THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN EFFECTS ON MENTAL WELL-BEING AND RELIGIOSITY: EVIDENCE FROM INDONESIA
Abstract
We investigate the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns on frequency of online search on mental well-being and religiosity-related terms in Indonesia using high-frequency data from Google Trends and Bank Indonesia Consumer Survey from January 1st, 2018, to February 28th, 2021. Monthly search terms and consumer survey data are merged at the provincial level, which results in a total of 131,300 individual observations. Using event analysis and instrumental variable approaches, our study suggests that lockdown policy is significantly associated with higher search intensity of mental well-being and religiosity-related terms compared to the pre-lockdown period. Our findings suggest that mentally disturbed people tend to lean on religion to cope with stressful events during a crisis. Our study has substantial policy implications on ensuring appropriate government interventions that minimize the detrimental effect of COVID-19 on mental well-being.
References
AbdAleati, N. S., Mohd Zaharim, N., & Mydin, Y. O. (2016). Religiousness and Mental Health: Systematic Review Study. Journal of Religion and Health, 55(6), 1929–1937. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-014-9896-1
Aknin, L. B., Andretti, B., Goldszmidt, R., Helliwell, J. F., Petherick, A., De Neve, J. E., Dunn, E. W., Fancourt, D., Goldberg, E., Jones, S. P., Karadag, O., Karam, E., Layard, R., Saxena, S., Thornton, E., Whillans, A., & Zaki, J. (2022). Policy stringency and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal analysis of data from 15 countries. The Lancet Public Health, 7(5), e417–e426. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(22)00060-3
Aksoy, O., Bann, D., Fluharty, M. E., & Nandi, A. (2021). Religiosity and Mental Wellbeing Among Members of Majority and Minority Religions: Findings From Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 191(1), 18. https://doi.org.10.1093/aje/kwab133
Atalan, A. (2020). Is the lockdown important to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic? Effects on psychology, environment and economy-perspective. Annals of Medicine and Surgery, 56(June), 38–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amsu.2020.06.010
Aymerich, C., Pedruzo, B., Pérez, J. L., Laborda, M., Herrero, J., Blanco, J., Mancebo, G., Andrés, L., Estévez, O., Fernandez, M., Pablo, G. S. de, Catalan, A., & González-Torres, M. Á. (2022). COVID-19 pandemic effects on health worker’s mental health: Systematic review and meta-analysis. European Psychiatry, 65(1), 1–20.
Baetz, M., & Toews, J. (2009). Clinical implications of research on religion, spirituality, and mental health. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 54(5), 292–301. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370905400503
Bentzen, J. S. (2021). In crisis, we pray: Religiosity and the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 192, 541–583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2021.10.014
Brodeur, A., Clark, A. E., Fleche, S., & Powdthavee, N. (2021). COVID-19, lockdowns and well-being: Evidence from Google Trends. Journal of Public Economics, 193, 104346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104346
Brodeur, A., Gray, D., Islam, A., & Bhuiyan, S. (2021). A literature review of the economics of COVID-19. Journal of Economic Surveys, 35(4), 1007–1044. https://doi.org/10.1111/joes.12423
Caperna, G., Colagrossi, M., Geraci, A., & Mazzarella, G. (2022). A babel of web-searches: Googling unemployment during the pandemic. Labour Economics, 74(November 2021), 102097. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2021.102097
Coibion, O., Gorodnichenko, Y., & Weber, M. (2020). The Cost of the COVID-19 Crisis: Lockdowns, Macroeconomic Expectations, and Consumer Spending (Vol. 15, Issue 2). https://doi.org/10.3386/w27141
Fancourt, D., Steptoe, A., & Bu, F. (2021). Trajectories of anxiety and depressive symptoms during enforced isolation due to COVID-19 in England: a longitudinal observational study. The Lancet Psychiatry, 8(2), 141–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30482-X
Fasano, M. V., Padula, M., Azrak, M. Á., Avico, A. J., Sala, M., & Andreoli, M. F. (2021). Consequences of Lockdown During COVID-19 Pandemic in Lifestyle and Emotional State of Children in Argentina. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 9(March 2020), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2021.660033
Fetzer, T., Hensel, L., Hermle, J., & Roth, C. (2021). Coronavirus perceptions and economic anxiety. Review of Economics and Statistics, 103(5), 968–978. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_00946
Flor, L. S., Friedman, J., Spencer, C. N., Cagney, J., Arrieta, A., Herbert, M. E., Stein, C., Mullany, E. C., Hon, J., Patwardhan, V., Barber, R. M., Collins, J. K., Hay, S. I., Lim, S. S., Lozano, R., Mokdad, A. H., Murray, C. J. L., Reiner, R. C., Sorensen, R. J. D., … Gakidou, E. (2022). Quantifying the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender equality on health, social, and economic indicators: a comprehensive review of data from March, 2020, to September, 2021. The Lancet, 399(10344), 2381–2397. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00008-3
Freeman, D., Sheaves, B., Goodwin, G. M., Yu, L. M., Nickless, A., Harrison, P. J., Emsley, R., Luik, A. I., Foster, R. G., Wadekar, V., Hinds, C., Gumley, A., Jones, R., Lightman, S., Jones, S., Bentall, R., Kinderman, P., Rowse, G., Brugha, T., … Espie, C. A. (2017). The effects of improving sleep on mental health (OASIS): a randomised controlled trial with mediation analysis. The Lancet Psychiatry, 4(10), 749–758. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(17)30328-0
García-Prado, A., González, P., & Rebollo-Sanz, Y. F. (2022). Lockdown strictness and mental health effects among older populations in Europe. Economics and Human Biology, 45(January). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2022.101116
GBS 2019 Mental Disorders Collaborators. (2022). Global, regional, and national burden of 12 mental disorders in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The Lancet Psychiatry, 9(2), 137–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00395-3
Ginsberg, J., Mohebbi, M. H., Patel, R. S., Brammer, L., Smolinski, M. S., & Brilliant, L. (2009). Detecting influenza epidemics using search engine query data. Nature, 457(7232), 1012–1014. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07634
Golberstein, E. (2015). The Effects of Income on Mental Health: Evidence from the Social Security Notch. National Library of Medicines, 18(1), 27–37.
Helbling, M. (2014). Opposing muslims and the muslim headscarf in Western Europe. European Sociological Review, 30(2), 242–257. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jct038
James, A., & Wells, A. (2003). Religion and mental health: Towards a cognitive-behavioural framework. British Journal of Health Psychology, 8(3), 359–376. https://doi.org/10.1348/135910703322370905
Jordanova, V., Crawford, M. J., McManus, S., Bebbington, P., & Brugha, T. (2015). Religious discrimination and common mental disorders in England: a nationally representative population-based study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 50(11), 1723–1729. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-015-1110-6
Kanniah, K. D., Zaman, N. A. F. K., Kaskaoutis, D. G., & Latif, M. T. (2020). COVID-19’s impact on the atmospheric environment in the Southeast Asia region. Science of the Total Environment, 736(January).
Karagöl, A., & Törenli Kaya, Z. (2022). Healthcare workers’ burn-out, hopelessness, fear of COVID-19 and perceived social support levels. European Journal of Psychiatry, 36(3), 200–206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpsy.2022.01.001
Knipe, D., Gunnell, D., Evans, H., John, A., & Fancourt, D. (2021). Is Google Trends a useful tool for tracking mental and social distress during a public health emergency? A time–series analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 294(July), 737–744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2021.06.086
Lemoine, P., Ebert, D., Koga, Y., & Bertin, C. (2022). Public interest and awareness regarding general health, sleep quality and mental wellbeing during the early COVID-19 pandemic period: An exploration using Google trends. Sleep Epidemiology, 2(November 2021), 100017. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleepe.2021.100017
Leung, C. M. C., Ho, M. K., Bharwani, A. A., Cogo-Moreira, H., Wang, Y., Chow, M. S. C., Fan, X., Galea, S., Leung, G. M., & Ni, M. Y. (2022). Mental disorders following COVID-19 and other epidemics: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Translational Psychiatry, 12(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-022-01946-6
Li, Y., Wang, A., Wu, Y., Han, N., & Huang, H. (2021). Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health of College Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 12(July), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.669119
Louise, C. (2016). The Casey Review: A review into opportunity and integration: Executive Summary (Issue December). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-casey-review-a-review-into-opportunity-and-integration
Matsungo, T. M., & Chopera, P. (2020). Effect of the COVID-19-induced lockdown on nutrition, health and lifestyle patterns among adults in Zimbabwe. BMJ Nutrition, Prevention and Health, 3(2), 205–212. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjnph-2020-000124
Moreno, C., Wykes, T., Galderisi, S., Nordentoft, M., Crossley, N., Jones, N., Cannon, M., Correll, C. U., Byrne, L., Carr, S., Chen, E. Y. H., Gorwood, P., Johnson, S., Kärkkäinen, H., Krystal, J. H., Lee, J., Lieberman, J., López-Jaramillo, C., Männikkö, M., … Arango, C. (2020). How mental health care should change as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(9), 813–824. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30307-2
Ngamaba, K. H., & Soni, D. (2018). Are Happiness and Life Satisfaction Different Across Religious Groups? Exploring Determinants of Happiness and Life Satisfaction. J Relig Health, 57(6), 2118–2139. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-017-0481-2
Nicola, M., Alsafi, Z., Sohrabi, C., Kerwan, A., Al-Jabir, A., Iosifidis, C., Agha, M., & Agha, R. (2020). The socio-economic implications of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19): A review. International Journal of Surgery, 78(April), 185–193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsu.2020.04.018
Panico, F., Luciano, S. M., Sagliano, L., Santangelo, G., & Trojano, L. (2022). Cognitive reserve and coping strategies predict the level of perceived stress during COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study. Personality and Individual Differences, 195(September), 111703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111703
Pearce, L. D., Hayward, G. M., & Pearlman, J. A. (2017). Measuring Five Dimensions of Religiosity across Adolescence. Review of Religious Research, 59(3), 367–393. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-017-0291-8
Pirutinsky, S., Cherniak, A. D., & Rosmarin, D. H. (2020). American Orthodox Jews. Journal of Religion and Health, 59(5), 2288–2301.
Putri, A. K., Gustriawanto, N., Rahapsari, S., Sholikhah, A. R., Prabaswara, S., Kusumawardhani, A. C., & Kristina, S. A. (2021). Exploring the perceived challenges and support needs of Indonesian mental health stakeholders: a qualitative study. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 15(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-021-00504-9
Ridhwan, M. M., Rezki, J. F., Suryahadi, A., Ramayandi, A., & Ismail, A. (2022a). The Impact of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Household Income, Consumption, and Expectation: Evidence from High-frequency Data in Indonesia. Bank Indonesia Working Paper
Ridhwan, M. M., Suryahadi, A., Rezki, J. F., & Andariesta, D. T. (2022b). Impact of COVID-19 on the Labour Market and the Role of E-Commerce Development in Developing Countries: Evidence from Indonesia. Bank Indonesia Working Paper
Rözer, J., & Kraaykamp, G. (2013). Income Inequality and Subjective Well-being: A Cross-National Study on the Conditional Effects of Individual and National Characteristics. Social Indicators Research, 113(3), 1009–1023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-012-0124-7
Sareen, J., Afifi, T. O., McMillan, K. A., & Asmundson, G. J. G. (2011). Relationship Between Household Income and Mental Disorders: Findings From a Population-Baed Longitudinal Study. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 68(4), 419–427.
Schwalm, F. D., Zandavalli, R. B., de Castro Filho, E. D., & Lucchetti, G. (2022). Is there a relationship between spirituality/religiosity and resilience? A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Journal of Health Psychology, 27(5), 1218–1232. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105320984537
Shadmi, E., Chen, Y., Dourado, I., Faran-Perach, I., Furler, J., Hangoma, P., Hanvoravongchai, P., Obando, C., Petrosyan, V., Rao, K. D., Ruano, A. L., Shi, L., De Souza, L. E., Spitzer-Shohat, S., Sturgiss, E., Suphanchaimat, R., Uribe, M. V., & Willems, S. (2020). Health equity and COVID-19: Global perspectives. International Journal for Equity in Health, 19(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-020-01218-z
Shawcroft, J., Gale, M., Coyne, S. M., Twenge, J. M., Carroll, J. S., Brad Wilcox, W., & James, S. (2022). Teens, screens and quarantine; the relationship between adolescent media use and mental health prior to and during COVID-19. Heliyon, 8(7), e09898. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09898
Sibony, A.-L. (2020). The UK COVID-19 Response: A Behavioural Irony? European Journal of Risk Regulation, 11(2), 350–357. https://doi.org/10.1017/err.2020.22
Silverio-Murillo, A., Hoehn-Velasco, L., Tirado, A. R., & Miyar, J. R. B. de la. (2021). COVID-19 blues: Lockdowns and mental health-related google searches in Latin America. Social Science and Medicine, 281(May 2021), 114040. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114040
Simionescu, M., & Cifuentes-Faura, J. (2022). Can unemployment forecasts based on Google Trends help government design better policies? An investigation based on Spain and Portugal. Journal of Policy Modeling, 44(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2021.09.011
Simionescu, M., & Raišienė, A. G. (2021). A bridge between sentiment indicators: What does Google Trends tell us about COVID-19 pandemic and employment expectations in the EU new member states? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 173(November 2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121170
Steptoe, A., Shankar, A., Demakakos, P., & Wardle, J. (2013). Social isolation, loneliness, and all-cause mortality in older men and women. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110(15), 5797–5801. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1219686110
Suryahadi, A., Al Izzati, R., & Yumna, A. (2021). The Impact of Covid-19 and Social Protection Programs on Poverty in Indonesia. Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, 57(3), 267–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/00074918.2021.2005519
Tamir, C., Connaughton, A., & Salazar, A. M. (2020). The Global God Divide. In Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/07/20/the-global-god-divide/ (consultado: 27 de noviembre, 2020)
Wachholtz, A. B., Pearce, M. J., & Koenig, H. (2007). Exploring the relationship between spirituality, coping, and pain. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 30(4), 311–318. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-007-9114-7
Wallace, S., Nazroo, J., & Bécares, L. (2016). Cumulative effect of racial discrimination on the mental health of ethnic minorities in the United Kingdom. American Journal of Public Health, 106(7), 1294–1300. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303121
Walsh, F. (2020). Loss and Resilience in the Time of COVID-19: Meaning Making, Hope, and Transcendence. Family Process, 59(3), 898–911. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12588
Woolridge, J. M. (2016). Introductory Econometrics A Modern Approach.
Xiong, J., Lipsitz, O., Nasri, F., Lui, L. M. W., Gill, H., & Phan, L. (2020). Since January 2020 Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID- 19 . The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect , the company ’ s public news and information. Journal of Affective Disorder, 277(January), 55–64.
Yeung, T. Y. C. (2019). Measuring Christian Religiosity by Google Trends. Review of Religious Research, 61(3), 235–257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-019-00379-w
Copyright (c) 2023 Journal of Islamic Monetary Economics and Finance

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Journal of Islamic Monetary Economics and Finance is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.