Social participation and life satisfaction of peoples during the COVID-19 home confinement: the ECLB-COVID19 multicenter study

  1. Achraf Ammar
  2. Hamdi Chtourou
  3. Omar Boukhris
  4. Khaled Trabelsi
  5. Liwa Masmoudi
  6. Michael Brach
  7. Bassem Bouaziz
  8. Ellen Bentlage
  9. Daniella How
  10. Mona Ahmed
  11. Patrick Mueller
  12. Notger Mueller
  13. Asma Aloui
  14. Omar Hammouda
  15. Laisa Liane Paineiras-Domingos
  16. Annemarie Braakman-jansen
  17. Christian Wrede
  18. Sophia Bastoni
  19. Carlos Soares Pernambuco
  20. Leonardo Mataruna
  21. Morteza Taheri
  22. Khadijeh Irandoust
  23. Aïmen Khacharem
  24. Nicola L Bragazzi
  25. Karim Chamari
  26. Stephen J Bailey
  27. Nicholas T Bott
  28. Faiez Gargouri
  29. Lotfi Chaari
  30. Hadj Batatia
  31. Gamal Mohamed Ali
  32. Osama Abdelkarim
  33. Mohamed Jarraya
  34. Kais El Abed
  35. Nizar Souissi
  36. Lisette Van Gemert-Pijnen
  37. Bryan L Riemann
  38. Laurel Riemann
  39. Wassim Moalla
  40. Jonathan Gómez-Raja
  41. Monique Epstein
  42. Robbert Sanderman
  43. Sebastian Schulz
  44. Achim Jerg
  45. Ramzi Al-Horani
  46. Taysir Mansi
  47. Mohamed Jmail
  48. Fernando Barbosa
  49. Fernando Santos
  50. Boštjan Šimunič
  51. Rado Pišot
  52. Donald Cowan
  53. Andrea Gaggioli
  54. Jordan M Glenn
  55. Jürgen Steinacker
  56. Tarak Driss
  57. Anita Hoekelmann
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Abstract

Background

Public health recommendations and governmental measures during the COVID-19 pandemic have enforced numerous restrictions on daily living including social distancing, isolation and home confinement. While these measures are imperative to mitigate spreading of COVID-19, the impact of these restrictions on psychosocial health is undefined. Therefore, an international online survey was launched in April 2020 in seven languages to elucidate the behavioral and lifestyle consequences of COVID-19 restrictions. This report presents the preliminary results from the first thousand responders on social participation and life satisfaction.

Methods

Thirty-five research organisations from Europe, North-Africa, Western Asia and the Americas promoted the survey through their networks to the general society, in English, German, French, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, and Slovenian languages. Questions were presented in a differential format with questions related to responses “before” and “during” confinement conditions.

Results

1047 replies (54% women) from Asia (36%), Africa (40%), Europe (21%) and other (3%) were included in the analysis. Preliminary findings revealed psychosocial strain during the enforced COVID-19 home confinement. In particular, large decreases in the amount of social activity through family (58%), friends/neighbors (44.9%) or entertainment (46.7%) were triggered by the enforced confinement. These negative effects on social participation were also associated with lower satisfaction (−30.5%) during the confinement period. Conversely, social contact score through digital technologies has significantly increased (p<0.001) during the confinement period with more individuals (24.8%) being socially connected through digital technology.

Conclusion

These preliminary findings elucidate the risk of psychosocial strain during the current home confinement period. Therefore, in order to mitigate the negative psychosocial effects of home confinement, implementation of national strategies focused on promoting social inclusion through technology-based solution is urgently needed.

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