A survey of 562 people in the United States helps reveal the emotional impact of the pandemic, suggesting that many turn to substances such as alcohol and marijuana to help them manage anxiety and depression.
For many people, the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic has profoundly altered their emotional landscape, and they feel the effects on a daily basis.
A survey from the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, has shed light on the ways in which people in the U.S. were dealing with quarantine and physical distancing in late March 2020.
The responses indicate that depression and anxiety are common and that people are coping with these issues in a range of ways.
The university’s Parenting in Context Research Lab have published the findings online.
The researchers conducted the 2-week survey through Prolific, an online survey tool.
They launched the survey on March 24, a week after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic and the White House released guidelines for response measures.
In total, the investigators surveyed 562 people aged 18 or older. Among the respondents, 52% had at least a bachelor’s degree, and the average age was 35. Household incomes ranged from $50,000 to $70,000, and 74% of the respondents reported that they currently had a romantic partner.
As for the ethnic makeup of the cohort, 74% of the participants identified as white, 9% as Hispanic, 8% as black, and 5% as Asian, while the remainder identified as “other.”
Overall, 1 in 4 survey respondents knew someone who had been tested for the virus, and 1 in 9 knew someone with a positive diagnosis.
Analysis indicated that 76% felt that concern about the new coronavirus was justified, while 13% felt that it was not. Yet 98% of all respondents said that they were physical distancing, and 82% reported being in lockdown.
A little more than half of those surveyed, 54%, said that their lives had been significantly disrupted by COVID-19.
The researchers asked the participants to choose three words that best described their attitudes towards the pandemic. “Anxious,” “nervous,” “scared,” “stressed,” and “uncertain” were those that came up most often.
Personal concerns expressed in the survey were more economic than medical in nature: 47% of respondents were worried that they cou