The 'welcomed lockdown' hypothesis? Mental wellbeing and mobility restrictions.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic and its mobility restrictions have been an external shock, influencing mental wellbeing. However, does risk exposure to COVID-19 affect the mental wellbeing effect of lockdowns? This paper examines the 'welcomed lockdown' hypothesis, namely the extent to which there is a level of risk where mobility restrictions are not a hindrance to mental wellbeing. We exploit the differential timing of exposure the pandemic, and the different stringency of lockdown policies across European countries and we focus on the effects on two mental health conditions, namely anxiety and depression. We study whether differences in the individual symptoms of anxiety and depression are explained by the combination of pandemic mortality and stringency of lockdown. We draw on an event study app

SUBMITTER: Costa-Font J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9371965 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature