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      The psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns: a review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies and natural experiments

      review-article
      1 , 2
      Psychological Medicine
      Cambridge University Press
      COVID-19, lockdown, mental health, quarantine, SARS-CoV-2, well-being

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          Abstract

          Lockdowns to control the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have had profound effects on everyday life worldwide, but their effect on mental health remains unclear because available meta-analyses and reviews rely mostly on cross-sectional studies. We conducted a rapid review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies and natural experiments investigating the relationship between COVID-19 lockdowns and mental health. A total of 25 studies involving 72 004 participants and 58 effect sizes were analyzed. Using a random effects model, we found that lockdowns had small effects on mental health symptoms, g = 0.17, s.e. = 0.05, 95% CI (0.06–0.24), p = 0.001, but the effects on positive psychological functioning, g = −0.12, s.e. = 0.11, 95% CI (−0.33 to 0.09), p = 0.27, were not significant. Multivariate analysis of effect sizes revealed significant and relatively small effect sizes for anxiety and depression, while those for social support, loneliness, general distress, negative affect, and suicide risk were not significant. The results indicated substantial heterogeneity among studies, but meta-regression analyses found no significant moderation effects for mean age, gender, continent, COVID-19 death rate, days of lockdown, publication status or study design. The psychological impact of COVID-19 lockdowns is small in magnitude and highly heterogeneous, suggesting that lockdowns do not have uniformly detrimental effects on mental health and that most people are psychologically resilient to their effects.

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Psychol Med
                Psychol Med
                PSM
                Psychological Medicine
                Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, UK )
                0033-2917
                1469-8978
                13 January 2021
                : 1-11
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Italy , Piazza Aldo Moro, 90, 47521 Cesena (FC), Italy
                [2 ]Department of Psychology, Pace University , Marks Hall, Rm 33, 861 Bedford Road, Pleasantville, NY 10570, USA
                Author notes
                Author for correspondence: Gabriele Prati, E-mail: gabriele.prati@ 123456unibo.it
                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0749-183X
                https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5589-1523
                Article
                S0033291721000015
                10.1017/S0033291721000015
                7844215
                33436130
                30d19f85-6576-429f-b5fe-2f1691bfb73b
                © The Author(s) 2021

                This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 19 September 2020
                : 02 January 2021
                : 05 January 2021
                Page count
                Figures: 3, Tables: 3, References: 78, Pages: 11
                Categories
                Review Article

                Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry
                covid-19,lockdown,mental health,quarantine,sars-cov-2,well-being
                Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry
                covid-19, lockdown, mental health, quarantine, sars-cov-2, well-being

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