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International Journal of
Population Studies Human behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic

Figure 27. Speech delay in 2-year olds. Image obtained from
Bartelt et al. (2025).

7.1. Stress
Fear of COVID for oneself, family members, and friends,
unemployment, economic uncertainty, and the suppressive Figure 28. Pandemic and stress. Reprinted with permission from
NPIs contributed to an increase in stress levels. An American Psychological Association (2020). Copyright © 2025, American
American Psychological Association report (2020) stated Psychological Association.
that despite several months of acclimating to COVID’s
societal upheaval, Americans were struggling to cope with isolation, physical inactivity, chronic stress, poor sleep, and
its disruptions. A total of 78% said that the pandemic was a negative thought patterns.
significant source of stress in their lives, and 67% said that While loneliness affected everyone during the pandemic,
they had experienced increased stress over the pandemic’s those with dementia were particularly severely affected.
course, as shown in Figure 28. The report stated that stress Chen et al. (2023) reported excess deaths attributable to
was greater in socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. dementia, as shown in Figure 29.
Other reports noted that there were disproportionate
effects on healthcare workers and chaplains. Lockdowns, of course, were key contributors to
loneliness, particularly among seniors who did not have
7.2. Isolation and loneliness access to the internet or regular companionship from
Humans are inherently social animals. Preventing children, grandchildren, or pets. Caring for grandchildren
COVID-19 infection largely meant avoiding other people. or pets helped in coping with loneliness; however, if
Cudjoe and Kotwal (2020 [p.27]) noted that, “Decades of one could no longer care for them, loneliness increased.
observational studies have demonstrated the long‐term Internet usage was more nuanced. If it was obsessively
negative health outcomes of social isolation and loneliness. used to check on the pandemic, interestingly, loneliness
The COVID‐19 crisis has exacerbated these challenges, increased. Loneliness also contributed to low physical
with worsening social isolation and loneliness among activity, which, by itself, impacts health.
those who live alone or are frail and even declines in the Moreover, loneliness triggered the “pandemic puppy”
well‐being of older adults with previously active or healthy epidemic during which 20% of American households
social lives. Community centers for older adults have adopted a pet, which is equivalent to 55 million.
closed, nursing homes have terminated visitation, and Interestingly, most studies reported that they did not help
grandparents are unable to visit their grandchildren.” with loneliness. The return rate for them was about the
The book, Loneliness, notes that loneliness impairs same as the return rate for prepandemic adoptions.
executive function and that there are genetic predispositions Isolation was not always bad. During his isolation
to loneliness (Cacioppo & Patrick, 2008). It also stated that from the Black Plague, Newton discovered differential
it modulates some of the same neurochemicals involved in and integral calculus, formulated a theory of universal
depression, such as serotonin, oxytocin, and vasopressin. gravitation, explored optics, experimented with prisms,
Likewise, inflammation, which is one of COVID’s and investigated light. He wrote the most important book
dangerous outcomes, can be triggered by loneliness and in the history of science, Principia.

Volume 11 Issue 5 (2025) 20 https://doi.org/10.36922/IJPS025110040