Lonely in Depression

The goal of this prospective study is to better understand the link between loneliness and depression in the inpatient psychiatric treatment of depression. It aims to answer: Do lonely and not lonely persons benefit the same way from inpatient depression treatment? Is loneliness a clinical relevant factor in inpatient treatment of depression? What are the underlying biopsychosocial mechanisms? Participants will be asked to do some * self-report questionnaires * clinical interview * biosampling (blood, saliva, stool) at three main measurement timepoints (1. begin of inpatient treatment, 2. day of discharge, 3. three months after discharge).

NCT Number	NCT07333027
Lead Sponsor	Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg Collaborators: Bezirkskliniken Mittelfranken, Clinic for Psychiatry, Addiction, Psychotherapie and Psychosomatic Medicine, Am Europakanal, Germany
Conditions	Depression Disorder, Loneliness
Enrollment	200 participants
Start Date	2026-02-05
Primary Completion	2027-09 (estimated)
Study Completion	2027-09 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-06-15