Psychosocial Effects and Use of Communication Technologies during Home Confinement in the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy and The Netherlands

(1) Background: The COVID-19 pandemic forced people from all around the globe to strongly modify their daily routines, putting a significant strain on the social aspects of daily lives. While the first wave of the pandemic was a very challenging time in all countries, it is still uncertain whether various lockdown intensities and infection rates differed regarding their psychosocial impact. This work therefore aimed to investigate (i) the psychosocial effects of home confinement in two European countries that underwent different lockdown intensities: Italy and the Netherlands and (ii) the role... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Bastoni, Sofia
Wrede, Christian
Ammar, Achraf
Braakman-Jansen, Annemarie
Sanderman, Robbert
Gaggioli, Andrea
Trabelsi, Khaled
Masmoudi, Liwa
Boukhris, Omar
Glenn, Jordan M.
Bouaziz, Bassem
Chtourou, Hamdi
van Gemert-Pijnen, Lisette
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
Reihe/Periodikum: Bastoni , S , Wrede , C , Ammar , A , Braakman-Jansen , A , Sanderman , R , Gaggioli , A , Trabelsi , K , Masmoudi , L , Boukhris , O , Glenn , J M , Bouaziz , B , Chtourou , H & van Gemert-Pijnen , L 2021 , ' Psychosocial Effects and Use of Communication Technologies during Home Confinement in the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy and The Netherlands ' , International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health , vol. 18 , no. 5 , 2619 . https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052619
Schlagwörter: COVID-19 / SARS-CoV-2 / home confinement / public health / mental wellbeing / loneliness / communication technology / SOCIAL-PARTICIPATION / NATURAL DISASTERS / LIFE-STYLE / SATISFACTION
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27210447
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://hdl.handle.net/11370/8a721f7a-0058-4065-9db5-8b4719e2b1e8

(1) Background: The COVID-19 pandemic forced people from all around the globe to strongly modify their daily routines, putting a significant strain on the social aspects of daily lives. While the first wave of the pandemic was a very challenging time in all countries, it is still uncertain whether various lockdown intensities and infection rates differed regarding their psychosocial impact. This work therefore aimed to investigate (i) the psychosocial effects of home confinement in two European countries that underwent different lockdown intensities: Italy and the Netherlands and (ii) the role of communication technology in relation to feelings of loneliness. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional online survey inquiring about different psychosocial variables and the use of and satisfaction towards communication technology was circulated among the general public during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. In total, 629 participants (66% female, 68% from the Netherlands) answered each question twice, referring to "before" and "during" the pandemic. (3) Results: We found significant negative effects of COVID-19 home confinement on depressive feelings (p < 0.001, % increment = +54%), loneliness (p < 0.001, % increment = +37.3%), life satisfaction (p < 0.001, % increment = -19.8%) and mental wellbeing (p < 0.001, % increment = -10.6%) which were accompanied with a significantly increased need for psychosocial support (p < 0.001, % increment = +17.3%). However, the magnitude of psychosocial impact did not significantly differ between residents undergoing a more intense (Italy) versus a less intense (Netherlands) lockdown, although the decrease in social participation was found to be significantly different for both countries (z = -7.714, p < 0.001). Furthermore, our findings demonstrate that the increase in loneliness was associated with the adoption of new digital communication tools (r = 0.21, p < 0.001), and significantly higher for individuals who started to adopt at least one new digital ...