RAPID: Pandemic Anxiety, Recovery, and Inequality: Evaluating Institutions and Policy in a Coronavirus Hotspot

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The COVID-19 pandemic simultaneously unleashed health and economic threats on American society, each of which produces anxiety. Ultimately, recovery will require reintegration into the social and economic fabric after periods defined by quarantine and social distancing measures aimed at mitigating the spread of the virus. To what extent will experiences of anxiety in the face of these threats curb downstream recovery? The objective of this project is to understand experiences of anxiety and recovery among a representative sample of adults in Louisiana, a coronavirus hotspot whose COVID-19 mortality rate is one of the deadliest in the nation. The proposed study will also offer guidance to governing officials in how anxiety inhibits economic and health recovery even as the experiences of threat change. To measure the durability of anxiety and its effects on social trust and engagement, data will be collected in a four-wave representative panel of adult Louisiana residents using YouGov. The investigators will measure respondents’ exposure to the health and economic threats and their anxiety over them, as well as outcome variables including perceptions of progress of recovery; trust in institutions, leaders, and residents of their communities; civic, social, and economic activity; and support for policies aimed at mitigating threat impact or reopening the economy. The major contribution of this study will be to extend the scope of analysis from the immediate, short-run effects of anxiety to the long-run patterns by which anxiety persists and has downstream consequences for social and economic engagement, as well as deepen our understanding individual differences in how anxiety is associated with social and economic judgments.This project is jointly funded by the Accountable Institutions and Behavior (AIB) program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.