STRICTER lockdowns in response to COVID-19 led to higher loss in life satisfaction and worse mental health and wellbeing outcomes, says new research.

Led by the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods and using Oxford University’s COVID-19 Stringency Index, the study is the first in Australia to examine the direct links between lockdowns and life satisfaction for the entire COVID-19 period.

The study also found that higher case numbers and deaths caused by COVID-19 had a negative impact on people’s wellbeing, but to a lesser extent than lockdowns.

“Our study, which analysed the experiences of more than 6500 adults from across Australia and over a period of two and a half years, shows the stricter the lockdown the higher the loss in life satisfaction,” co-author Prof Nicholas Biddle said.

“We kind of knew this intuitively. However, it is only by carefully quantifying the level of lockdown restrictions and linking these to a high-quality, long-term survey that we are able to accurately capture the impacts and to think about the trade-offs society needed to make during the COVID-19 period, and may need to make again in the future.

“There is no doubt lockdowns were essential to helping stop the spread of COVID-19 and limit case numbers and potential deaths. These measures were designed to keep Australians safe, and they did.

“However, our findings also show that measures designed to help protect people from COVID-19 also have a clear impact on mental health and wellbeing.

“Whether this effect is long-lasting as we abandon strict lockdowns and adapt to ‘covid normal’ remains to be seen.”

The study also looked at whether the impacts of lockdowns were the same for everyone in Australia. According to Prof Biddle, some important differences emerged.

“We found that for males, the strictness of lockdowns had a stronger impact on their life satisfaction. In contrast, among females rising case numbers seemed to be a bigger factor,” he said.

“We also found that COVID-19 policy stringency had a greater impact on young Australians compared to older Australians, and on those states and territories that had multiple waves of infections, namely NSW, Victoria and the ACT.”

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