Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 May:301:114906.
doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114906. Epub 2022 Mar 14.

The association between COVID-19 policy responses and mental well-being: Evidence from 28 European countries

Veronica Toffolutti  1 , Samuel Plach  2 , Teodora Maksimovic  3 , Giorgio Piccitto  4 , Massimiliano Mascherini  5 , Letizia Mencarini  6 , Arnstein Aassve  7
Affiliations

The association between COVID-19 policy responses and mental well-being: Evidence from 28 European countries

Veronica Toffolutti et al. Soc Sci Med. 2022 May.

Abstract

This study assesses how the implementation and lifting of non-pharmaceutical policy interventions (NPIs), deployed by most governments, to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, were associated with individuals' mental well-being (MWB) across 28 European countries. This is done both for the general population and across key-groups. We analyze longitudinal data for 15,147 respondents from three waves of the Eurofound-"Living, Working and COVID-19" survey, covering the period April 2020-March 2021. MWB is measured by the WHO-5 index. Our evidence suggests that restriction on international travel, private gatherings, and contact tracing (workplace closures) were negatively (positively) associated with MWB by about, respectively, -0.63 [95% CI: -0.79 to -0.47], -0.24 [95% CI: -0.38 to -0.10], and -0.22 [95% CI: -0.36 to -0.08] (0.29 [95% CI: 0.11 to 0.48]) points. These results correspond to -3.9%, -1.5%, and -1.4% (+1.8%) changes compared to pre-pandemic levels. However, these findings mask important group-differences. Women compared to men fared worse under stay-at-home requirements, internal movement restrictions, private gatherings restrictions, public events cancellation, school closures, and workplace closures. Those residing with children below 12, compared to those who do not, fared worse under public events cancellation, school closures and workplace closures. Conversely, those living with children 12-17, compared to those who do not, fared better under internal movement restrictions and public events cancelling. Western-Europeans vis-à-vis Eastern-Europeans fared better under NPIs limiting their mobility and easing their debts, whereas they fared worse under health-related NPIs. This study provides timely evidence of the rise in inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic and offers strategies for mitigating them.

Keywords: COVID-19; Mental well-being; NPIs; Non-pharmaceutical interventions; Pandemic.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Non-pharmaceutical policy interventions: Cross-country average over time.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The association of non-pharmaceutical policy interventions with mental well-being.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The association of non-pharmaceutical policy interventions with mental well-being: By gender, educational attainment, sector of activity.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The association of non-pharmaceutical policy interventions with mental well-being: By family arrangements.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
The association of non-pharmaceutical policy interventions with mental well-being: By country group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ahmad A., Rahman I., Agarwal M. 2020. Factors Influencing Mental Health during Covid-19 Outbreak: an Exploratory Survey Among Indian Population.
    1. Badahdah A.M., Khamis F., Al Mahyijari N. The psychological well-being of physicians during COVID-19 outbreak in Oman. Psychiatr. Res. 2020;289:113053. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Baker M., Gruber J., Milligan K. Universal child care, maternal labor supply, and family well-being. J. Polit. Econ. 2008;116(4):709–745.
    1. Balbo N., Carapella P., Toffolutti V. Trends in the use of mind-altering drugs among European adolescents during the Great Recession. Health Pol. 2020;124(5):568–574. - PubMed
    1. Block P., Hoffman M., Raabe I.J., et al. Social network-based distancing strategies to flatten the COVID-19 curve in a post-lockdown world. Nat. Hum. Behav. 2020;4(6):588–596. - PubMed

Publication types