Anxiety, Depressive Symptoms and Sense of Agency in the Chinese Quarantine Population during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Recent research has suggested that quarantine is associated with a change in lifestyle and an increase in mental health symptoms. This paper examines whether quarantine methods are related to a decrease in sense of agency and an increase in depressive and anxiety symptoms. The participants are 1051 Chinese across all age groups and provinces in China. This paper hypothesis that mandatory quarantine is associated with a diminished sense of agency and an increase in depressive and anxiety symptoms. Results showed that the quarantine method is negatively correlated with the sense of positive agency (SoPA) and positively linked with the sense of negative agency (SoNA). The result also suggests that a long quarantine period is associated with an increase in depressive and anxiety symptoms.