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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
medicine
Associations of lockdown stringency and duration with Google searches for mental health terms during the COVID-19 pandemic: A nine-country study
Journal of Psychiatric Research, Volume 150, Year 2022
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Description
Objectives: We examined the associations of lockdown stringency and duration with Google searches for four mental health concepts (i.e., “Anxiety,” “Depression,” “Suicide,” “Mental Health”) in nine countries (i.e., Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Paraguay, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We retrieved national-level data for each country from Google Trends and the Global Panel Database of Pandemic Policies. In our primary analysis, we used data from all countries to estimate a set of multilevel regression models examining associations of overall lockdown stringency and lockdown duration with relative search volumes for each mental health term. We repeated the models after replacing overall lockdown stringency with each of the lockdown stringency components. Results: A negative association was found between overall lockdown stringency and “Depression.” Lockdown duration and the most stringent stay-at-home requirements were negatively associated with “Anxiety.” Policies that recommended or required the cancelation of public events evidenced negative associations with “Depression,” whereas associations between policies that required some or all levels of schooling to close and “Depression” were positive. Policies that recommended or required workplaces to close and those that enforced quarantines on non-citizens arriving from high-risk regions or closed borders entirely were negatively associated with “Suicide.” Conclusions: Lockdown duration and some lockdown policies during the COVID-19 pandemic were generally associated with significantly lower, rather than higher, Google searches for selected mental health terms. These findings could be used alongside other evidence to develop future lockdown strategies that are sensitive to mental health issues during public health crises. © 2022
Available Materials
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC8971703/bin/mmc1.docx
Authors & Co-Authors
de la Rosa Fernández-Pacheco, Pedro Antonio
Spain, Pamplona
Universidad de Navarra
United States, Cambridge
Harvard University
Cowden, Richard Gregory
United States, Cambridge
Harvard University
de Filippis, Renato
Italy, Catanzaro
Università Degli Studi Magna Graecia Di Catanzaro
Nahidi, Mahsa
Iran, Mashhad
Mashhad University of Medical Sciences
Öri, Dorottya
Hungary, Budapest
Heim Pál National Pediatric Institute
Hungary, Budapest
Semmelweis Egyetem
Orsolini, Laura
Italy, Ancona
Università Politecnica Delle Marche
Nagendrappa, Sachin
India, Bengaluru
St. John's Medical College
Pinto Da Costa, Mariana
United Kingdom, London
King's College London
Ransing, Ramdas Sarjerao
India, Ratnagiri
Bkl Walawalkar Rural Medical College
Saeed, Fahimeh
Iran, Tehran
University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences
Shoib, Sheikh
India, Srinagar
Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Hospital
Ullah, Irfan
Pakistan, Peshawar
Gandhara University
Vadivel, Ramyadarshni
New Zealand, Hamilton
Waikato District Health Board
Ramalho, Rodrigo D.
New Zealand, Auckland
The University of Auckland
Statistics
Citations: 18
Authors: 14
Affiliations: 17
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.03.026
ISSN:
00223956
Research Areas
Covid
Mental Health
Study Locations
South Africa