COVID-19, lockdowns and well-being: Evidence from Google Trends

Brodeur, Abel; Clark, Andrew E.; Flèche, Sarah; Powdthavee, Nattavudh

doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104346

Cited by 514 publications

(417 citation statements)

References 33 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

391

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In this study, we found that searches for the term "suicide" increased after anticontagion measures, such as school closures, were enforced. These findings are consistent with those from studies that used Google Trends to explore the changes in the public's search behaviors during the pandemic [37,41]. A note of caution is due, however, when comparing this study to previous research, as our study used school closure during the pandemic as a proxy, whereas most studies have focused on lockdown.…”

Section: Principal Findingssupporting

confidence: 86%

Time Trends of the Public’s Attention Toward Suicide During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Retrospective, Longitudinal Time-Series Study

Burnett¹,

Eapen²,

Lin³

2020

JMIR Public Health Surveill

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed health care systems around the world. Emerging evidence has suggested that substantially few patients seek help for suicidality at clinical settings during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has elicited concerns of an imminent mental health crisis as the course of the pandemic continues to unfold. Clarifying the relationship between the public’s attention to knowledge about suicide and the public’s attention to knowledge about the COVID-19 pandemic may provide insight into developing prevention strategies for a putative surge of suicide in relation to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective The goal of this retrospective, longitudinal time-series study is to understand the relationship between temporal trends of interest for the search term “suicide” and those of COVID-19–related terms, such as “social distancing,” “school closure,” and “lockdown.” Methods We used the Google Trends platform to collect data on daily interest levels for search terms related to suicide, several other mental health-related issues, and COVID-19 over the period between February 14, 2020 and May 13, 2020. A correlational analysis was performed to determine the association between the search term ‘‘suicide’’ and COVID-19–related search terms in 16 countries. The Mann-Kendall test was used to examine significant differences between interest levels for the search term “suicide” before and after school closure. Results We found that interest levels for the search term “suicide” statistically significantly inversely correlated with interest levels for the search terms “COVID-19” or “coronavirus” in nearly all countries between February 14, 2020 and May 13, 2020. Additionally, search interest for the term ‘‘suicide’’ significantly and negatively correlated with that of many COVID-19–related search terms, and search interest varied between countries. The Mann-Kendall test was used to examine significant differences between search interest levels for the term “suicide” before and after school closure. The Netherlands (P=.19), New Zealand (P=.003), the United Kingdom (P=.006), and the United States (P=.049) showed significant negative trends in interest levels for suicide in the 2-week period preceding school closures. In contrast, interest levels for suicide had a significant positive trend in Canada (P<.001) and the United States (P=.002) after school closures. Conclusions The public’s attention to suicide might inversely correlate with the public’s attention to COVID-19–related issues. Additionally, several anticontagion policies, such as school closure, might have led to a turning point for mental health crises, because the attention to suicidality increased after restrictions were implemented. Our results suggest that an increased risk of suicidal ideation may ensue due to the ongoing anticontagion policies. Timely intervention strategies for suicides should therefore be an integral part of efforts to flatten the epidemic curve.

show abstract

Section: Principal Findingssupporting

confidence: 86%

Time Trends of the Public’s Attention Toward Suicide During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Retrospective, Longitudinal Time-Series Study

Burnett¹,

Eapen²,

Lin³

2020

JMIR Public Health Surveill

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health crisis is strongly affecting the psychological well-being of the general population. To prevent the spread of the virus, governments worldwide have imposed social distancing measures, closed schools, and enforced mandatory lockdowns, forcing individuals to deal with new and challenging situations ( Brodeur et al, 2020 ). In Italy, a series of restrictions of increasing severity began on February 23, 2020, with a regional lockdown initiated in Lombardy (northern Italy), where the country’s first case of COVID-19 was registered ( Lazzerini and Putoto, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Parent Psychological Distress on Child Hyperactivity/Inattention During the COVID-19 Lockdown: Testing the Mediation of Parent Verbal Hostility and Child Emotional Symptoms

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health crisis is strongly affecting the psychological well-being of the general population. According to a very recent literature, the imposed lockdown and social distancing measures have generated a series of negative outcomes, including fear of the future, anxiety, and somatization symptoms. Few studies have investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the well-being of parents and children, and still fewer studies have assessed the relationship between the psychological health of parents and children. The present study aimed at understanding the effect of parents’ psychological distress and verbal aggression on behavioral and emotional symptoms of children during the COVID-19 lockdown. Using an online survey administered in the first weeks of the lockdown in Italy, we explored the mediating effects of parent verbal hostility and child emotional symptoms on the relationship between parent distress and child hyperactivity/inattention in a sample of 878 Italian parents (87.4% mothers; meanage = 40.58). Two hypotheses were proposed: (1) parent distress would significantly predict child hyperactivity/inattention, and (2) parent verbal hostility and child emotional symptoms would mediate the association between parent distress and child hyperactivity/inattention. The serial mediated model confirmed both hypotheses, suggesting that higher rates of psychological distress in parents were associated with higher levels of hyperactivity/inattention in children. Parent verbal hostility and child emotional problems were also found to positively mediate this relation. Our results may be used to improve sociopsychological interventions in the general population in the near future. They may also contribute to the clinical definition of therapeutic paths for parents and families.

show abstract

“…The prevalence of the unknown coronavirus disease as a stressful event, in addition to direct effects on health, due to forcing people to quarantine at home can have several psychological consequences on individuals. Limited studies in this area show that lockdown and being isolated have significantly increased feelings of loneliness, anxiety, stress, and suicide in people living in European and American countries ( Brodeur et al, 2020 ). Other evidence suggests that children in quarantine situations experience feelings of anger, fear, loneliness, and boredom despite feeling happy and relaxed with family ( Idoiaga Mondragon et al, 2020 ), Conversely, the study of Recchi et al (2020) on the French population before and after the outbreak of coronavirus indicated an improvement in well-being and health in the unaffected majority; however, people with low income and who lost their job or those who worked long hours at home reported higher levels of stress ( Prickett et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic as an external stress has challenged the quality of couples’ relationships; home quarantine with negative psychological effects, such as anxiety, stress, depression, and frustration ( Brodeur et al, 2020 ; Idoiaga Mondragon et al, 2020 ), and making changes in the unemployment rate and reducing access to financial opportunities ( Coibion et al, 2020 ), forcing distress couples to spend many hours of the day together and increase the capacity for marital conflicts ( Perez-Vincent et al, 2020 ), can have negative effects on couples’ relationships; these effects become more destructive due to different backgrounds, such as low economic quality and low levels of vulnerability ( Pietromonaco and Overall, 2020 ). Kevin and Risla (2020) showed that couples with low income reported low MS during the lockdown or distressed couples experience worse individual and dyadic outcomes in the face of external stress ( Beach et al, 1994 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological Well-Being, Marital Satisfaction, and Parental Burnout in Iranian Parents: The Effect of Home Quarantine During COVID-19 Outbreaks

Mousavi

2020

Front. Psychol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as an infectious disease, is now prevalent in many countries around the world, which has recently led many governments to home quarantine and impose penalties for violating quarantine. Concerns and stress caused by lockdown and social isolation led to personal and interactive reactions in some families, which are also culturally important to address. This study was administrated to study the psychological well-being and the effect of home quarantine on marital satisfaction (MS) and parental burnout (PB) from parenting responsibilities during the prevalence of COVID-19 in Iranian parents. A total of 213 parents (140 mothers and 73 fathers) voluntarily participated in the online survey in the period of February to mid-April 2020 and completed the 5-item index of the well-being of the World Health Organization (WHO-5), the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (KMSS), and the Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA). The results showed that the effect of home quarantine on MS and PB was not significant in parents (p > 0.01). The interactive effect of home quarantine and gender was not significant on MS and PB (p > 0.01). In addition, the mothers significantly reported higher PB than the fathers, but the fathers had higher scores in MS and psychological well-being (p < 0.01). The effect of some demographic factors on the studied variables was also significant. Supportive resources in family-based culture may play an essential role to reduce the negative effects of stressful situations on family interactions.

show abstract

COVID-19, lockdowns and well-being: Evidence from Google Trends

Cited by 514 publications

References 33 publications

Time Trends of the Public’s Attention Toward Suicide During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Retrospective, Longitudinal Time-Series Study

Time Trends of the Public’s Attention Toward Suicide During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Retrospective, Longitudinal Time-Series Study

The Effect of Parent Psychological Distress on Child Hyperactivity/Inattention During the COVID-19 Lockdown: Testing the Mediation of Parent Verbal Hostility and Child Emotional Symptoms

Psychological Well-Being, Marital Satisfaction, and Parental Burnout in Iranian Parents: The Effect of Home Quarantine During COVID-19 Outbreaks

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About