Loneliness and self-harm in adolescents during the first national COVID-19 lockdown: results from a survey of 10,000 secondary school pupils in England

Galit Geulayov; Karen Mansfield; Christoph Jindra; Keith Hawton; Mina Fazel

doi:10.1007/s12144-022-03651-5

Loneliness and self-harm in adolescents during the first national COVID-19 lockdown: results from a survey of 10,000 secondary school pupils in England

Curr Psychol. 2022 Sep 15:1-12. doi: 10.1007/s12144-022-03651-5. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Galit Geulayov¹, Karen Mansfield², Christoph Jindra³, Keith Hawton^{1

4}, Mina Fazel^{2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Suicide Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK.
² Section of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK.
³ Institute for Educational Quality Improvement, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.
⁴ Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK.
⁵ Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK.

Abstract

Adolescents' loneliness and self-harm have received considerable attention during the COVID-19 pandemic with concerns that the socioecological changes taking place would contribute to an escalation of both loneliness and self-harm. However, empirical evidence is scant. We estimated the prevalence of loneliness and self-harm in adolescent school pupils and investigated the association of loneliness and change in loneliness during the UK's first lockdown with self-harm during lockdown in a cross-sectional school survey (OxWell) involving 10,460 12-18-year-olds from south England. Loneliness was measured with four items. Self-harm was ascertained through a detailed questionnaire. The prevalence of loneliness and self-harm were estimated applying post-stratification weights to account for differences between the study sample and the target population. The associations between indicators of loneliness and self-harm were examined using mixed effect models. 1,896 of 10,460 adolescents (18.1%) reported feeling lonely 'often' (weighted proportion 16.8%). 3,802/10,460 (36.4%; weighted proportion 35%) felt more lonely since lockdown. Self-harm during lockdown was reported by 787/10,460 adolescents (7.5%; weighted proportion 6.7%). Controlling for confounders, adolescents who reported feeling lonely 'often' [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.8, 95% CI 2.1-3.9, p < 0.0001] or 'sometimes' (aOR 2.2, 95% CI 1.5-3.2, p < 0.0001) were more likely to self-harm during lockdown relative to adolescents who reported 'never' or 'hardly ever' feeling lonely. Exacerbation in loneliness during lockdown was associated with an increase in the odds of self-harm during lockdown. Loneliness, heightened loneliness and self-harm were common during lockdown and closely linked. It is important to support schools in address loneliness and self-harm as part of efforts to improve well-being as the long tail of the pandemic continues to impact on child and adolescent mental health. Understanding how loneliness and self-harm may co-vary could be important for future self-harm reduction strategies in young persons.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03651-5.

Keywords: Adolescents; COVID-19; Loneliness; Pandemic; Self-harm.