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Stay at Home! Governance Quality and Effectiveness of Lockdown.

ABSTRACT: In order to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, during the first wave of the pandemic numerous countries decided to adopt lockdown policies. It had been a considerable time since such measures were last introduced, and the first time that they were implemented on such a global scale in a contemporary, information intensive society. The effectiveness of such measures may depend on how citizens perceive the capacity of government to set up and implement sound policies. Indeed, lockdown and confinement policies in general are binding measures that people are not used to, and which raise serious concerns among the population. For this reason governance quality could affect the perception of the benefits related to the government's choice to impose lockdown, making citizens more inclined to accept it and restrict their movements. In the present paper we empirically investigate the relation between the efficacy of lockdown and governance quality (measured through World Governance Indicators). Our results suggest that countries with higher levels of government effectiveness, rule of law and regulatory quality reach better results in adopting lockdown measures.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11205-021-02742-3.

SUBMITTER: Alfano V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8238379 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Stay at Home! Governance Quality and Effectiveness of Lockdown.

Alfano Vincenzo V Ercolano Salvatore S

Social indicators research 20210628 1

In order to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, during the first wave of the pandemic numerous countries decided to adopt lockdown policies. It had been a considerable time since such measures were last introduced, and the first time that they were implemented on such a global scale in a contemporary, information intensive society. The effectiveness of such measures may depend on how citizens perceive the capacity of government to set up and implement sound policies. Indeed, lockdown an ...[more]

PMID: 34219863

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Project description:BACKGROUND:COVID-19 and home isolation has impacted quality of life, but the perceived impact on anxiety and sleep remains equivocal. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders on self-report anxiety and sleep quality, with a focus on sex differences. We hypothesized that the COVID-19 pandemic would be associated with increased anxiety and decreased sleep quality, with stronger associations in women. METHODS:One hundred three participants (61 female, 38 ± 1?years) reported perceived changes in anxiety and sleep quality due to stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic and were administered the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI). Chi-square and T test analyses were utilized to assess sex differences in reported anxiety and sleep. Analysis of covariance was used to compare the associations between reported impact of COVID-19 and anxiety/sleep parameters. RESULTS:Women (80.3%) reported higher prevalence of increased general anxiety due to COVID-19 when compared to men (50%; p = 0.001) and elevated STAI state anxiety compared to men (43 ± 1 vs. 38 ± 1?a.u., p = 0.007). Despite these differences in anxiety, the perceived impact of COVID-19 on PSQI was not different between sexes. However, when stratified by perceived changes in anxiety due to COVID-19, participants with higher anxiety responses to COVID-19 had higher ISI compared to those with no perceived changes in anxiety (9 ± 1 vs. 5 ± 1?a.u., p = 0.003). Additionally, participants who reported reduced sleep quality due to COVID-19 reported higher state anxiety (45 ± 1?a.u.) compared to those that perceived no change (36 ± 2?a.u., p = 0.002) or increased (36 ± 2?a.u., p < 0.001) sleep quality. CONCLUSION:COVID-19 and state-ordered home isolation was associated with higher anxiety and reduced sleep quality, with a stronger association in women with respect to anxiety.

Project description:BackgroundConsent policies for post-mortem organ procurement (OP) vary throughout Europe, and yet no studies have empirically evaluated the ethical implications of contrasting consent models. To fill this gap, we introduce a novel indicator of governance quality based on the ideal of informed support, and examine national differences on this measure through a quantitative survey of OP policy informedness and preferences in seven European countries.MethodsBetween 2017-2019, we conducted a convenience sample survey of students (n = 2006) in Austria (AT), Belgium (BE), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Greece (GR), Slovenia (SI) and Spain (ES), asking participants about their donation preferences, as well as their beliefs and views about the policy in place. From these measures, we computed indices of informedness, policy support, and fulfilment of unexpressed preferences, which we compared across countries and consent systems.ResultsOur study introduces a tool for analyzing policy governance in the context of OP. Wide variation in policy awareness was observed: Most respondents in DK, DE, AT and BE correctly identified the policy in place, while those in SI, GR and ES did not. Respondents in opt-out countries (AT, BE, ES and GR) tended to support the policy in place (with one exception, i.e., SI), whereas those in opt-in countries (DE and DK) overwhelmingly opposed it. These results reveal stark differences in governance quality across countries and consent policies: We found a preponderance of informed opposition in opt-in countries and a general tendency towards support-either informed or uninformed-in opt-out countries. We also found informed divergence in opt-in countries and a tendency for convergence-either informed or uninformed-among opt-out countries.ConclusionOur study offers a novel tool for analyzing governance quality and illustrates, in the context of OP, how the strengths and weaknesses of different policy implementations can be estimated and compared using quantitative survey data.

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Stay at Home! Governance Quality and Effectiveness of Lockdown.

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Stay at Home! Governance Quality and Effectiveness of Lockdown.

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