Perceived efficacy of COVID-19 restrictions, reactions and their impact on mental health during the early phase of the outbreak in six countries

• DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/ce4n3
• Publication Date: 2020-04-04T17:16:23Z
• Authors: Martin Jensen Mækelæ; Niv Reggev; Natalia Bezerra D...; Ricardo M. Tamayo; Reinaldo A. Silva...; Kristoffer Klevjer; Gerit Pfuhl
• Keywords: Social Psychology; Preparedness; VDP::Social science: 200::Psychology: 260; Science; FOS: Political science; Clinical psychology; Social Sciences; FOS: Law; Role of Positive Emotions in Well-Being; Infectious disease (medical specialty); Psychological Distress; Social psychology; lockdown; Psychological Impact; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience; Virology; Social distance; Pathology; Psychology; Disease; Political science; Psychiatry; Psychological resilience; Pandemic; pandemic; protection motivation theory; Q; Distress; distress; Outbreak; perceived risk; 3. Good health; FOS: Psychology; Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); Clinical Psychology; Mental Health; Psychological Effects of Social Exclusion; VDP::Samfunnsvitenskap: 200::Psykologi: 260; Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health; Medicine; Mental health; Life satisfaction; Paranoia; Law

The COVID-19 pandemic forced millions of people to drastically change their social life habits as governments employed harsh restrictions to reduce the spread of the virus. Although beneficial to physical health, the perception of physical distancing and related countermeasures could impact mental health. In a pre-registered online survey, we assessed how effective a range of countermeasures were perceived, how severely they affected daily life, general distress and paranoia during the early phase of the outbreak in Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Israel, Norway and US. Most of our over 2000 respondents rated the countermeasures as effective. School closings were perceived as having the strongest effect on daily life. Participants who believed their country reacted too mildly perceived the risk of contracting Sars-CoV-2 to be higher, were more worried and expressed reduced beliefs in the ability to control the outbreak. Relatedly, dissatisfaction with governmental actions corresponded with increased distress levels. Together, we found that satisfaction with one’s governmental actions and fear appraisal play an important role in assessing the efficacy of countermeasures during the pandemic and their related psychological outcomes. These findings inform policy-makers on the psychological factors that strengthen resilience and foster the well-being of citizens in times of global crisis.