Six independent research teams conducted a collaborative reanalysis of the American Time Use Survey data previously cited in the context of an alleged "epidemic of loneliness". They found the reported increases in social isolation overstated, with the rise in alone time only 24 minutes per day over 17 years. The original studies utilized misleading visualizations that exaggerated this modest change and failed to report small effect sizes. Furthermore, demographic disparities were found to be much more significant than trends over time, suggesting resources should be targeted toward at-risk groups instead of framing this issue as an overarching epidemic.
The original study's alarming trends largely disappeared when properly graphed, revealing that the increase in time spent alone was only 24 minutes per day over 17 years.
The increase in social isolation may not justify labeling it an epidemic, as the small effect size of 8.4% was not adequately reported in the original findings.
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