Impact of Loneliness on Diurnal Cortisol in Youth during COVID-19

BACKGROUND: Loneliness is associated with psychopathology in youth, though we do not know how loneliness gets under the skin in ways that impact long-term health and development. Loneliness may influence youths' patterns of diurnal cortisol, a predictor of health across the lifespan. The COVID-19 pandemic represents a salient period in which to study this question as the physical-distancing measures put in place to contain the virus have resulted in greater loneliness in youth. METHODS: We examined the prospective association between loneliness and diurnal cortisol in youth during the COVID-19 pandemic using hierarchical linear modelling. RESULTS: Greater loneliness was associated with higher levels of cortisol at waking, B=0.10, p=.002, and a blunted cortisol awakening response, B=-0.003, p =.003, a pattern of functioning that increases risk for adverse mental and physical health outcomes across the lifespan. CONCLUSION: This study is the first to examine the association between loneliness and diurnal cortisol in early adolescence and identified a mechanism contributing to biological markers of distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings underscore the importance of developing and distributing strategies to mitigate feelings of loneliness among youth.