One year on: What we have learned about the psychological effects of COVID-19 social restrictions: A meta-analysis

Laura Knox; Gery C. Karantzas; Daniel Romano; Judith A. Feeney; Jeffry A. Simpson

doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101315

One year on: What we have learned about the psychological effects of COVID-19 social restrictions: A meta-analysis

Laura Knox, Gery C. Karantzas, Daniel Romano, Judith A. Feeney, Jeffry A. Simpson

Psychology (Twin Cities)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

38 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article reports on the first meta-analysis of studies on the association between government-imposed social restrictions and mental health outcomes published during the initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty-three studies (N = 131,844) were included. Social restrictions were significantly associated with increased mental health symptoms overall (d =.41 [CI 95%.17–.65]), including depression (d =.83 [CI 95%.30–1.37]), stress (d =.21 [CI 95%.01–.42]) and loneliness (d =.30 [CI 95%.07–.52]), but not anxiety (d =.26 [CI 95% −.04–.56]). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that the strictness and length of restrictions had divergent effects on mental health outcomes, but there are concerns regarding study quality. The findings provide critical insights for future research on the effects of COVID-19 social restrictions.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	101315
Journal	Current Opinion in Psychology
Volume	46
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101315
State	Published - Aug 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

COVID-19
Lockdown
Loneliness
Mental health
Meta-analysis

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101315

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title = "One year on: What we have learned about the psychological effects of COVID-19 social restrictions: A meta-analysis",

abstract = "This article reports on the first meta-analysis of studies on the association between government-imposed social restrictions and mental health outcomes published during the initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty-three studies (N = 131,844) were included. Social restrictions were significantly associated with increased mental health symptoms overall (d =.41 [CI 95%.17–.65]), including depression (d =.83 [CI 95%.30–1.37]), stress (d =.21 [CI 95%.01–.42]) and loneliness (d =.30 [CI 95%.07–.52]), but not anxiety (d =.26 [CI 95% −.04–.56]). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that the strictness and length of restrictions had divergent effects on mental health outcomes, but there are concerns regarding study quality. The findings provide critical insights for future research on the effects of COVID-19 social restrictions.",

keywords = "COVID-19, Lockdown, Loneliness, Mental health, Meta-analysis",

author = "Laura Knox and Karantzas, {Gery C.} and Daniel Romano and Feeney, {Judith A.} and Simpson, {Jeffry A.}",

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year = "2022",

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doi = "10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101315",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "46",

journal = "Current Opinion in Psychology",

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T2 - What we have learned about the psychological effects of COVID-19 social restrictions: A meta-analysis

AU - Knox, Laura

AU - Karantzas, Gery C.

AU - Romano, Daniel

AU - Feeney, Judith A.

AU - Simpson, Jeffry A.

PY - 2022/8

Y1 - 2022/8

N2 - This article reports on the first meta-analysis of studies on the association between government-imposed social restrictions and mental health outcomes published during the initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty-three studies (N = 131,844) were included. Social restrictions were significantly associated with increased mental health symptoms overall (d =.41 [CI 95%.17–.65]), including depression (d =.83 [CI 95%.30–1.37]), stress (d =.21 [CI 95%.01–.42]) and loneliness (d =.30 [CI 95%.07–.52]), but not anxiety (d =.26 [CI 95% −.04–.56]). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that the strictness and length of restrictions had divergent effects on mental health outcomes, but there are concerns regarding study quality. The findings provide critical insights for future research on the effects of COVID-19 social restrictions.

AB - This article reports on the first meta-analysis of studies on the association between government-imposed social restrictions and mental health outcomes published during the initial year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty-three studies (N = 131,844) were included. Social restrictions were significantly associated with increased mental health symptoms overall (d =.41 [CI 95%.17–.65]), including depression (d =.83 [CI 95%.30–1.37]), stress (d =.21 [CI 95%.01–.42]) and loneliness (d =.30 [CI 95%.07–.52]), but not anxiety (d =.26 [CI 95% −.04–.56]). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that the strictness and length of restrictions had divergent effects on mental health outcomes, but there are concerns regarding study quality. The findings provide critical insights for future research on the effects of COVID-19 social restrictions.

KW - COVID-19

KW - Lockdown

KW - Loneliness

KW - Mental health

KW - Meta-analysis

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VL - 46

JO - Current Opinion in Psychology

JF - Current Opinion in Psychology

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ER -

One year on: What we have learned about the psychological effects of COVID-19 social restrictions: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Publisher link

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