COVID-19 Risk Perception and Loneliness among Korean Adults: The Mediating Effects of Social Distancing and Social Connectedness
- 주제(기타) Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Social Work
- 설명문(일반) [Chung, Soondool] Ewha Womans Univ, Dept Social Welf, Seoul, South Korea; [Park, So-Young] Ewha Womans Univ, Ewha Inst Age Integrat Res, Seoul, South Korea
- 등재 SSCI, SCOPUS
- 발행기관 WILEY-HINDAWI
- 발행년도 2023
- URI http://www.dcollection.net/handler/ewha/000000204314
- 본문언어 영어
- Published As https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/1799373
초록/요약
This study examined the complex associations among coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) risk perception, social distancing, social connectedness, and loneliness, as well as the mediating effects of social distancing and social connectedness in these associations in younger, middle-aged, and older Korean adults. We used multigroup structural equation modeling to analyze the results of a cross-sectional survey of 2,400 Korean adults aged 20 years or older. We found statistically significant age group differences in the mean values of COVID-19 risk perception, social distancing, social connectedness, and loneliness. The younger group showed significant associations among all major variables in the structural equation model, while their older counterparts demonstrated a significant association between COVID-19 risk perception and loneliness. Social distancing and social connectedness mediated the effect of COVID-19 risk perception on loneliness only for the younger group. In addition, we found significant mediating effects of social connectedness on the association between COVID-19 risk perception and loneliness in the middle-aged and older groups. Our findings imply that social distancing and social connectedness have impacted Korean adults' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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