The COVID-19 Pandemic and Mental Health: Disentangling Crucial Channels

Bettina M. Siflinger (), Michaela Paffenholz (), Sebastian Seitz, Moritz Mendel () and Hans-Martin von Gaudecker
Additional contact information
Bettina M. Siflinger: Tilburg University
Michaela Paffenholz: University of Mannheim
Moritz Mendel: University of Bonn

No 14266, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a major source of concern has been its effect on mental health. Using pre-pandemic information and five customized questionnaires in the Dutch LISS panel, we investigate how mental health in the working population has evolved along with the most prominent risk factors associated with the pandemic. Overall, mental health decreased sharply with the onset of the first lockdown but recovered fairly quickly. In December 2020, levels of mental health are comparable to those in November 2019. We show that perceived risk of infection, labor market uncertainty, and emotional loneliness are all associated with worsening mental health. Both the initial drop and subsequent recovery are larger for parents of children below the age of 12. Among parents, the patterns are particularly pronounced for fathers if they shoulder the bulk of additional care. Mothers' mental health takes a particularly steep hit if they work from home and their partner is designated to take care during the additional hours.

Keywords: COVID-19; mental health; gender inequality; lockdown (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 I14 I18 I30 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 2021-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur and nep-hea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The CoViD-19 Pandemic and Mental Health: Disentangling Crucial Channels (2021)
Working Paper: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Mental Health: Disentangling Crucial Channels (2021)
Working Paper: The CoViD-19 pandemic and mental health: Disentangling crucial channels (2021)
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