Risky restrictions? Mobility restriction effects on risk awareness and anxiety

Costa-Font, Joan ORCID: 0000-0001-7174-7919 and Vilaplana, Cristina (2022) Risky restrictions? Mobility restriction effects on risk awareness and anxiety. Health Policy, 126 (11). 1090 - 1102. ISSN 0168-8510

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Abstract

Although mobility restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic were intended to change behaviours by influencing risk awareness, they might have prompted a rise in risk anxiety ('worry for one's health') both among individuals exposed to such restrictions and those living in border countries. This paper studies this question by examining survey data from 22 European countries in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (March 20th and April 6th 2020). Drawing on an event study analysis we show that COVID-19 mobility restrictions raised individuals COVID-19 risk awareness both in the exposed and border countries for almost a week after the announcement. The spillover effect on border countries accounts for about 67% of the effect in the exposed country. However, mobility restrictions gave rise to an increase in risk anxiety in low-risk countries (which is between 4 and 7 times higher than moderate and high-risk countries). These effects are heterogeneous across age, education and socioeconomic status.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/health-polic...
Additional Information:	© 2022 The Authors
Divisions:	Health Policy
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Date Deposited:	16 Aug 2022 12:30
Last Modified:	16 Nov 2024 20:51
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/116002

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