Reduced sense of danger following two years of COVID-19: fear inoculation or growing recklessness?

Carlos M.  Coelho; Panrapee Suttiwan; Nisara Jaroenkajornkij; Ana S. Araújo; Pedro Dias; Célia B. Carvalho; Andras N. Zsido

doi:10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.101460

Reduced sense of danger following two years of COVID-19: fear inoculation or growing recklessness?

Carlos M. Coelho, Panrapee Suttiwan, Nisara Jaroenkajornkij, Ana S. Araújo, Pedro Dias, Célia B. Carvalho, Andras N. Zsido^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic led to sudden changes in many people's lives, due to the risky and unpredictable nature of the disease and the consequences of public policies aimed at controlling its spread. As the pandemic progressed, people became more aware of what to do, and restrictions were relaxed. Our aim was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals' psychological reactions and to examine differences due to long-term exposure between the start of the pandemic in early 2020 and the lifting of restrictions in mid-2022. We used an anonymous online survey at two different points in the COVID-19 pandemic - early 2020 and mid-2022 - and collected data from two independent samples of Portuguese individuals (194 in 2020 and 220 in 2022). Measures of the psychological impact of trauma, emergency response, anxiety and sensation seeking were collected. Participants reported significantly lower levels of negative effects of COVID-19, anxiety and sensation seeking in 2022 compared to 2020. The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals appears to have gradually decreased between 2020 and 2022.

Original language	English
Article number	101460
Number of pages	7
Journal	Social Sciences and Humanities Open
Volume	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.101460
Publication status	Published - 27 Mar 2025

Keywords

Emergency reaction
Adversity
Impact of event
Anxiety
Sensation seeking
Trauma

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116908678Final published version, 1.5 MBLicence: CC BY-NC

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/52844Licence: CC BY-NC

Cite this

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title = "Reduced sense of danger following two years of COVID-19: fear inoculation or growing recklessness?",

abstract = "The COVID-19 pandemic led to sudden changes in many people's lives, due to the risky and unpredictable nature of the disease and the consequences of public policies aimed at controlling its spread. As the pandemic progressed, people became more aware of what to do, and restrictions were relaxed. Our aim was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals' psychological reactions and to examine differences due to long-term exposure between the start of the pandemic in early 2020 and the lifting of restrictions in mid-2022. We used an anonymous online survey at two different points in the COVID-19 pandemic - early 2020 and mid-2022 - and collected data from two independent samples of Portuguese individuals (194 in 2020 and 220 in 2022). Measures of the psychological impact of trauma, emergency response, anxiety and sensation seeking were collected. Participants reported significantly lower levels of negative effects of COVID-19, anxiety and sensation seeking in 2022 compared to 2020. The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals appears to have gradually decreased between 2020 and 2022.",

keywords = "Emergency reaction, Adversity, Impact of event, Anxiety, Sensation seeking, Trauma",

author = "Coelho, {Carlos M.} and Panrapee Suttiwan and Nisara Jaroenkajornkij and Ara{\'u}jo, {Ana S.} and Pedro Dias and Carvalho, {C{\'e}lia B.} and Zsido, {Andras N.}",

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year = "2025",

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doi = "10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.101460",

language = "English",

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AU - Araújo, Ana S.

AU - Dias, Pedro

AU - Carvalho, Célia B.

AU - Zsido, Andras N.

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AB - The COVID-19 pandemic led to sudden changes in many people's lives, due to the risky and unpredictable nature of the disease and the consequences of public policies aimed at controlling its spread. As the pandemic progressed, people became more aware of what to do, and restrictions were relaxed. Our aim was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals' psychological reactions and to examine differences due to long-term exposure between the start of the pandemic in early 2020 and the lifting of restrictions in mid-2022. We used an anonymous online survey at two different points in the COVID-19 pandemic - early 2020 and mid-2022 - and collected data from two independent samples of Portuguese individuals (194 in 2020 and 220 in 2022). Measures of the psychological impact of trauma, emergency response, anxiety and sensation seeking were collected. Participants reported significantly lower levels of negative effects of COVID-19, anxiety and sensation seeking in 2022 compared to 2020. The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals appears to have gradually decreased between 2020 and 2022.

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ER -

Reduced sense of danger following two years of COVID-19: fear inoculation or growing recklessness?

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Keywords

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CEDH: Research Centre for Human Development

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Reduced sense of danger following two years of COVID-19: fear inoculation or growing recklessness?

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Keywords

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CEDH: Research Centre for Human Development

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