Project Overview – Aftermath COVID-19: A Research Study

The Project

The COVID-19 Pandemic and lockdowns have had profound effects the world over. Roughly 25 million jobs were lost in the United States, and although a broad recovery followed, the economic and social consequences of the pandemic continue to be felt throughout the country.

This project, Understanding the Psychological Aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic examines the long-term social, economic, and psychological costs of the pandemic and its lockdowns.

Our Guiding Aims

Aim 1

Assess the long term consequences of COVID-19 economic impact on adaptation, in the context of social capital.

Aim 2

To assess individual social-affiliative behavior in response to self-reported economic stress.

Aim 3

To map distinct long term patterns of general distress in populations with differing levels of COVID-19 economic impact stress and social capital.

The Purpose

This project is the first of its kind for the Trauma, Social Processes and Resilience Lab of Pace University.

At the TSPR lab, we are guided by a desire to better understand mental health and well-being. The aftermath of the pandemic has provided ample opportunity to research these areas of study.

Achieving our specific aims will contribute to a sound empirical basis for improving the consequences of COVID-19
economic stress through policy intervention and clinical resources. Support for the role of social capital in long term
adaptation (Specific Aim 1) would suggest a greater policy focus on regions low in social capital and would further
suggest community-level interventions that might improve it.

Support for the key role of affiliative behavior (Specific Aim 2) would illuminate individual-level processes that underlie stress adaptation.

A better understanding of the inter-individual variation in the adaptive consequences of COVID-19 (Specific Aim 3) would help to diagnose the broader consequences of COVID-19 and the degree to which individual variation is linked to economic and social environmental forces.

Learn more about the specifics of the project below!

About The Project

The project has surveyed 1,600 participants five times over the course of 12 months. Eligible participants were selected from counties that vary in terms of two factors: 1) the degree of COVID-19 related economic impact and 2) the degree of social capital (defined at a county level as shown here). These counties comprise rural, suburban, and urban areas, as well as diverse socioeconomic levels, races and ethnicities, and political beliefs. We will assess various aspects of functioning, including financial strain, employment status, general distress, well-being, loneliness, social behavior, social support, and the perception of close others.

This project is will help diagnose the impact of economic stress more broadly on key psychological functioning outcomes. We hope that our findings can inform policy, clinical intervention, and future research on collective acute stressors. As our findings emerge, publications, news stories, blog posts, and others material will be listed on this website.

Who We Are

A diverse research team, with members hailing not only from Pace University, but around the New York area. From PhDs, Clinicians, all the way down to undergraduate assistants. This project is dedicated to not just developing an understanding of psychological aftermath of the pandemic, but also the development of the team. Learn more about them here!