Online search trends and word-related emotional response during COVID-19 lockdown in Italy: a cross-sectional online study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The strong and long lockdown adopted by the Italian government to limit COVID-19 spreading represents the first threat-related mass isolation in history that can be studied in depth by scientists to understand individuals' emotional response to a pandemic.

Methods

We investigated the effects on individuals' mental wellbeing of this long-term isolation by means of an online survey on 71 Italian volunteers. They completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and Fear of COVID-19 Scale and judged valence, arousal, and dominance of words either related or unrelated to COVID-19, as identified by Google search trends.

Results

Emotional judgments changes from normative data varied depending on word type and individuals' emotional state, revealing early signal

SUBMITTER: Montefinese M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8362677 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature