Ball State University Muncie, IN, United States.
Villanova University, Villanova, PA, United States.
Soc Sci Med. 2021 Feb;270:113615. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113615. Epub 2020 Dec 17.
During the early 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, several US states had implemented stay-in-place orders (SIPOs) with varying degrees of stringency which resulted in inter-state differences in mobility (i.e., longer presence at home). We test whether the inter-state differences in mobility influenced changes in reported psychological distress. Our study is not on the surge in COVID-19 in the later part of 2020.
To identify whether the change in state-level mobility is associated with the change in individuals' reported psychological distress during the early COVID-19 pandemic and whether the intensity of the association varies by older individuals, females, and nonwhites.
We use differences in state-level mobility and change in reported psychological distress between the two dates of interviews of 5,132 individuals who participated in March and April 2020 waves of Understanding America Study (UAS).
We find support for modest effects, i.e., a one standard deviation decline in mobility was associated with a 3.02% higher psychological distress [95% CI: 0.4%-5.64%], and the effects are robust to controlling for reported changes in exercise intensity, alcohol consumption, cannabis use, recreational drug use, and meditation intensity. We also find support for a stronger association for females, but not for older individuals or non-whites. Further, we do not find support for the mediation effects from change in chance of running out of money or change in chance of getting COVID-19.
Our findings show that reduced mobility from lockdowns during the early COVID-19 wave in the US is associated with a modest increase in reported psychological distress, especially for females. However, these conclusions should not be construed as a small increase in psychological distress in general, as a variety of non-mobility related factors associated with COVID-19 could have exacerbated psychological distress during the early COVID-19 wave in the US.
在 2020 年 COVID-19 大流行早期，美国几个州实施了不同严格程度的就地避难令（SIPOs），导致各州之间的流动性存在差异（即更长时间呆在家里）。我们测试各州之间的流动性差异是否会影响报告的心理困扰的变化。我们的研究不是针对 2020 年后期 COVID-19 的激增。
确定州级流动性的变化是否与 COVID-19 大流行早期个体报告的心理困扰的变化有关，以及这种关联的强度是否因老年人、女性和非白人而有所不同。
我们使用 5132 名参与者在 2020 年 3 月和 4 月参加的理解美国研究（UAS）的两次访谈日期之间的州级流动性差异和报告的心理困扰变化来进行研究。
我们发现适度的影响，即流动性下降一个标准差与心理困扰增加 3.02%[95%CI：0.4%-5.64%]有关，并且这些影响在控制报告的运动强度、酒精消耗、大麻使用、娱乐性药物使用和冥想强度的变化后仍然稳健。我们还发现女性的关联更强，但对老年人或非白人则不然。此外，我们没有发现从钱用完的机会变化或感染 COVID-19 的机会变化中产生的中介效应的支持。
我们的研究结果表明，美国 COVID-19 早期浪潮期间的封锁导致的流动性减少与报告的心理困扰适度增加有关，尤其是对女性而言。然而，这些结论不应被解释为一般心理困扰的微小增加，因为与 COVID-19 相关的各种非流动性因素可能在美国 COVID-19 早期浪潮期间加剧了心理困扰。
