A global survey on the associations between the lockdown group, free memory recall and emotional responses during the COVID-19 lockdown

Oyejide, AO, Besharati, SN, Alcock, S, Schioth, HB and Brooks, SJ (2025) A global survey on the associations between the lockdown group, free memory recall and emotional responses during the COVID-19 lockdown. Scientific Reports, 15 (1).

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Abstract

The unprecedented outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the course of many lives, resulting in multiple health and social challenges. Due to the speed at which this pandemic spread, various public health ‘lockdown’ measures were introduced to mitigate its spread. The outcome of adherence to these measures has revealed the possible influence on individuals’ varying cognitive abilities. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore the predictive relationships between lockdown responses and COVID-19 restrictions, memory recall performance, and associated emotional responses while examining the sociodemographic influences of age and sex. Participants were drawn from a secondary dataset of an international online survey study of 1634 individuals aged 18–75 years across 49 countries. Participants’ demographic questionnaires, free memory recall, and hospital anxiety and depression scale scores were used to collect the data for analysis. Four-way MANOVA and hierarchical multiple regression were utilised to explore the mean differences and predict relationships between the study variables. Significant differences were found in memory recall performance and anxiety and depression scores across lockdown groups (the comply, sufferer, and defiant). Regression analysis indicated that age and gender were predictive markers of lockdown responses and anxiety (R2 = 0.14, F4,1625 = 66.15, p <.001, f2 = 0.17), while age was the only predictor of lockdown responses and depression association (= -0.78, t(1625) = -4.35, p <.001). Lockdown compliance was associated with better free recall (M = 8.51, SD = 6.38, p <.001; η2 = 0.01), lockdown suffering was associated with greater anxiety (M = 9.97, SD = 4.36, p <.001; η2 = 0.06), and lockdown deviance was associated with greater depression (M = 7.90, SD = 3.12, p <.001; η2 = 0.05). The current study provides valuable information on the mechanisms of cognitive interpretations and emotional arousal in individuals’ social isolation responses to recent life stress and potential severe pandemics. This may support the need for robust interventions aimed at improving people’s psychological appraisals associated with anxiety in preparation for any new potential waves or future pandemics.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Humans; Depression; Emotions; Anxiety; Mental Recall; Quarantine; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Middle Aged; Female; Male; Young Adult; Pandemics; Surveys and Questionnaires; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; 5203 Clinical and Health Psychology; 42 Health Sciences; 52 Psychology; Mental Health; Emerging Infectious Diseases; Depression; Infectious Diseases; Clinical Research; Social Determinants of Health; Mental Illness; Mind and Body; Basic Behavioral and Social Science; Brain Disorders; Behavioral and Social Science; Mental health; 3 Good Health and Well Being; Humans; COVID-19; Male; Female; Middle Aged; Adult; Aged; Mental Recall; Adolescent; Young Adult; Surveys and Questionnaires; Emotions; Quarantine; Anxiety; SARS-CoV-2; Depression; Pandemics
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions:	Psychology (from Sep 2019)
Publisher:	Nature Research
Date of acceptance:	24 February 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	10 June 2025
Date Deposited:	10 Jun 2025 12:21
Last Modified:	10 Jun 2025 12:30
DOI or ID number:	10.1038/s41598-025-91991-0
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/26565

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