Before and after the Quarantine: An Approximate Study on the Psychological Impact of COVID-19 on the Italian Population during the Lockdown Period

Lorena Marotta, Andrea Pesce and Andrea Guazzini
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Lorena Marotta: Department of Education, Languages, Intercultures, Literatures and Psychology, and LabCom, Research and Action for Psychosocial Wellbeing, 50135 Firenze, Italy
Andrea Pesce: Department of Education, Languages, Intercultures, Literatures and Psychology, and LabCom, Research and Action for Psychosocial Wellbeing, 50135 Firenze, Italy
Andrea Guazzini: Center for the Study of Complex Dynamics (CSDC), and Department of Education, Languages, Intercultures, Literatures and Psychology, University of Florence, 50121 Firenze, Italy

Future Internet, 2020, vol. 12, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: COVID-19 (Corona-Virus Disease 2019) in Italy and the measures that were adopted to contain its diffusion had a strong impact on people’s quality of life and mental health. The objective of the study was to quantify the psychological impact of the lockdown period on the general Italian population during the two weeks when the COVID-19 emergency in Italy was at its peak. The study (1556 adults) was conducted from April 6th to April 12th, 2020. A survey was developed through Google Forms in order to assess different psychological measures (Self Efficacy, Locus of Control, Social Connectedness, Sense of Virtual Community, Flourishing, Positive and Negative Affect, Life Satisfaction, and Risk Propensity). The results were then compared to reference data. Thelockdown period increased arousal mainly for negative emotions, but also for positive emotions, and quality of life seemed to be reduced. From a psychosocial point of view, while social connectedness has decreased during lockdown, probably because of isolation and social distancing, the virtual social community seemed to increase in the same period. Interestingly, we revealed how self efficacy increased during the lockdown period, and, at the same time, the Locus of control appeared as externalized, and the risk propensity as reduced. The results are discussed considering previous literature, and a coherent theoretical framework is proposed in order to refine the forecasting model for the psychological impact of the lockdown.

Keywords: COVID-19; lockdown; pandemics; COVID psychological impact; community resilience (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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