The Impact of Quarantine on Emotions during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The unprecedented lockdown in Lithuania due to COVID-19 pandemic lasted for 92 days from March 15th to June 16th, 2020 producing profound changes in lifestyles and routines of population. It is not clear, what emotional responses this evoked in different groups of population. The goal of the current study was to research the emotional changes of the different gender and age groups of Lithuania population during the quarantine. From March 30th to June 8th, 2020 representative samples of Lithuanian citizens 18–74 years of age were surveyed five times on their emotional states. In total, 2634 participants answered questions from Gallup’s Global Emotions Report to evaluate their anxiety, sadness, anger, enjoyment, calmness, stress, and physical pain. Significant gender and age differences on emotion prevalence were found. During the five polls taken, more women were found to report feeling stressed, anxious, sad, and in more physical pain than men. Evaluations of anger, enjoyment, and calmness revealed no significant gender differences. Emotions were found to differ significantly between three age groups (18–29, 30–49 and 50–74). Contrary to expectations, the biggest negative impact of quarantine was found in the youngest group aged 18–29 years it showed highest prevalence of stress, anxiety, and sadness of all age groups. Individuals of different gender and age reacted to quarantine in a different way. These findings might provide some insight into factors affecting emotional reactions and help to plan better targeted social interventions in the future.