networks being lost, yet close friendships being strengthened. Finally, young people’s mental health was greatly affected by the isolation, but few sought help, mostly out of a desire to not overburden the NHS. (4) Conclusions: This study highlights the extent of the impact of the pandemic isolation on young people’s social capital and mental health. Post-pandemic strategies targeting mental health system strengthening, social isolation and help-seeking behaviours are recommended.
format	article
author	Chloe C. Dedryver Cécile Knai
author_facet	Chloe C. Dedryver Cécile Knai
author_sort	Chloe C. Dedryver
title	‘It’s Easily the Lowest I’ve Ever, Ever Got to’: A Qualitative Study of Young Adults’ Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Lockdowns in the UK
title_short	‘It’s Easily the Lowest I’ve Ever, Ever Got to’: A Qualitative Study of Young Adults’ Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Lockdowns in the UK
title_full	‘It’s Easily the Lowest I’ve Ever, Ever Got to’: A Qualitative Study of Young Adults’ Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Lockdowns in the UK
title_fullStr	‘It’s Easily the Lowest I’ve Ever, Ever Got to’: A Qualitative Study of Young Adults’ Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Lockdowns in the UK
title_full_unstemmed	‘It’s Easily the Lowest I’ve Ever, Ever Got to’: A Qualitative Study of Young Adults’ Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Lockdowns in the UK
title_sort	‘it’s easily the lowest i’ve ever, ever got to’: a qualitative study of young adults’ social isolation during the covid-19 lockdowns in the uk
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/574258e39bb64334a9475a898e6958c7
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‘It’s Easily the Lowest I’ve Ever, Ever Got to’: A Qualitative Study of Young Adults’ Social Isolation during the COVID-19 Lockdowns in the UK

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