Purpose Population surveys underrepresent people with severe mental ill health. This paper aims to explore perceived social support and loneliness and factor associations during the Covid-19 pandemic in a sample of individuals with severe mental ill health. Design/methodology/approach We sampled an already existing cohort of people with severe mental ill health. Researchers contacted participants by phone or by post to invite them to take part in a survey about how the pandemic restrictions had impacted health, Covid-19 experiences, perceived social support, employment and loneliness. Loneliness was measured by the three item UCLA loneliness scale. Findings In the pandemic sub-cohort, 367 adults with a severe mental ill health diagnosis completed a remote survey. 29-34% of participants reported being lonely. Loneliness was associated with being younger in age (adjusted OR = -.98, p = .02), living alone (adjusted OR = 2.04, p = .01), high levels of social and economic deprivation (adjusted OR = 2.49, p = .04), and lower perceived social support (B = -5.86, p < .001). Living alone was associated with lower perceived social support. Being lonely was associated with a self-reported deterioration in mental health during the pandemic (adjusted OR = 3.46, 95%CI 2.03-5.91). Practical implications Intervention strategies to tackle loneliness in the severe mental ill health population are needed. Further research is needed to follow-up the severe mental ill health population after pandemic restrictions are lifted to understand perceived social support and loneliness trends. Originality Loneliness was a substantial problem for the severe mental ill health population before the Covid-19 pandemic but there is limited evidence to understand perceived social support and loneliness trends during the pandemic.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 大流行期间严重精神疾病患者的孤独感：来自英国一项相关人群队列研究的结果

目的 人口调查未充分代表患有严重精神疾病的人。本文旨在探索在 Covid-19 大流行期间对患有严重精神疾病的个体样本的感知社会支持和孤独感以及因素关联。设计/方法/途径 我们对已经存在的患有严重精神疾病的人群进行了抽样。研究人员通过电话或邮寄方式联系参与者，邀请他们参加一项关于大流行限制如何影响健康、Covid-19 体验、感知社会支持、就业和孤独感的调查。孤独是通过三项加州大学洛杉矶分校的孤独量表来衡量的。结果 在大流行亚组中，367 名患有严重精神疾病的成年人完成了一项远程调查。29-34% 的参与者报告感到孤独。孤独与年龄较小（调整后的 OR = -.98，p = .02）、独居（调整后的 OR = 2.04，p = .01）、严重的社会和经济剥夺（调整后的 OR = 2.49，p = .04），以及较低的社会支持感（B = -5.86，p < .001）。独居与较低的感知社会支持有关。孤独与大流行期间自我报告的心理健康恶化有关（调整后的 OR = 3.46，95% CI 2.03-5.91）。实际意义 需要采取干预策略来解决严重精神疾病人群的孤独感。在取消大流行限制以了解感知到的社会支持和孤独趋势后，需要进一步研究以跟踪严重精神疾病人群。