COVID-19, lockdowns and well-being: Evidence from Google Trends

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Brodeur, Abel; Clark, Andrew E.; Fleche, Sarah; Powdthavee, Nattavudh
• 署名单位: University of Ottawa; IZA Institute Labor Economics; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Paris School of Economics; Aix-Marseille Universite; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); University of Warwick
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104346
• 发表日期: 2021
• 关键词: Boredom; Covid-19; Lockdown; Loneliness; Well-being

摘要

The COVID-19 pandemic and government intervention such as lockdowns may severely affect people's mental health. While lockdowns can help to contain the spread of the virus, they may result in substantial damage to population well-being. We use Google Trends data to test whether COVID-19 and the associated lockdowns implemented in Europe and America led to changes in well-being related topic search terms. Using difference-in-differences and a regression discontinuity design, we find a substantial increase in the search intensity for boredom in Europe and the US. We also found a significant increase in searches for loneliness, worry and sadness, while searches for stress, suicide and divorce on the contrary fell. Our results suggest that people's mental health may have been severely affected by the pandemic and lockdown. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.