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- Title
The Psychological Impact of COVID-19 in Canada: Effects of Social Isolation During the Initial Response.
- Authors
Best, Lisa A.; Law, Moira A.; Roach, Sean; Wilbiks, Jonathan M. P.
- Abstract
Canadian public health officials responded to the unprecedented global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by invoking public health measures ranging from extreme (e.g., quarantine) to lighter (e.g., social distancing) measures. Although necessary to mitigate disease spread, the psychological impact of social distancing and isolation is unknown (Wang et al., 2020). The impetus of this study were calls for research to compare the psychological effects of extreme and lighter measures (see Brooks et al., 2020), and our purpose was to examine the impact of COVID-19 on psychological distress to determine whether negative effects were present during the initial stages of social distancing/isolation measures. In this study, questionnaire data measuring satisfaction with life, social cohesion, psychological distress, and perceptions of risk was collected from 1381 Canadians during the early days of intense public health measures (31 March through 15 April 2020). Results suggest that even short-term social distancing practices are associated with increased psychological distress, including elevated levels of overall distress, such as panic, emotional disturbances, and depression. These results are noteworthy for several reasons: the timing of the distress, the population under investigation, and the fact that the applied mitigation was "lighter" than full quarantines previously studied. These findings suggest that after only a short period of time, less restrictive public health measures can lead to psychological distress. These results have major significance for government officials in future public health crisis as they judiciously weigh the costs and benefits of applying such measures with various public health guidelines discussed.
- Subjects
CANADA; COVID-19; SOCIOLOGY; QUARANTINE; SATISFACTION; PUBLIC health; SOCIAL isolation; RISK assessment; QUESTIONNAIRES; MENTAL depression; SOCIAL distancing; EMOTIONS; PSYCHOLOGICAL stress
- Publication
Canadian Psychology / Psychologie Canadienne, 2021, Vol 62, Issue 1, p143
- ISSN
0708-5591
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1037/cap0000254