Oyejide Aderemi O, Besharati Sahba N, Alcock Stephanie, Schioth Helgi B, Brooks Samantha J
Department of Psychology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Wits School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Sci Rep. 2025 Apr 10;15(1):12220. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-91991-0.
The unprecedented outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the course of many lives, resulting in multiple health and social challenges. Due to the speed at which this pandemic spread, various public health 'lockdown' measures were introduced to mitigate its spread. The outcome of adherence to these measures has revealed the possible influence on individuals' varying cognitive abilities. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore the predictive relationships between lockdown responses and COVID-19 restrictions, memory recall performance, and associated emotional responses while examining the sociodemographic influences of age and sex. Participants were drawn from a secondary dataset of an international online survey study of 1634 individuals aged 18-75 years across 49 countries. Participants' demographic questionnaires, free memory recall, and hospital anxiety and depression scale scores were used to collect the data for analysis. Four-way MANOVA and hierarchical multiple regression were utilised to explore the mean differences and predict relationships between the study variables. Significant differences were found in memory recall performance and anxiety and depression scores across lockdown groups (the comply, sufferer, and defiant). Regression analysis indicated that age and gender were predictive markers of lockdown responses and anxiety (R = 0.14, F = 66.15, p < .001, f = 0.17), while age was the only predictor of lockdown responses and depression association ([Formula: see text] = -0.78, t(1625) = -4.35, p < .001). Lockdown compliance was associated with better free recall (M = 8.51, SD = 6.38, p < .001; η = 0.01), lockdown suffering was associated with greater anxiety (M = 9.97, SD = 4.36, p < .001; η = 0.06), and lockdown deviance was associated with greater depression (M = 7.90, SD = 3.12, p < .001; η = 0.05). The current study provides valuable information on the mechanisms of cognitive interpretations and emotional arousal in individuals' social isolation responses to recent life stress and potential severe pandemics. This may support the need for robust interventions aimed at improving people's psychological appraisals associated with anxiety in preparation for any new potential waves or future pandemics.
新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）疫情的爆发史无前例，改变了许多人的生活轨迹，带来了诸多健康和社会挑战。由于该疫情传播速度极快，各地采取了各种公共卫生“封锁”措施以减缓其传播。对这些措施的遵守情况所产生的结果揭示了其对个体不同认知能力可能产生的影响。因此，本研究旨在探讨封锁应对措施与COVID-19限制措施、记忆回忆表现及相关情绪反应之间的预测关系，同时考察年龄和性别在社会人口统计学方面的影响。研究参与者来自一项针对49个国家1634名年龄在18至75岁之间个体的国际在线调查研究的二级数据集。通过参与者的人口统计学问卷、自由记忆回忆以及医院焦虑抑郁量表得分来收集数据进行分析。采用四因素多元方差分析和分层多元回归来探究研究变量之间的均值差异并预测关系。在不同封锁组（遵守组、受苦组和违抗组）的记忆回忆表现以及焦虑和抑郁得分方面发现了显著差异。回归分析表明，年龄和性别是封锁应对措施和焦虑的预测指标（R = 0.14，F = 66.15，p <.001，f = 0.17），而年龄是封锁应对措施与抑郁关联的唯一预测指标（β = -0.78，t(1625) = -4.35，p <.001）。遵守封锁措施与更好的自由回忆相关（M = 8.51，SD = 6.38，p <.001；η = 0.01），遭受封锁措施影响与更高的焦虑相关（M = 9.97，SD = 4.36，p <.001；η = 0.06），而违抗封锁措施与更高的抑郁相关（M = 7.90，SD = 3.12，p <.001；η = 0.05）。本研究为个体在应对近期生活压力和潜在严重疫情时的社会隔离反应中的认知解读和情绪唤起机制提供了有价值的信息。这可能支持了开展有力干预措施的必要性，这些措施旨在改善人们与焦虑相关的心理评估，为应对任何新的潜在疫情浪潮或未来大流行做好准备。
