In recent years, social concern about undesired loneliness among young people has not ceased to grow, partly as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. In the research presented here, the interest focuses on a phenomenon partially linked to that of undesired loneliness, but much less studied: the social isolation of young people. This phenomenon can be considered a consequence of people's lack of sociability, understood as the ability and possibility of establishing personal relationships. In our case, we are interested in the sociability of the Spanish population aged between 18 and 29 years old, and in the role of social interaction through both digital media and face-to-face interaction, as well as its links with emotional distress. Within this context, we understand emotional well-being as the set of positive feelings derived from mental functioning that enables us to cope with, or adapt to, the situations and demands of our everyday environment. When these feelings do not exist, emotional distress is experienced.

The approach developed avoids certain simplifying approaches that understand online social interaction and face-to-face interaction as opposed. To the contrary, the analysis is developed taking into account the possible complementarity of both types of interaction. It is for this reason that a variable has been constructed that contemplates different combinations, in terms of frequency, of
In relation to the measurement of social isolation, the resources and support that the relationships network can offer, both in emotional and material dimensions, are considered. We understand that emotional support satisfies the psychological and affective needs that a person may experience, while material support satisfies needs of an instrumental nature, such as information or money. 

To study the questions raised, data obtained mainly through an online survey of 3,000 young people aged 18 to 29 and resident in Spain were analysed. The survey was conducted between 16 January and 14 February 2023, with 10% (300 surveys) conducted by telephone call, by way of reinforcement. The sampling procedure followed was random, stratified by autonomous communities (except for Ceuta and Melilla) and by municipality size. The sampling error for the sample as a whole is ±1.72% for a confidence interval of 95.5% (2 sigma) and under the assumption of maximum indeterminacy (p=q=0.50).  

Social isolation has been assessed in two different ways: 1) by considering whether there is access to people who can provide emotional and material support (even if that need has not arisen), and 2) by considering unmet needs for support (i.e., situations where help has been needed but not received). The first indicator shows the connectivity that the respondent has with people in their relationships network who can provide support. The second indicator shows whether respondents have been able to use the resources of their relationships network when they have needed them. 

Figure 1 shows the data on access to people who can provide support, considering two of the situations raised in the survey questionnaire: in the case of feeling sad or unhappy (emotional support) and in the case of looking for a job (material support). These data are cross-referenced with a typology of different combinations of online and face-to-face interactions, from those in which there are low levels of both types of interaction to those in which there are high levels, and passing through several intermediate combinations.

The data on emotional support show that 21.2% of young people who have low levels of interaction, both online and face-to-face, do not have access to contacts that can help in a situation of sadness or unhappiness. Next, in terms of lack of access to emotional support, are young people with an intermediate/high level of online interaction and a low level of face-to-face interaction, with 15.2%. If material support is considered, the data show that it is also young people with a low level of interaction, both online and face-to-face, who say in a higher percentage (17.7%) that they cannot access someone who can help them in a situation of looking for a job. In second place (7.4%), in terms of lack of access to material support, are young people with a low level of online interaction and an intermediate/high level of face-to-face interaction.

Figure 2 shows data on the unmet need for emotional and material support, also considering the need for help when looking for a job (material support) and when feeling sad or unhappy (emotional support). These data are cross-referenced with the same typology of online and face-to-face interaction combinations used in Figure 1. 

When analysing situations in which emotional support has been needed and not received (in circumstances of sadness or unhappiness), the data show that the highest percentage is among young people with a low level of interaction both online and face-to-face, with 22.3%. This pattern is repeated in relation to material support (help to look for a job), since the highest percentage of people who have not received support despite needing it (15.6%) is also found among young people with a low level of online and face-to-face interaction. The data further shows that the combination of an intermediate/high level of online interaction and a low level of face-to-face interaction produces the second highest percentage of people who have not received this support when they have needed it. The values stand at 17.9% in the case of feeling sad or unhappy, and 10.7% when help is needed looking for a job. Thus, the highest values of support needed and not received coincide with those two combinations where the level of face-to-face interaction is low, which shows the importance of this type of interaction for mobilising resources from the network of personal relationships. 

This section examines the possible relationship between combinations of online and face-to-face interaction and emotional distress, taking into account the sex of the people who have responded to the survey. Women have high percentages of emotional distress when their levels of face-to-face interaction are low. Men also have the highest percentages of emotional distress when face-to-face interaction is low, but this emotional distress seems to be buffered if low face-to-face interaction is offset by intermediate or high online interaction. The buffering effect does not occur among women. 

Women consistently present higher levels of emotional distress than men. When the different combinations of online and face-to-face interaction are compared, it becomes clear that having low face-to-face interaction, even when online interaction is intermediate/high, is associated with higher percentages of emotional distress in both men and women (51% and 53.2% among women, and 45.6% and 31.6% among men). However, it would seem that intermediate/high online interactions could moderate emotional distress among men, a situation not seen among women. 

The possible relationship between combinations of online and face-to-face interaction and emotional distress is examined here, taking into account three age groups within those who responded to the survey: 18 to 19 years, 20 to 24 years, and 25 to 29 years. The youngest people, aged 18 and 19, show a higher percentage of emotional distress, except when high levels of online and face-to-face interaction are combined.

When analysing the distribution of the percentage of emotional distress according to age groups (18-19 years, 20-24 years and 25-29 years), it is observed that, the younger the age, the greater the emotional distress experienced. This pattern is observed for all combinations of online and face-to-face interaction, except when high online and high face-to-face interaction are combined. It is significant that, in this last combination, the age group with the greatest emotional distress is that aged 20-24 years old (45.6%). It is also noteworthy that the lowest percentages are found, in all three age groups, when there is a combination of low online interaction and intermediate/high face-to-face interaction. It would seem that this is the most appropriate combination for achieving low percentages of emotional distress.  

In the research presented in this article, a sample of 3,000 young people between 18 and 29 years of age residing in the 17 Spanish autonomous communities was analysed to find out the relationship between social interaction (online and face-to-face), social isolation, and emotional distress among young people. Social isolation was measured in two ways: by asking about the possibilities of accessing people who offer emotional and material support, and by asking about situations in which support has not been received when it has been needed. Regarding the type of interaction, the research started from the basis that online and face-to-face interactions can be complementary to different degrees, and for this purpose a typology was constructed that combines different frequencies (low, intermediate, and high) of both types of interaction. In addition, sex and age have been considered as relevant variables for the analysis. 

When it comes to the role that face-to-face and online interactions play in young people's social isolation, the research results show that it is lack of face-to-face interactions that really seems to be associated with social isolation. A lack of online interactions is much less associated with this situation. On the other hand, in general, the lowest levels of social isolation occur when there is high online and face-to-face interaction at the same time. 

In relation to emotional distress, the results show that it is, again, a low level of face-to-face interaction that seems to be associated with the highest percentages. However, it is interesting to note that the lowest percentages of emotional distress are not associated with the combination of high levels of online and face-to-face interaction, but occur when low online interaction and intermediate/high face-to-face interaction are combined. Regarding the variables sex and age, it is observed that, in general, it is women and the age group between 18 and 19 years old who show the greatest emotional distress. In both profiles, a low level of face-to-face relationships is a determining factor. 

It is important to note that the data analysed are cross-sectional in nature and that the exploitations presented are purely descriptive, so causality cannot be attributed to the relationships observed between the variables considered and the levels of social isolation and emotional distress identified. A strict causal analysis requires longitudinal samples and multivariate analyses of an explanatory nature that have not been addressed in this article.

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