An already extensive literature documents the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. A nascent literature is also beginning to detail the mental health impact. A limitation with existing work is that reported findings generally cannot be taken as causal estimates. In this study, we use a...

As is well documented, the first wave of the covid-19 pandemic, with its concomitant lockdown measures, is associated with marked deterioration of mental health in many countries. Using a quasi-experimental design and drawing on several small-area indicators, we probe the potential moderating...