Boredom and Psychological Problems during a COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

Boredom has been related to anxiety and depression in the pre-COVID-19 literature. In this COVID-19 lockdown Survey Monkey study, as many as 68% of 260 respondents reported feeling bored. Correlation analyses suggested that feeling bored was significantly correlated with several demographic variables and virtually every item on every scale of the survey. The demographic correlations suggested that boredom occurred more frequently in males, in those with less schooling, in those not working at home during the lockdown, and in those who were lacking a routine. The significant correlations for the scales suggested that those feeling bored engaged in fewer health activities like exercise, self-care and meditating; they spent more time on social media including gaming and Facebook; they engaged in less creative work and hobbies; they scored higher on the Stress Scale including worrying more about the virus and their finances; they reported feeling more isolated, lonely and touch deprived; and they had higher scores on anxiety, depression, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and PTSD scales. A regression analysis suggested that 49% of the variance in the boredom scores was explained by stress scale scores. These results are limited by their being self-reported data from a non-representative, cross-sectional sample. Nonetheless, they highlight the negative effects of feeling bored during a COVID-19 lockdown.