Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Mental State, Personal Finance and the Economy: Evidence from the United States

Abstract

This paper investigated the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental state of the US residents, as well as the impact of mental state on personal finance and the US economy. The objectives of the current study were to: (i) determine the factors affecting the psychological state of US residents following COVID-19 outbreak; (ii) evaluate the impact of mental state and personal life on economy and finance. By deploying quantitative research design, secondary survey data relating to the US were analysed using descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling. Result shows that a sizable proportion of people are worried about their mental health because of the COVID-19. Furthermore, the level of satisfaction with the national government's response to the COVID-19 / coronavirus pandemic in the United States is low, while people are generally not satisfied with fellow citizens' response to the COVID-19 / coronavirus pandemic in the United States. However, the level of Satisfaction with hospitals' response to the COVID-19 / coronavirus pandemic in the United States is generally high. The two factors affecting the psychological state of US residents are the impact of the COVID-19 / coronavirus pandemic on personal finances and the level of hospitals' response to the COVID-19 (research objective one). Worry and mental state both affect people's everyday life, however, the impact of worry is more pronounced on everyday life, as this may affect people’s productivity (research objective two). Considering that US residents/ citizens are generally satisfied with the measures taken by hospitals to tackle the spread of COVID-19 and treat COVID-19 pandemic, the study recommends that more public funds should be pledged to upscaling the quality and capacity of health infrastructure in the US. This becomes important considering that hospitals have a great impact on the psychological state of residents.

Keywords: COVID-19, mental health, personal finance, US economy, social distancing

DOI: 10.7176/JESD/12-6-09

Publication date:March 31^st 2021