Back in March 2020, I posted about my voluntary participation in a survey from the University of Texas. The Pandemic Project is studying how people's lives are being affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, how they are coping and how reactions are changing over time.
Each time I've received a survey, I've consented to be contacted for follow up. I received invitations to complete a second survey in May 2020 (and posted about the results here), a third survey in July 2020 (results here) and a fourth in October 2020 (results here).
Today, 17 months after completing the fourth survey, I received another request to complete a follow-up survey -- my fifth (although the title of the email read "The Pandemic Project Version 7"). :) The surveys take about 15-20 minutes to complete, and at the end, you receive scores in certain categories and suggestions on coping strategies (which can be emailed to you).It's been interesting to track my scores in the same categories from survey to survey to survey!
- On a scale of 0 to 10, my Social Connection score was 8.2, which is higher than average. "This is a very good sign given the restrictions on social behavior," I was told. I received the same score in the second, third and fourth surveys. In the first survey, my Social Connection score was not quite as high -- 6.2, or average.
- My COVID Obsession score was 7.1 -- in the high range. "You may be following the coronavirus stories too much." (Moi?? lol) My score was also 7.1 in the second survey I received. It was a whopping 10 out of 10 in the first survey, early on in the pandemic (!), 6 in the third and 4.8 in the fourth. "Yes, the COVID-19 outbreak is stressful. Yes, it’s good to know if there is something new you can do. But don’t overdo it!" I am advised. "Watching or reading too much news about the coronavirus is bad for your health... Limit yourself to watching/reading information about the coronavirus to 30 minutes a day – maybe 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the early evening."
- My Healthy Habits score was 5.4 -- the same as it was in the last two surveys I received -- which means that my general health habits are about average. In other words, my life style is generally good but there is still room for improvement. This score was down from 6.2 in the first two surveys.
- My COVID-related Anxiety and Distress score was 7.9 -- in the high range, and my highest score in this category ever, "which suggests that the coronavirus is disrupting your life more than you would like." (Let's just say that after two years of this, yeah, some normalcy would be nice... but I still don't see it happening anytime soon... :( ) Previously, my score was 6.7 (mid-range, and similar to the average person), down from 7.3 in the second and third surveys, although up just slightly from 6.6 on the first survey.
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ReplyDeleteYou got me curious, so I actually did the survey. I probably wouldn’t have if I’d known how long it would take before I started, but once I got going I just went with it.
ReplyDeleteMy social connection score is 10/10 which rather surprised me as I don’t consider myself extremely social. But I suppose I interact with the same people a lot and I also work with a lot of people. Apparently I have healthy habits too…..depends on the week I guess.
All my “thinking about Covid” scores were very low….which I guess is not surprising as I am bored with Covid and rarely actively focus on it, though I’m aware of it more or less. I have pointedly taught myself to think about other things, in most circumstances, most of the time.
Wonder what they will do with that data. Even analyzing my tiny slice of life data and what it means only to me is so complicated; I can’t imagine generalizing.
I also decided to do it - thanks for the inspiration. My social connection score was 10 (surprising, because the only person I've seen has been DH, though I've chatted to others online etc), and my obsession score was 3.6, which they said was moderate. I probably underestimated! My healthy habits was 8.5, because they caught a three-day period with no wine, and a lot of exercise! lol The next three days will be different, I'm sure! My anxiety score was average, and they suggested creative writing, which makes me chuckle, but reminds me that a Treelove post is overdue, so I'm now off to do that.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you posted this because I've been in the study, too, but did not see Invitation #5...until I checked my spam folder.
ReplyDeleteI took the assessment again and came out much like tortuil, as I am also a bit bored with covid and ready to give the brain space it's been occupying to something more interesting.
Thanks for posting this!