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. 2022 May 3;22(1):821.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13130-y.

Social alignment matters: Following pandemic guidelines is associated with better wellbeing

Bahar Tunçgenç  1   2 , Martha Newson  3   4 , Justin Sulik  5 , Yi Zhao  6 , Guillaume Dezecache  7 , Ophelia Deroy  5   8   9 , Marwa El Zein  10   11
Affiliations

Social alignment matters: Following pandemic guidelines is associated with better wellbeing

Bahar Tunçgenç et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, most countries implemented physical distancing measures. Many mental health experts warned that through increasing social isolation and anxiety, these measures could negatively affect psychosocial wellbeing. However, socially aligning with others by adhering to these measures may also be beneficial for wellbeing.

Methods: We examined these two contrasting hypotheses using cross-national survey data (N = 6675) collected fortnightly from participants in 115 countries over 3 months at the beginning of the pandemic. Participants reported their wellbeing, perceptions of how vulnerable they were to Covid-19 (i.e., high risk of infection) and how much they, and others in their social circle and country, were adhering to the distancing measures.

Results: Linear mixed-effects models showed that being a woman, having lower educational attainment, living alone and perceived high vulnerability to Covid-19 were risk factors for poorer wellbeing. Being young (18-25) was associated with lower wellbeing, but longitudinal analyses showed that young people's wellbeing improved over 3 months. In contrast to widespread views that physical distancing measures negatively affect wellbeing, results showed that following the guidelines was positively associated with wellbeing even for people in high-risk groups.

Conclusions: These findings provide an important counterpart to the idea that pandemic containment measures such as physical distancing negatively impacted wellbeing unequivocally. Despite the overall burden of the pandemic on psychosocial wellbeing, social alignment with others can still contribute to positive wellbeing. The pandemic has manifested our propensity to adapt to challenges, particularly highlighting how social alignment can forge resilience.

Keywords: Covid-19 lockdown; Mental health; Pandemic adherence; Social alignment; Social distancing; Wellbeing.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Demographic risk factor and welbeing over time. Association of wellbeing with (A) age, (B) education, (C) gender, (D) household and (E) work/study status across 6 timepoints. Points show the group mean and bars show the standard error of the mean
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Pandemic-specific factors and welbeing over time. The associations between (A) self-vulnerability and wellbeing, (B) loved ones’ vulnerability and wellbeing, and (C) adherence to physical distancing guidelines and wellbeing. Dots show the group mean and bars show the standard error of the mean
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Social alignment, adherence to pandemic guidelines and welbeing. (A) Adherence is more strongly linked to better wellbeing when more stringent measures are implemented. Behaving more similarly (i.e., high compliance) to (B) one’s close circle, and (C) fellow citizens in one’s country are associated with better wellbeing. Dots show the group mean and bars show the standard error of the mean
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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