Americans are enjoying more quality time with partners, children: study
los angeles — Anxiety may be soaring under coronavirus lockdown, but a study found Americans are enjoying more time with their partners and children, rediscovering hobbies and creative pursuits — and smoking marijuana.
The University of Southern California survey found Americans particularly miss visiting friends and relatives, dining at restaurants and shopping at real-world stores, but are adapting their habits at an astonishing pace.
“We’ve been thrust into the greatest social science experiment of all time,” Jeffrey Cole, the study center’s director, said. “Except that none of us prepared and none of us volunteered.”
“We’re seeing massive change
that would take years, in days,” he added. The “Coronavirus Disruption Project” polled 1,000 online respondents across the nation about changes in their lives since the onset of the disease.
Some 61 per cent reported feeling more anxious, while more than one-third said they are lonelier since the pandemic began.
But despite those woes, 35 per cent said their relationship with their spouse or partner is better now. And almost half of parents reported improvements with their children — perhaps because more than 80 per cent of them have relaxed rules over bedtime, television viewing and video games.
“The anxiety levels are really extraordinary,” said Cole, comparing the pandemic to 9/11 or even the Great Depression. “Men are more likely to think their relationship has improved,” he added.
With many quarantined and newly unemployed or furloughed Americans seeking a productive outlet, “hobbies, personal activities, and creative pursuits” ranked top of all preferred activities. —
Men are more likely to think their relationship has improved.”
Name Lastname
Job description