Evidence for changes in population-level subjective well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic from 30 waves of representative panel data collected in Austria between March 2020 and March 2022

Abstract

Objectives: This study was conducted to describe how population-level subjective well-being (SWB) evolved throughout the pandemic.

Study design: Thirty waves of panel data representative of the Austrian population aged ≥14 years were collected between March 2020 and March 2022. Participants were quota sampled from a pre-existing online panel based on key demographics closely mirroring the Austrian resident population.

Methods: We present wave-specific means of SWB throughout 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic next to the evolution of the pandemic (cases and deaths) and stringency of lockdown measures in Austria as well as estimate their bivariate correlations.

Results: The analysed sample consisted of 3,293 participants contributing to a total of 46,168 observations. All components of SWB - negative affect, positive affect and life satisfaction - showed population-level fluctuation between March 2020 and March 2022. The magnitude of these changes was small. Population-level SWB correlated with the incidence rate of COVID-19 deaths (negative affect: r = 0.69, positive affect: r = -0.70, life satisfaction: r = -0.47), the Stringency Index (negative affect = 0.50, positive affect = -0.47, life satisfaction = -0.47) and less so with the incidence of COVID-19 cases (negative affect = 0.43, positive affect = -0.31, life satisfaction = -0.38).

Conclusions: Population-level SWB fluctuated in accordance with rises and falls in COVID-19 cases and deaths as well as with the stringency of lockdown measures. This connection suggests that incidence of COVID-19 cases and deaths, as well as public health measures to contain the pandemic affect population-level SWB and could thereby impact population health and productivity.

Keywords: Austria; COVID-19; Longitudinal study; Subjective well-being.