Abstract
The introduction of COVID-19 lockdown measures and an outlook on return to normality are demanding societal changes. Among the most pressing questions is how individuals adjust to the pandemic. This paper examines the emotional responses to the pandemic in a repeated-measures design. Data (n = 1698) were collected in April 2020 (during strict lockdown measures) and in April 2021 (when vaccination programmes gained traction). We asked participants to report their emotions and express these in text data. Statistical tests revealed an average trend towards better adjustment to the pandemic. However, clustering analyses suggested a more complex heterogeneous pattern with a well-coping and a resigning subgroup of participants. Linguistic computational analyses uncovered that topics and n-gram frequencies shifted towards attention to the vaccination programme and away from general worrying. Implications for public mental health efforts in identifying people at heightened risk are discussed. The dataset is made publicly available.
Highlights
Marginal-to-small effects were observed for a decrease in anger (d = 0.10 [0.04; 0.17]) and disgust (d = 0.10 [0.04; 0.17]). These findings suggest that the participants experienced considerably fewer negative emotions and somewhat more positive emotions
This paper examined how emotional responses to the pandemic changed within one year—from the early onset with severe lockdown measures until the prospect of a return to normal with ongoing vaccination programmes and decreasing incident rates
The analyses suggest that, on average, the intensity of negative emotions decreased and that of positive emotions increased from the onset of the pandemic to the prospect of re-opening the country
Summary
Worry for the world and what it will become. Sad for the elderly and those Fearful about the easing of lockdown in case cases rise and we have to lockdown again. Sick of trying to get food into the house! Feels like a survival game Still worried that someone I love will get sick but trying to keep the odds in perspective. Cross with people who are flouting the it will all be over and we can live normal lives again. Worry that this is a virus we know nothing about and so can’t possibly know the Will not be having it but wonder how that will affect my freedom. Worried that masks will become the norm—hate germs and fear other people—I see the fear in them too. Want to wak[e] up and it has faceless people. Want to wak[e] up and it has faceless people. all gone away
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
