Corona has made people in north of Netherlands unhappier
The degree to which people feel connected to others has also significantly decreased. In March 2020, 70 percent of the approximately 30,000 respondents felt like they were connected to others, but that number has since decreased by half.
Young people
Especially young people feel their quality of life has worsened over the past few months. They give their lives a 6. In the summer, that grade was 7.7. The researchers say the change is because this group, which includes a lot of students, is particularly affected by the corona restrictions.
Classes have moved online, students don’t have a social life anymore, and they’ve lost their jobs; these are all factors contributing to the low grade, the researchers say. Added to that is the fact that young people test positive for Covid-19 relatively often, which means student houses often have to quarantine themselves.
Comfort
While the decrease among young people is striking, the negative effects on the mental health of people in the north of the Netherlands are visible across all population groups. The corona pandemic has made everyone feel worse.
‘There are undoubtedly people who wonder if they’re the only ones to feel tired or depressed’, says genetics professor Lude Franke. ‘Our research unequivocally shows that people in every population group experience these feelings. Perhaps it’s some comfort to know that they’re not the only ones struggling with the effects of the pandemic.’
Research
Approximately 30,000 inhabitants of the northern regions have been filling out surveys on their physical and mental health since March of 2020. So far, they’ve filled out nineteen of them.
Franke says the research can provide insight that can be used in the future to apply restrictions that impact people’s well-being as little as possible:
‘The detailed information on their health, work, and living situation that we’ve been collecting since the start of the pandemic enables research into the risk factors of getting infected with Covid-19 and which restrictions had an effect on curtailing the spread of the virus.’