Cultural withdrawal during COVID-19 lockdown: Impact in a sample of 828 artists and recipients of highbrow culture in Germany.

Abstract

Dealing with arts is an important predictor for psychological well-being and health The implications of the standstill of public cultural life during the lockdown in Germany is studied among 828 producers (36%) or consumers (36%) of art, or subjects claiming both roles (28%), from performative arts, music, and other forms of cultural engagement Prelockdown frequency of visiting, respectively, acting at cultural events was on average 1 event every 8 4th day in the consumer group, 5 9 days in the producer group, and 6 1 days in the group claiming both roles Producers reported a loss of 1 active event every 4 8th day, the producer/consumer group each 6 1 days Receptive events cancelled during the lockdown hit all 3 groups comparably (1 event every 13 7th day) Existential threat or serious mood disorder was reported by less than 10% in all 3 respondent groups;38% of the consumer group reported no cultural withdrawal and even advantages Both other groups with active involvement in cultural events faced no negative (or even positive) impact in over 25% In a multivariate classification tree analysis, most prominently the size of receptive as well as active losses proved influential on successful coping Neither sociodemographic characteristics, nor living situation or health condition could be shown to exert a direct impact Precluding people affine to highbrow culture from attending seems to be an independent risk factor at least for well-being Potentially resulting mental health problems have to be carefully monitored during the ongoing pandemic (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)