The impact of social contact on depression during COVID-19: A cohort study

Background: Social distancing policies, established following the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, have led the people to feel socially disconnected and lonely, triggering them to experience an increase in depressive feelings. Objectives: This study aims to explore whether distant social contact could fulfil people’s social connectedness and lower the risk of depression during times of reduced direct social contact. Method: The in-person contact, distant contact and depressive symptom data obtained from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were analysed. Results: In the main analyses, both increased in-person and distant contact with adults predicted significantly low levels of depressive symptoms. In the follow-up analyses, only parent group showed a significantly lower depressive symptom levels following their distant contact. The moderation analysis indicated that distant contact with adults predicted significantly low levels of depressive symptoms for subjects with self-isolation history. Conclusions: Findings have suggested that distant contact with other adults was influential to lower one’s depression risk during pandemic. Moderation analysis indicates that self-isolation history moderated the effect of distant social contact on reducing the risk of depression. The current findings imply that the UK government should develop support strategies that allow the residents to maintain their social connectedness for future lockdown.