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Loneliness and mental health during the covid-19 pandemic among slovenian and croatian young adults

The relationship between the epidemic and mental health is a complex and multifaceted problem, with loneliness being one of the central concepts related to the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic had a significant impact on feelings of loneliness among young adults, especially students. During this time, young adults were more likely to use social media and less likely to seek social support. The aim of our study was to compare loneliness and mental health among young adults in Croatia and Slovenia during COVID19 pandemic. A sample of 1199 young adults aged 18-29 years (M = 22.1, SD = 2.56), of whom 70.3% were female. We assessed mental health parameters (depression, anxiety, stress), loneliness, death ideation and suicide ideation. The study was conducted in spring 2021 during the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic. Results show that during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost two thirds of young adults in Croatia and Slovenia reported moderate to severe feelings of loneliness. There was a significant difference between the two countries in mental health, death ideation and suicide ideation, where university students in Croatia reporting greater feelings of depression, anxiety, stress, death ideation and suicide ideation. However, in both countries, young adults with moderate to severe feelings of loneliness were significantly more likely to report poorer mental health and greater death ideation compared to those with no to mild feelings of loneliness, but only in the Croatian sample was there a significant difference between these two groups in suicide ideation. The results of this study show that during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mental health of young adults was more impaired in Croatia than in Slovenia, which might be partly explained by differences in the samples (only university students in the Croatian sample). However, loneliness played an important role in association in the poor mental health of this population during the pandemic. Thus, the circumstances of the pandemic only reinforce the need for effective approaches to address loneliness among young adults.

loneliness, mental health, COVID-19, pandemic, young adults.

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