Living with a global pandemic

A study of people’s worries in relation to Covid-19 in Sweden

Abstract

Covid-19 as a health crisis has affected all spheres of private and public life, both nationally and internationally, locally and globally. This article aims to contribute knowledge about people’s levels of worry during the pandemic’s first phase in Sweden. Worry is examined in relation to sociodemographic background, social capital, and judgements concerning potential threats and the national measures implemented. The theoretical framework utilized resides upon concepts and theories of worry and social capital. The data was collected in Sweden in April and May 2020 through an online survey of experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic. Multiple regression analysis and multiple correspondence analysis revealed that higher levels of worry were closely associated both with the judgement that the national measures implemented were not correct, and with the perception that Covid-19 as an illness comprised a greater threat than its financial and social consequences. These factors were also related to advanced age, chronic illness, and lower levels of social capital. Our findings point to the need for further sociological research – both quantitative and qualitative – concerning the pandemic’s various consequences in everyday life.