Psychological Time during the COVID-19 Lockdown: Canadian Data

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated measures have affected routines and mental well-being of people around the world. Research also shows distorted time perception during lockdowns which can partially be explained by compromised well-being. The present study investigates Canadians’ temporal experience and mental well-being at two periods of national lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic (spring 2020: n = 66; beginning of 2021: n = 100). As results indicate, the only difference between these periods on the investigated variables was the strictness of lockdown measures. Our findings show associations between anxiety, depression, confinement indicators, and time perception (future temporal distance, passage of time judgments). Stepwise regression models indicated that depression and strictness of measures predicted the impression that the next week appeared farther away; one’s loneliness appraisal was associated with a perceived slower time flow. Our findings give a preliminary idea about time perception and mental well-being in the Canadian lockdowns.