Age and gender differences in loneliness during the COVID-19: Analyses on large cross-sectional surveys and emotion diaries

Loneliness level was shown to vary by age and gender. Considering the recent COVID-19 outbreak had more impact on the susceptible groups’ mental health, this study scrutinized the joint influence of age and gender on loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. We utilized large, government-funded public data that contains self-reported measures and emotion diaries collected from October 2020 to March 2021 (N=4,017, age 20-79, 76% female). Hierarchical regression, t-test, and analysis of variance examined the effect of age as a continuous or categorical variable and gender on loneliness. N-gram frequency analyses and topic modeling helped analyze the differences in expressions used by the age-gender groups in the diaries. Loneliness increased with age (p=0.043), and women were lonelier than men (p<0.001). However, age and gender interacted to predict loneliness (p=0.004), showing that younger women and older men experienced higher levels of loneliness. Age (p<0.001) and age-gender (p=0.030) interaction remained significant even with the presence of demographic and personality risk factors. When parceled by the age groups and gender, gender differences in loneliness level were significant within 20s (95% CI: Female [2.196, 2.264], Male [1.986, 2.133]) and 30s (95% CI: Female [2.390, 2.499], Male [2.071, 2.251]). In emotion diaries, all age-gender groups except women in their 60s-70s frequently expressed anxiety and depression. Women in their 20s talked more about work experiences and difficulties in job search, and women in their 30s wrote more about difficulties in childcare and lack of social connections. Spirituality was one of the major topics mentioned by women in their 50s and 60s-70s, but not by the other groups. The effects of age and gender on loneliness reflect social and psychological challenges in Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to establish valid interventions targeted at younger women and older men.