This two-part study had two aims: a) to define psychological markers for the future development of depression symptoms following the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 outbreak; b) to examine the impact of the COVID-19 mobility restrictions and vaccinations on people’s behavioral intentions to travel and their actual travel patterns. This study was conducted at four-time points, during and after general lockdowns in Israel, enabling examination of immediate as well as short-term influences of the lockdown on subjective well-being and travel intentions.
We found that subjective loneliness, rather than objective isolation, was a strong predictor for symptoms of depression five weeks after the first lockdown when controlling for depression levels during the lockdown. Younger age and health stress also predicted higher non-clinical levels of depression and emotional distress. Regarding touristic travel patterns, attitudes towards tourism were significant predictors of domestic and international travel intentions and actual domestic travel. Of the psychosocial factors examined (including intolerance of uncertainty, economic stress, and health risk factors) only depression levels were negatively correlated with domestic tourism.
Considering the global rise in mental health problems due to the COVID-19 outbreak, our results shed light on some of the predictive factors that contribute to the development of depression symptoms. At a global level, focusing on psychological factors rather than only objective measures is important for the efforts of identifying individuals at risk of developing depression, and for promoting new prevention strategies.