Scholarly Commons

This study aimed to assess the effects of social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic on the four pillars of health: physical activity, diet, mental well-being, and sleep. An assessment from this context can help inform public health policy to mitigate health imbalances and improve individual-level resilience in future catastrophes. While current COVID-19 research focuses on behavioral changes, little is understood about why changes ensued and whether they fluctuated throughout the progression of the pandemic. Therefore, a longitudinal qualitative study with 34 participants was conducted to investigate health and daily routine changes at the onset of the pandemic (May 2020) and one year later (May 2021). The study recognizes three overarching themes: individuals experienced a variety of causes for changes in health throughout the pandemic, interrelationships exist among the pillars, and mental well-being was the most impactful with effects scaffolding across sleep, physical activity, and diet.

Request policy: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding authors, JB,, upon reasonable request.