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@ARTICLE{Mller:278785,
author = {Müller, Julia and Elsaesser, Moritz and Berger, Ruben and
Müller, Wiebke and Hellmich, Martin and Zehender, Nadine
and Riedel-Heller, Steffi and Bewernick, Bettina H and
Wagner, Michael and Frölich, Lutz and Peters, Oliver and
Domschke, Katharina and Jessen, Frank and Hautzinger, Martin
and Dafsari, Forugh S and Schramm, Elisabeth},
title = {{T}he {I}mpact of {L}oneliness on {L}ate-{L}ife
{D}epression and {A}nxiety {D}uring the {COVID}-19
{P}andemic.},
journal = {American journal of geriatric psychiatry},
volume = {33},
number = {7},
issn = {1064-7481},
address = {[Amsterdam]},
publisher = {Elsevier},
reportid = {DZNE-2025-00621},
pages = {717 - 729},
year = {2025},
abstract = {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.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).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: GDSemmd= -4.61, $[95\%$
CI: -6.97 to -2.26], GAIemmd= -2.21, $[95\%$ CI: -3.76 to
-0.65]), while those with low to moderate loneliness (n =
72) maintained stable mild symptoms (GDSemmd= -1.39, $[95\%$
CI: -3.00 to 0.22], GAIemmd= -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.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.},
keywords = {Humans / Loneliness: psychology / COVID-19: psychology /
Aged / Male / Female / Anxiety: psychology / Anxiety:
therapy / Anxiety: epidemiology / Depression: psychology /
Depression: therapy / Depression: epidemiology / Middle Aged
/ Aged, 80 and over / SARS-CoV-2 / Sleep Initiation and
Maintenance Disorders: psychology / CBT-late (Other) /
COVID-19 pandemic (Other) / Late-life depression (Other) /
loneliness (Other) / older age (Other) / psychological
treatment (Other)},
cin = {AG Peters / AG Jessen},
ddc = {610},
cid = {I:(DE-2719)5000000 / I:(DE-2719)1011102},
pnm = {353 - Clinical and Health Care Research (POF4-353)},
pid = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-353},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)16},
pubmed = {pmid:39884877},
doi = {10.1016/j.jagp.2025.01.003},
url = {https://pub.dzne.de/record/278785},
}