Nearly half of young adults across eight countries report feeling lonely — and those who do face much higher likelihood of depression and anxiety, according to a new international study led by researchers at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Public Health.
Across all eight countries, nearly four in 10 adults reported feeling lonely. Among those ages 18–24, that figure rose to nearly one in two, compared with about 30% of adults 55 or older.
Women, individuals with lower income or education, unmarried people and urban residents also reported higher levels of loneliness. People who reported loneliness had almost three times the odds of meeting screening criteria for depression and nearly four times the odds of meeting screening criteria for generalized anxiety.
Prevalence of depression and anxiety varied substantially across countries, ranging from 3.4% in India to 15.8% in Brazil. However, the association between loneliness and both conditions was consistent across national contexts.
The study, “Loneliness, Depression and Generalized Anxiety Across Eight Countries,” published Feb. 5 in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, was led by Salma Abdalla, MBBS, DrPH, an assistant professor at the WashU School of Public Health. Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH, the school’s Margaret C. Ryan Dean, served as senior author. Galea also is the Eugene S. and Constance Kahn Distinguished Professor in Public Health and vice provost for interdisciplinary initiatives at WashU.