Change in Psychological Distress in Response to Changes in Residential Mobility during COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from the US

Abstract

This paper examines whether changes in residential mobility (or more presence at home) in US states during COVID-19 influenced changes in the psychological distress of individuals. Based on the first-difference model, we identify the effects of residential mobility (i.e., a proxy for the efficacy of lockdowns) on individuals’ reported psychological distress. Using a sample of 5,132 individuals who were surveyed in March and April 2020 in Understanding America Study (UAS) COVID-19 survey, we find that a one standard deviation increase in residential mobility, increases reported psychological distress by 3.02%. Based on additional data from the very recent wave 3 our estimates are also consistent. The effects are small and are robust to controlling for reported changes in exercise intensity, alcohol consumption, cannabis use, recreational drug use, and meditation intensity. We also find stronger effects for females, and we do not find support for the effects of timing of stay at home order that varied by states. However, the effects were significant for first and fourth quartiles of COVID-19 incidence rates by state. The findings show that increased residential mobility from lockdowns is associated with a small increase in reported psychological distress.

Keywords: COVID-19; residential mobility; psychological distress

JEL Classification: I18, D91, I10, C80