The Impact of Loneliness on Late-Life Depression and Anxiety During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: This study investigates the association of loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic and the course of depressive, anxiety and sleep symptoms after psychological treatment in older adults.
Methods: During the first wave of the pandemic in 2020, we assessed additional, original data of 132 participants aged ≥60 years who had completed psychological treatment for late-life depression (LLD) in the context of a multicenter, randomized controlled trial (CBT-late). We measured loneliness using the UCLA Loneliness Scale. Depression, anxiety and sleep symptoms were assessed using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI).
Results: Participants with higher loneliness scores (n = 44) experienced a significant worsening of depressive and anxiety symptoms during the pandemic (estimated marginal mean difference (emmd) of change in GDS between post-treatment and COVID-19 visit: GDS _emmd = -4.61, [95% CI: -6.97 to -2.26], GAI _emmd = -2.21, [95% CI: -3.76 to -0.65]), while those with low to moderate loneliness (n = 72) maintained stable mild symptoms (GDS _emmd = -1.39, [95% CI: -3.00 to 0.22], GAI _emmd = -0.49, [95% CI: -1.69 to 0.72]). All patients reported increased sleep disturbances during the pandemic regardless of loneliness, while remaining in the range for sub-threshold insomnia.
Conclusions: Our results suggest an association of significant loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic and a clinically relevant worsening of depressive and anxiety symptoms in older adults. Loneliness assessments and interventions may be incorporated into treatments for LLD, particularly during pandemics or other crises.
Competing Interests: DISCLOSURES The initial randomized controlled trial was funded by grant BMBF01KG1716 from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The analysis of the additional COVID-19 visit was partially funded by the BMBF Network of University Medicine 2.0 (NUM 2.0, 01KX2121, Project: CollPan). The authors have no disclosures to report.
(Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)