A GLOBAL BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF LONELINESS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: FUTURE RESEARCH AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

INTRODUCTION Under the profound impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, loneliness has become a major public health concern worldwide. This study is conducted to systematically evaluate existing literature on loneliness during the pandemic to identify research trends and knowledge gaps for future studies and policy developments. METHODS Original articles and reviews related to COVID-19 loneliness, published from 2020 to 2023, were retrieved from the Web of Science database. Research collaboration and keyword co-occurrence analyses were performed using VOSviewer software. Latent Dirichlet Allocation algorithm from STATA was used to analyze common topics and research trends. RESULTS From 2020 to 2023, a total of 3,817 publications on COVID-19 loneliness were extracted. Regarding international collaboration, the United States and England produced the largest research output and had the most extensive network collaboration with other countries in the field. Main research topics included the risk factors for loneliness during the pandemic, its impacts on people's well-being, and social support interventions. However, there is a lack of research on adolescents, children, and behavioral changes such as increased smoking, unhealthy alcohol consumption, and substance use due to loneliness during the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS Our study highlights an increasing interest in research on loneliness during the pandemic and suggests the need for enhanced global cooperation between developed and developing countries. Moreover, researchers and policymakers should focus more on the long-term effects of COVID-19 loneliness on adolescents and children, behavioral lifestyle changes, as well as targeted social support programs using family-based interventions and communication technologies.