Li, Lan;
Sullivan, Ava;
Musah, Anwar;
Stavrianaki, Katerina;
Wood, Caroline E;
Baker, Philip;
Kostkova, Patty;
(2024)
Positive and negative emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal survey study of the UK population.
PLoS ONE
, 19
(2)
, Article e0297214. 10.1371/journal.pone.0297214.
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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on society; it changed the way we work, learn, socialise, and move throughout the world. In the United Kingdom, policies such as business closures, travel restrictions, and social distance mandates were implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19 and implemented and relaxed intermittently throughout the response period. While negative emotions and feelings such as distress and anxiety during this time of crisis were to be expected, we also see the signs of human resilience, including positive feelings like determination, pride, and strength. A longitudinal study using online survey tools was conducted to assess people’s changing moods during the pandemic in the UK. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) was used to measure self-reported feelings and emotions throughout six periods (phases) of the study from March 2020 to July 2021. A total of 4,222 respondents participated in the survey, while a sub-group participated in each of the six study phases (n = 167). The results were analysed using a cross-sectional study design for the full group across each study phase, while prospective cohort analysis was used to assess the subset of participants who voluntarily answered the survey in each of the six study phases (n = 167). Gender, age and employment status were found to be most significant to PANAS score, with older people, retirees, and women generally reporting more positive moods, while young people and unemployed people generally reported lower positive scores and higher negative scores, indicating more negative emotions. Additionally, it was found that people generally reported higher positive feelings in the summer of 2021, which may be related to the relaxation of COVID-19-related policies in the UK as well as the introduction of vaccines for the general population. This study is an important investigation into what allows for positivity during a crisis and gives insights into periods or groups that may be vulnerable to increased negative states of emotions and feelings.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Positive and negative emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal survey study of the UK population |
| Location: | United States |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0297214 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0297214 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2024 Li et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Inst for Risk and Disaster Reduction UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Geography |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10192719 |
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