Loneliness and Social Isolation in Mental Health

Loneliness among young people is increasingly recognised as both a mental health concern in its own right and a significant risk factor for depression and anxiety. Yet the evidence base on how addressing loneliness might prevent or improve these conditions remains surprisingly underdeveloped. The Loneliness and Social Isolation in Mental Health Network, funded by the Wellcome Trust and based at UCL, sets out to build that evidence base. The network is co-led by Dr Alexandra Pitman and Professor Sonia Johnson (UCL Division of Psychiatry), with research fellow Eiluned Pearce coordinating the youth-focused strand. A key output is a critical interpretative synthesis — Pearce et al. (2021) in Translational Psychiatry - reviewing how addressing loneliness can prevent or alleviate anxiety and depression in young people, drawing on evidence across intrapersonal, interpersonal, and social intervention strategies.

Loneliness is not the same as being alone, and chronic loneliness is not simply more of the same. Understanding the distinction, and whether it maps onto different mechanisms linking loneliness to depression and anxiety, is foundational to knowing what kinds of interventions might actually help.

The Research

The Network's central research question asks: in which ways and in which contexts does addressing chronic loneliness appear to prevent and/or improve anxiety and depression in youth (aged 14–24), and why, and in which ways, contexts, and for whom does addressing loneliness appear not to work, and why?

The study approaches this question through three complementary methods: a systematic search of published and unpublished literature; direct consultation with young people who have relevant lived experience; and engagement with experts across different fields of research. This triangulated approach is designed to capture both what formal evidence exists and what that evidence might be missing, including perspectives and experiences that are not well represented in the published literature.

My Involvement

I was involved in this project as a young person with lived experience, contributing to the consultation strand of the research. Sessions involved structured discussions around what loneliness means, how it relates to depression and anxiety, and what kinds of interventions (digital, face-to-face, individual, or group-based) young people consider most promising and most accessible.