New method for the research of the effects of social isolation due to COVID-19 pandemic on stress

Abstract

The COVID-19 virus pandemic has caused numerous changes in people's lives and work. As an inevitable consequence of the application of various measures of physical distancing and isolation prescribed by state institutions, the health care system and companies, the development of social isolation of people has occurred. This social isolation caused mental stress. In order to assess the level of induced stress due to the existence of social isolation, a new method was developed in this paper, which involves the use of a new SICS questionnaire to assess this impact. The paper presents the advantages of applying this method. One of the main advantages of the mentioned method is the simplicity of application, because it does not require two questionnaires to assess the mentioned impact, but only one. In addition, this method does not require the use of complex tools for mathematical data processing. The SICS questionnaire also has certain advantages. It enables unambiguous measurement of stress, because here stress is viewed in its original form, as a phenomenon of mental stress, effort or load caused by a certain event or circumstance. In addition, the SICS covers a greater number of relevant determinants of social isolation as a result of a pandemic than other tools previously used for that purpose. Measurement accuracy has also been improved, as each question measures stress that is induced as a consequence of a precisely defined factor of social isolation. Other advantages of this questionnaire include the fact that the data obtained by its application are easy to interpret, without the need to assess stress before and during social isolation. SICS was formed with the aim to primarily measure the objective component of social isolation. The questionnaire was successfully tested on a sample of 500 citizens of Serbia.