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

Abel Brodeur, Andrew Clark, Sarah Flèche and Nattavudh Powdthavee

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has led many governments to implement lockdowns. While lockdowns may 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 the lockdowns implemented in Europe and America led to changes in well-being related topic search terms. Using differences-in-differences and a regression discontinuity design to evaluate the causal effects of lockdown, 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 lockdown.

Keywords: boredom; Covid-19; loneliness; well-being; coronavirus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I12 I31 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 56 pages
Date: 2020-05-19
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hap
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (22)

Downloads: (external link)
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/108456/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: COVID-19, lockdowns and well-being: Evidence from Google Trends (2021)
Working Paper: COVID-19, Lockdowns and Well-Being: Evidence from Google Trends (2021)
Working Paper: COVID-19, Lockdowns and Well-Being: Evidence from Google Trends (2021)
Working Paper: Covid-19, lockdowns and well-being: evidence from Google trends (2020)
Working Paper: COVID-19, Lockdowns and Well-Being: Evidence from Google Trends (2020)
Working Paper: COVID-19, Lockdowns and Well-Being: Evidence from Google Trends (2020)
Working Paper: COVID-19, Lockdowns and Well-Being: Evidence from Google Trends (2020)
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