Roehampton academics continue research into the long-term impact of socialising virtually on stress levels

• Monday, October 5, 2020

Dr Julia Lehmann and Dr Colette Berbesque of the Department of Life Sciences have begun the second part of their study examining how socialising virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our stress levels.

We are social creatures, and face-to-face interactions and touch play a huge part in how we deal with everyday stress. When lockdown was introduced back in March 2020, many of us were cut off from physical contact with friends and family and had to turn to virtual interactions for support.

Following on from their previous study, the study team are now asking participants to fill out a questionnaire about participants use of socialising virtually to provide a hair sample to allow them to measure physiological stress levels through hair cortisol analysis. As cortisol is the body’s “stress hormone”, they’ll be able to analyse how stress levels have been impacted by COVID-19 related social restrictions. Taking a hair sample is easy to do and non-invasive. You can find out more about this study, including how to take part here.

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