Loneliness, positive, negative and disorganised Schizotypy before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Loneliness is common in psychosis and occurs along a continuum. Here we investigate inter-relationships between loneliness, three-dimensional schizotypy, and depressive symptoms before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample included 507 university students (48.3% participated before and 51.7% during the COVID-19 pandemic) who completed the Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale-Brief, the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms depression scale and the University of California, Los Angeles Loneliness Scale. Schizotypy and depression scores were regressed onto loneliness individually and in multiple regressions. The cohorts did not differ in any of the schizotypy domains (all p > .29). Depressive symptoms (p = .05) and loneliness (p = .006) were higher during the pandemic than before. Across cohorts, loneliness was significantly associated with positive (β = 0.23, p < .001), negative (β = 0.44, p < .001), and disorganised schizotypy (β = 0.44, p < .001), and with depression (β = 0.72, p < .001). Schizotypy together explained a significant amount of variance in loneliness (R² = 0.26), with significant associations with positive (β = -0.09, p = .047), negative (β = 0.31, p < .001) and disorganised schizotypy (β = 0.34, p < .001). When depression was included (β = 0.69, p < .001), only positive (β = -0.09, p = .008) and negative schizotypy (β = 0.22, p < .001) significantly predicted loneliness. When all schizotypy dimensions and depression were considered together, only negative schizotypy and depression significantly predicted loneliness. Loneliness and depressive symptoms were higher during the pandemic, but this did not relate to cohort differences in schizotypy.