Research suggests that stricter COVID-19 measures are associated with negative mental health effects and a lower opinion of the government’s pandemic response. The mental health of people in countries that tried to control virus transmission was more impacted by COVID-19 than that of people in
According to research, stricter pandemic policy measures are associated with slightly worse mental health and lower life evaluations.measures are associated with negative mental health effects and a lower opinion of the government’s pandemic response.
Women in general and women living in households with children saw a higher decline in mental health during lockdowns compared to men of all ages. “Governmental responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have been widely debated. At first sight, it may seem that eliminator countries implemented much harsher strategies than other countries because of their widely reported international travel bans. But, in reality, people within these borders enjoyed more freedom and less restrictive domestic containment measures overall than citizens in mitigator countries,” says Dr. Lara Aknin, Simon Fraser University , author of the first study.
Stricter policy measures were in general associated with lower opinions of the government’s handling of the pandemic, and therefore, worse mental health. Evaluations of how the government handled the pandemic were more positive in eliminator compared to mitigator countries.