| Title: |
Differential effects of COVID-19 and containment measures on mental health: Evidence from ITA.LI-Italian Lives, the Italian household panel |
| Authors: |
Lucchini, Mario; Gerosa, Tiziano; Pancheva, Marta; Pisati, Maurizio; Respi, Chiara; Riva, Egidio |
| Contributors: |
Lucchini, M; Gerosa, T; Pancheva, M; Pisati, M; Respi, C; Riva, E |
| Publisher Information: |
Public Library of Science; US |
| Publication Year: |
2021 |
| Collection: |
Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca: BOA (Bicocca Open Archive) |
| Subject Terms: |
COVID-19; Mental health; Social inequality; Italy; ITA.LI-Italian Live; Settore GSPS-05/A - Sociologia generale; Settore GSPS-08/A - Sociologia dei processi economici e del lavoro |
| Description: |
This study used a subsample of a household panel study in Italy to track changes in mental health before the onset of COVID-19 and into the first lockdown period, from late April to early September 2020. The results of the random-effects regression analyses fitted on a sample of respondents aged 16 years and older (N = 897) proved that there was a substantial and statistically significant short-term deterioration in mental health (from 78,5 to 67,9; β = -10.5, p < .001; Cohen’s d -.445), as measured by a composite index derived from the mental component of the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12). The findings also showed heterogeneity in the COVID-related effects. On the one hand, evidence has emerged that the pandemic acted as a great leveller of pre-existing differences in mental health across people of different ages: the decrease was most pronounced among those aged 16–34 (from 84,2 to 66,5; β = -17.7, p < .001; Cohen’s d -.744); however, the magnitude of change reduced as age increased and turned to be non-significant among individuals aged 70 and over. On the other hand, the COVID-19 emergency widened the mental health gender gap and created new inequalities, based on the age of the youngest child being taken care of within the household. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| File Description: |
ELETTRONICO |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/34784397; info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000755277300035; volume:16; issue:11; numberofpages:13; journal:PLOS ONE; https://hdl.handle.net/10281/336114; https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0259989 |
| DOI: |
10.1371/journal.pone.0259989 |
| Availability: |
https://hdl.handle.net/10281/336114; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0259989; https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0259989 |
| Rights: |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess ; license:Creative Commons ; license uri:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.B3315A32 |
| Database: |
BASE |