This article argues that the COVID-19 pandemic and associated social distancing measures intended to slow the rate of transmission of the virus resulted in greater subjective isolation and community distrust, in turn adversely impacting psychological distress. To support this argument, we examine data from the Canadian Quality of Work and Economic Life Study, two national surveys of Canadian workers—one from late September 2019 (N = 2,477) and the second from mid-March 2020 (N = 2,446). Analyses show that subjective isolation and community distrust increased between the two surveys, which led to a substantial rise in psychological distress. Increases in subjective isolation were stronger in older respondents, resulting in a greater escalation in psychological distress. These findings support a Durkheimian perspective on the harm to social integration and mental health caused by periods of rapid social change but also illustrate how a life course context can differentiate individual vulnerability to disintegrative social forces.

本文认为，旨在减慢病毒传播速度的COVID-19大流行和相关的社会疏远措施导致更大的主观隔离和社区不信任，进而对心理困扰产生不利影响。为支持这一论点，我们研究了来自加拿大工作质量和经济生活研究的数据，这是两次对加拿大工人的全国性调查，一次是从2019年9月下旬开始（N = 2,477），第二次是从2020年3月中旬开始（N = 2,446）。分析表明，两次调查之间主观孤立和社区不信任感增加，导致心理困扰大幅增加。老年受访者的主观孤立感增强，导致心理困扰更大。