107 DOI: 10.17573/cepar.2021.1.05 1.01 Original scientific article The Psychosocial Impact of the Romanian Government Measures on the Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic Armenia Androniceanu Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Faculty of Administration and Public Management, Romania University of Social Sciences, Lodz, Poland armenia.androniceanu@man.ase.ro https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7307-5597 Doina-Mihaela Marton Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Faculty of Administration and Public Management, Romania marton.doinamihaela@gmail.com https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5908-4224 Received: 24. 2. 2021 Accepted: 1. 4. 2021 ABSTRACT The Covid-19 pandemic generated a global crisis involving most countries in the world. State governments worldwide were forced to take appro- priate measures impacting different fields. The Romanian government and other local public authorities developed special measures to curb the spread of the SARS-COV-2 virus in Romania in general and in Bucha- rest, the country’s capital. The purpose of our research was to identify the social and psychological impact of the governmental measures on the citizens of Bucharest. The research was conducted between 28 Novem- ber and 25 December 2020, but refers to the measures taken by the gov- ernment and local authorities from the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic to date. The sample, representative for Bucharest, included 421 citizens living in Bucharest, aged between 19 and 40 years. The data were col- lected using an online questionnaire. Other methods used to analyse the results and verify the hypothesis included the multiple regression model and some applications in Excel. The results confirmed that governmen- tal measures had a strong social and psychological impact on citizens, changing their social behaviour and causing psychological disorders, such as depression and anxiety. Our research results can help the Romanian authorities avoid problems among the population and adapt their meas- ures to better meet the population’s psychosocial needs in time of the Covid-19 pandemic crisis, which is far from over. Keywords: Covid-19, governmental policy, social impact, pandemic, psychological impact JEL: I12, I18 Androniceanu, A., Marton, D.- M., (2021). The Psychosocial Impact of the Romanian Government Measures on the Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Central European Public Administration Review, 19(1), pp. 107–132 CEPAR 2021-01.indd 107 29. 05. 2021 21:31:44 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021108 Armenia Androniceanu, Doina-Mihaela Marton 1 Introduction Pandemics occur from time to time in society, causing the death of millions of people (Akas and Karataş, 2020, p. 3) and they can cause frustration, anxi- ety, depression or fear (Ballou et al., 2020, p. 2). Most pandemics so far have a major social, economic and psychological impact on humanity and are charac- terized by a widespread geographical extension (Morens et al., 2009, p. 1020; Besenyő and Kármán, 2020, p. 631; Chehabeddine and Tvaronavičienė, 2020, p. 432; Davulis et al., 2021, p.310). The same factors were studied by Mura and Horváth (2015, p. 867). Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an un- precedented impact on the daily life of the population all around the world. The measures adopted by the governments of the affected states have led to significant changes in the population’s behavior, having a major impact on both the mental and physical health of the citizens. First discovered in Wuhan, China, the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread at a very high rate on a world- wide scale, leading this way to the COVID-19 Pandemic (Zandi et al., 2020, pp. 1-2). Some symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, dry cough, loss of taste or smell (World Health Organization, 2020). According to the World Health Or- ganization (WHO), until the 31st of January 2021, there were 101,917,147 confirmed cases and 2,205,515 confirmed deaths of SARS-CoV-2 worldwide (World Health Organization, 2021). Facing this global crisis, the public authorities from every state had to issue new sets of measures in order to limit the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Among the adopted measures there are: wearing of a protective mask, isolation, quar- antine and social distancing. In China, for example, strict measures have had an impact on reducing the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (Liu et al., 2020, p. 77). ‘The normal’ life which the population was used to have, suffered a drastic change, people’s lifestyle and behavior have been strongly affected. The adopted measures also had an impact in Romania over the mental and physical health of the population. Thereby, the scope of this research was to identify the social and the psychological impact of the measures adopted by the Romanian Government and the local authorities on Bucharest’s citizens. Our research question is: Which were the social and psychological effects of the governmental measures on the population aged between 19 and 40 in Bucharest in the first nine months of the pandemic? It is necessary to specify that some governmental measures from different states, including Romania, were influenced by the recommendations commu- nicated by the European institutions and by the World Health Organization which were actively involved in managing this crisis ever since its outbreak. Also, the European Union has been actively involved in this situation, encour- aging states to do more tests (Androniceanu, 2020, p. 144). The measures formulated by the national and local state authorities should be analyzed by them and by the researchers, too, because they produce long-term conse- quences over the mental, social and physical health of the population. The aftermath of the current sanitary crisis could affect the following crises that may emerge, given the fact that because of the responses and the obtained CEPAR 2021-01.indd 108 29. 05. 2021 21:31:44 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021 109 The Psychosocial Impact of the Romanian Government Measures on the Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic effects it can be determined what was helpful and whatnot. This aspect il- lustrates the importance of studying the impact of WHO’s recommendations and local governments’ politics and endorsed measures because it can help towards the improvement of the organization and the functionality of the administrative systems all around the world. 2 Literature review Being an ongoing issue, the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the adopted measures on the people represent significant subjects which were addressed by researchers, government official and population globally (Silva Junior et al., 2020, p. 2; Carrasco Sierra et al., 2020, p. 1). The effects can al- ready be seen and they will continue to be more and more obvious, in time, on a world scale. The negative effects are not limited to the psychological ones, the other effects such as social, economic, political effects being already seen in many states (Arpaci et al., 2020, p. 1; Dobrowolski, 2020, p. 800; Moyo, 2020, p. 329). Different international researchers pointed out that social isolation, anxiety or stress contribute to the appearance or even aggravation of some disorders and changes in people’s behavior (Rathod et al., 2020, p. 6). They become more depressed and they can commit suicide. USA, Great Britain, Italy or Germany are some of the states that reported suicides caused by the fear of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (Sher, 2020, pp. 707–712). Also, Akat and Karataş (2020, p. 4) mentioned that, even if all people feel the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the strongest psychological effects are felt by people who have been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Hu et al. (2020, pp. 1–18) demonstrated that schizophrenia (3,541 people), depressive episodes (3,230 people) and other anxiety disorders (1,284 people) are the first three psychological effects on the people who participated in a study conducted in China during 2020. People’s lives have been affected by this crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and fear, anxiety or stress are some of its fallouts. To overcome this situation, the efforts of the public authorities and those of the people should be better coordinated. The public authorithies have to adopt measures and people have to respect them. The approach by which the government decides on the measures and the way the population applies these measures has proved to be inappropriate in many European countries and beyond. Excellent communication and effective coordination of the im- plementation process have been needed. If there is no effective coordination, the measures are taken in vain (Singh et al., 2020, pp. 168–172). In addition, the closing of schools and universities has a long-term impact on kids and stu- dents because these actions reduced their ability to learn and the capacity to develop minimal skills and competences (Amiri et al., 2020; Sawangchai et al., 2020, pp. 503–505). At the same time, this measure reduced the quality of the educational process because most of the states have implemented an online education system, a measure that was not efficient in many of them. According to our research, there should be a public consultation on the meas- ures taken by governments during the pandemic (Nosková and Peráček, 2019, CEPAR 2021-01.indd 109 29. 05. 2021 21:31:44 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021110 Armenia Androniceanu, Doina-Mihaela Marton p. 48). Governments should clearly communicate the measures and explain their content in order to be successful in this context. Governments and doc- tors need to explain clearly and coherently why certain government measures restricting their freedoms should be accepted and respected. Some measures adopted in different states were related to the treatment schemes. Some measures taken in some states were for certain drugs, which were changed along the way because they were not enough or not effective in fighting the SARS-CoV 2. Bo et al. (2020, pp. 1–2) demonstrated that the people who were infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress even before they were discharged from the hospital. So, monitoring the psy- chological consequences should become a global habit (Huang and Zhao, 2020, p. 5). This situation generates negative effects on other people. For the long- term, it is necessary to monitor and check the psychological evolution of the people who overcame COVID-19 (Zandi et al., 2020, p. 2). It is necessary to fol- low three steps in order to minimize the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first step refers to the fact that mental health professionals should not be assigned to work in other medical areas. The second step refers to some measures, such as targeted psychological interventions for communi- ties affected by COVID-19 or improved access to psychological interventions (especially online). The third step refers to paying special attention to people who are on the frontline against the SARS-CoV-2 virus (Cullen et al., 2020, pp. 311–312). In addition, in this period, people are using the social media plat- forms more than ever. Arpaci et al. (2020, pp. 193–204) performed research between 22nd – 30th of March 2020 and analyzed over 43 million posts on Twit- ter. Among the most used words on Twitter are ‘death’, ‘spread’, ‘lockdown’, and this shows that the people are afraid of both the spread of the virus and the idea of a lockdown, issues that limit the population’s mobility and freedom. The human race is social by nature and social interaction represents a part of human civilization (Belas et al., 2020, p. 133; Vlacseková and Mura, 2017, p. 126; Korauš et al., 2020, p. 39). In order not to be infected or not to transmit the virus to the community, the physical distancing is a measure that deter- mines people to work from home and avoid other people or social contacts. These changes shifted the typical ‘normality’ to which people were accus- tomed and their social relationships suffered, affecting their psychological and psychosocial states (Naser et al., 2020, p. 1). The absence of these so- cial interactions can provoke and amplify anxiety, loneliness, depression and these effects influence not only the individual, but also the society as a whole (Singh et al., 2020, pp. 168–172). Physical distancing is a new concept that determined people to develop new habits and to realize that their survival needs are very limited and a new approach to their interactions with their family or friends is needed (Verma and Prakash, 2020, pp. 7352–7363). To understand the positive or negative social impact of the pandemic, we should first identify it. During the pandemic time, people can spend a lot of time with their families and this is, obviously, an advantage created by this pandemic. However, in some states, including Romania, the number of di- vorces has increased, the number of marriages has decreased and cases of CEPAR 2021-01.indd 110 29. 05. 2021 21:31:45 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021 111 The Psychosocial Impact of the Romanian Government Measures on the Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic conflict between family members have also increased. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, people were so busy with their jobs so that they did not have time to satisfy their own hobbies. As a result of the measures adopted in the con- text of COVID-19, a lot of economical areas have suffered, many of them be- ing closed and these put them at a disadvantage because people have to live with the idea that they do not have a job and they do not earn money to live their everyday life (Amiri et al., 2020). However, people have a lot of free time now and they can use it to satisfy their hobbies or to do different activities for which they could not allocate enough time before. In addition, closing some areas help the environment to recover, given the fact that the pollution has decreased significantly. Families and couples spend more time together, but for some people this action can be a disadvantage because in some cases can appear domestic violence and in other cases, it can be amplified. A part of the people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus need hospitalization, so many hospitals from different cities and regions changed their activity and became main hospitals or support hospitals for COVID-19. Given the fact that current- ly the priority of the hospitals is treating people with COVID-19, people who have an emergency and they need hospitalization or people who have some health problems which can only be solved in the hospital, they may not re- ceive the necessary health service, they can be neglected, and this is certainly a disadvantage created by this pandemic (Haleem et al., 2020, p. 1; Vidyakant and Appasani, 2020). 3 Research methodology The research process went through several stages. In the first stage, we stud- ied the literature about COVID-19. In the second stage, we established the purpose, the specific objectives, the hypothesis and the variables of the re- search. The purpose of the research was to identify the impact of the meas- ures adopted by the Romanian Government and local authorities on citizens aged between 19 and 40 years, resident in Bucharest. The main specific objectives of our research were the following: (1) to identify the most relevant measures issued by the authorities, which had an impact over the targeted citizens; (2) to identify the main social and psychological effects determined by the adopted measures; (3) to identify the main activi- ties which helped the population to adapt to the enforced measures; (4) to identify the behavior changes as a result of the endorsed measures; (5) to identify the measures according to the citizen’s opinions that could have re- duced negative social and psychological impact on the population. The research had four hypotheses: (1): If the targeted citizens had been con- sulted regarding the measures adopted to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2 vi- rus, then they would have complied more with the administrative measures; (2) The citizens’ belief that closing the restaurants, terraces and cafes during the alert state had a strong psychological and social impact on them, which was stronger compared to those who felt affected by the measure that in- volved maintaining physical distance; (3) If the targeted citizens were alone CEPAR 2021-01.indd 111 29. 05. 2021 21:31:45 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021112 Armenia Androniceanu, Doina-Mihaela Marton during the emergency stage, then they spent more time on the social media platforms compared to the married citizens who have spent more time with their family; (4) If targeted citizens are very worried regarding the impact of the governmental measures, then as a result of the adopted measures they felt happy very rarely. The variables of the research were the age, gender, education, income and the relationship status. In the third stage, we prepared the questionnaire for the survey and iden- tified the online platforms for launching it. The questionnaire was created in Google Forms and consisted of 19 questions, including 18 questions with closed answer and one question with open answer. Five questions included the variables, which contributed to the differentiation of the answers, and 14 questions were in direct connection with the purpose, the specific objectives and the hypothesis of the research. There were two main types of periods in which the Romanian government decided the measures against SARS – COV 2 virus: (1) emergency period – lockdown and (2) alert period – since May 2020. In the fourth stage, we determinated the sample size of the research. Our ob- jective was to have a representative sample for Bucharest. According to the National Institute of Statistics, on 1st of July 2019, there were 655,619 people aged between 19 and 40 years old living in Bucharest. The participants were recruited mainly by age for the research. This is a segment of the population with a higher degree of psychological vulnerability, in the context created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The questionnaire was distributed online, on Face- book groups with people living in all the 6 districts of Bucharest and each per- son in the target age category had the opportunity to take part in the study. The sample size was established taking into account the total population and the level of accuracy using the formula 1 proposed by Androniceanu (2017, p. 71): ,= (1) Therefore, there were necessary at least 400 respondents for the research to be representative, and the survey was completed by 421 respondents. The sample structure by age is presented in Figure 1. Figure 1: The sample structure by age Source: authors CEPAR 2021-01.indd 112 29. 05. 2021 21:31:45 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021 113 The Psychosocial Impact of the Romanian Government Measures on the Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic Figure 1 shows that the study involved people from each targeted age, but the majority of respondents (10,92%) are 40 years old. In the fifth stage, we centralized and analyzed the data based on specific cor- relations and a model of multiple regression. The multiple regression model shows the level of trust in the measures issued by the governmental authori- ties and the level of trust in the information transmitted by them in the con- text of COVID-19 pandemic. The model reflects the influence over the extent to which the targeted citizens complied with the imposed measures. 4 Main results, analysis and discussion This research confirms that the measures taken by the Romanian Govern- ment and the local administrative authorities of Bucharest had a significant social and psychological impact on the population included in our research. These effects are presented in Figure 2. Figure 2: Psychological and social impact generated by the governmental measures Source: Figure 2 illustrates that the measures endorsed by the governmental au- thorities were affecting psychologically and socially the majority of the re- spondents. The social impact was the strongest, 78,38% of respondents be- ing affected from this point of view. The people could not interact as much as before with other people and the measures adopted such as maintaining the physical distancing, restricting people’s mobility and closing the restau- rants, the cafes or the cinemas are just some of the factors which contributed to a high social impact. The psychological impact cannot be ignored either, because 60,81% of respondents were affected from this point of view. The measures adopted by the authorities determined people to feel more anx- ious, bored, depressed. Furthermore, people declared to be happy, relaxed or calm rarely or very rarely during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also followed the targeted citizens’ level of confidence in the information transmitted and in the measures adopted by the public authorities in the con- text of COVID-19 pandemic. This aspect is presented in Figure 3. CEPAR 2021-01.indd 113 29. 05. 2021 21:31:45 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021114 Armenia Androniceanu, Doina-Mihaela Marton Figure 3: The level of confidence of the targeted citizens Source: authors Figure 3 shows obviously negative effects. Most of the respondents had a very low level of confidence and just few people had a very high level of trust both in information transmitted and in measures adopted by public authori- ties. Regarding the level of trust in information transmitted, just 2,38% of respondents had a very high level while 38,24% proved a very low level of it. The level of trust in the information transmitted was identified as a negative effect because 67,45% of respondents declared a level of trust placed under the medium level (low and very low level) while just 11,88% declared a posi- tive level of trust (high and very high level). This distrust was determinated by many factors including the authority’s communication strategy (for example: contradictory information) or insufficiently explained information (medical or related restrictions). Also, the level of trust of the targeted citizens in the measures adopted by the governmental authorities was identified as a nega- tive effect because 54,39% of respondents were having a level of trust placed under the minimum level (low and very low level) while just 17,34% were hav- ing a positive level of trust (high and very high level). However, there was a positive aspect because the proportion of those who had an average level of confidence in the measures adopted by Government was higher. Though, just 4,04% of respondents had a high level of confidence in the measures adopt- ed by the authorities, however their percentage is bigger than the high level of confidence in the information transmitted by the authorities where only 2,38% of respondents had a very high level of trust. Even if the level of con- fidence is predominantly negative, 51,10% of respondents followed in a very large extent the measures decided by the Romanian Government. The measures adopted by the Romanian Government had a significant psy- chological and social impact. According to our research results, some of the citizens were affected by the measures of the alert period and the others felt problems as an effect of the measures adopted by the government dur- ing the emergency period, when the restrictions of lockdown were stronger. In Romania, Government, Ministry of Internal Affairs or other administrative institutions, such as National Committee for Emergency Situations took the measures to limit the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, by adopting decisions, emergency ordinances or military ordinances. So, the measures that can be seen in Table 1 during the alert period are specified in Decision no. 394/18 May 2020 of the Romanian Government, Decision no. 24/14 May 2020, De- CEPAR 2021-01.indd 114 29. 05. 2021 21:31:46 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021 115 The Psychosocial Impact of the Romanian Government Measures on the Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic cision no. 30/16 June 2020, Decision no. 45/14 September 2020 of the Na- tional Committee for Emergency Situations. The measures that can be seen in Table 1 during the emergency period are specified in the Military Ordinance no/18 March 2020, Military ordinance no. 2/ 21 March 2020, Military ordnance no. 3/24 March 2020 of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Decision no. 9 of 10.03.2020 of the Technical-Scientific Support Group on the management of highly contagious diseases in Romania tacitly approved by the National Com- mittee for Special Emergency Situations by Decision no on 11.03.2020. As can be seen in the table 1, there were citizens who were affected by the measures taken by the government in both periods. Table 1: Governmental measures and their impact on the targeted citizens Governmental measures adopted in both periods (emergency state and alert state) during March – December 2020 Period Emergency state Alert state Both types of states It is not the case No. of respon- dents % No. of respon- dents % No. of respon- dents % No. of respon- dents % Maintaining physical dis- tancing. 57 13,53 45 10,68 123 29,21 196 46,55 Imposing of the quarantine. 107 25,41 46 10,92 128 30,40 140 33,25 Imposing of the isolation. 76 18,05 38 9,02 112 26,60 195 46,31 Restricting people’s move- ment outside of their houses. 122 28,97 48 11,40 162 38,47 89 21,14 Closing restaurants, terrac- es, cafes. 49 11,63 57 13,53 173 41,09 142 33,72 Closing cultural, scientific, artistic, religious, sportive and entertainment activ- ities. 60 14,25 53 12,58 180 42,75 128 30,40 Holding university classes exclusively online. 36 8,55 37 8,78 171 40,61 177 42,04 Working from home. 32 7,60 37 8,78 84 19,95 268 63,65 Source: authors Table 1 contains the majority measures which affected the people both psy- chologically and socially. According to our research results there is a small number of people who did not feel the impact of these measures. However, more than half of respondents were affected by six of the eight measures including both those who felt the effects only in one of the periods (emer- gency or alert period) and those who felt the effect during both periods. The citizens felt the impact more in the emergency period than in the alert, but CEPAR 2021-01.indd 115 29. 05. 2021 21:40:22 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021116 Armenia Androniceanu, Doina-Mihaela Marton the majority of the respondents were affected during both periods. The re- search results show the fact that closing cultural, scientific, artistic, religious, sportive and entertainment activities was the measure that had the strongest impact on the respondents, being felt by 42,75% of them. During the emer- gency period, restricting people’s movement outside of their houses was the measure that had the strongest impact on the respondents, being felt by 28,97% of respondents. The frequency of the positive psychological impact that the respondents have felt since the beginning of the pandemic was another aspect followed throughout the research. This frequency was included in the research to iden- tify positive effects, but the results proved contrary. The information collect- ed is presented in table 2. Table 2: The frequency of the positive psychological states because of the adopted governmental measures Positive psychological impact Frequency Never Very rarely Rarely Often Very often Relaxation 15,91% 30,64% 30,64% 18,53% 4,28% Happiness 13,06% 28,03% 32,07% 22,57% 4,28% Calmness 12,11% 28,27% 29,69% 26,13% 3,80% Lively 14,49% 29,45% 35,87% 15,68% 4,51% Source: authors As we can see in table 2, 61,28% of respondents have felt relaxed rarely and very rarely and just 22,81% of the targeted citizens have often and very often felt relaxed. The majority of the respondents (60,01%) have rarely and very rarely felt happy as a result of the governmental measures adopted to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, while just 26,85% of them have often and very often felt happy. Regarding the calmness, the results showed a negative aspect that the majority of the respondents have rarely and very rarely felt calm (57,96%). The state of being lively highlighted that 65,32% of respond- ents were rarely and very rarely being lively from the beginning of the pan- demic. Table 2 shows that some of the targeted citizens were never happy, relaxed, lively or calm since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. These results demonstrate the importance and the major impact of the measures adopted by the Government. We can conclude that, in the future, the authori- ties should take the right actions and set up appropriate strategies, plans or public policies to follow up these vulnerabilities. Otherwise, neglecting these results obtained in this research could have the effect of alarmingly increase the number of cases of depression, anxiety, stress or enlarge the suicide rates in Romania. The main social effects are presented in Figure 4. CEPAR 2021-01.indd 116 29. 05. 2021 21:31:46 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021 117 The Psychosocial Impact of the Romanian Government Measures on the Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic Figure 4: Main social effects generated by the governmental measures (number of respondents) Source: authors As we can see in Figure 4, respondents were affected by the majority of the social effects, and even if they are less, there were people who did not feel these effects. However, all the social effects were felt by over 50% of re- spondents, including both those who felt the effects only in one of the states (emergency state or alert state) and those who felt the effect during both type of states (emergency state and alert state). Among those who felt the social effects, most of them were affected during both state, not just dur- ing one of them. So, in both types of states, 54,87% of respondents changed their lifestyle; 71,73% interacted less with other people; 60,57% spent more time on social media; 45,60% spent more time in front of the TV and 54,16% spent more time with their families. Overall, since the beginning of the pan- demic, 90,97% of respondents interacted less with other people; 79,10% spent more time with their families; 77,91% of respondents changed their lifestyle; 76,25% spent more time on social media and 63,18% of them spent more time in front of the TV. The most felt social effect was the lower interac- tion with other people. This change was caused by the measures of restricting people’s movement outside of their houses or those related to maintaining physical distancing between people to limit the spreading of the new coro- navirus. Another aspect targeted by our research was to identify the behavioral changes of the respondents. The changes can be seen in Table 3. CEPAR 2021-01.indd 117 29. 05. 2021 21:31:46 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021118 Armenia Androniceanu, Doina-Mihaela Marton Table 3: Targeted citizen’s behavioral changes generated by the governmental measures Behavioral changes Number of respondents Percentage Buying more things online. 262 62,23% Increased attention to personal care and hygiene. 250 59,38% More cautious in interactions with other people. 235 55,82% Eating more. 187 44,42% Sleeping more. 164 38,95% Working more. 150 35,63% Reading more. 101 23,99% Smoking more. 93 22,09% Drinking more. 56 13,30% Doing more workouts. 52 12,35% No behavioral changes. 24 5,70% Others. 8 1,90% Source: authors According to Table 3, from over 50% of respondents there were identified just three behavioral changes. Public authorities restricted the mobility of the people and imposed a certain schedule or specific reasons to be able to leave their houses. Besides these, the fear of getting the virus or the fear of spread- ing the virus determined people to stay longer in their homes. Therefore, in order to respect the measures and to be relaxed, 62,33% of respondents started buying products online and 55,82% of them started to be more care- ful in their interactions with other people. Also, 59,38% of respondents start- ed to be more careful to their personal care and hygiene which is a positive change. Through the behavioral changes mentioned by the respondents, we find “getting annoyed more easily”, “going to therapy”, “insomnia”, “waking up early”, “judging harder and removing close people” or “eating very rarely”. The psychological effects generated by the measures issued by the govern- mental authorities were another aspect followed through the research. The psychological effects and their impact are presented in Figure 5. CEPAR 2021-01.indd 118 29. 05. 2021 21:31:46 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021 119 The Psychosocial Impact of the Romanian Government Measures on the Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic Figure 5: Main psychological effects generated by the governmental measures (number of respondents) Source: authors Figure 5 illustrates that all the psychological effects followed through the re- search have been felt by over 50% of respondents. This issue demonstrates that the measures adopted by the Government had a huge psychological im- pact over the targeted citizens. Since the COVID-19 pandemic has started, 73,40% were felt more bored; 66,99% more irascible and 64,85% were felt more tired. Also, the level of depression, anxiety, loneliness or stress has increased, considering the fact that from the beginning of the pandemic, 75,53% of respondent have felt more stressed; 68,88% more anxious; 62,71% more depressed and 57,96% have felt more alone. If we are talking about the impact on types of states, we can see that there were people affected by the measures only in the emergency state or people affected only in the alert state. The psychological effects were felt by the citizens more in the emer- gency state than in the alert state, but the majority of the respondents have felt these psychological effects during the emergency state and alert state. So, in both types of states, 37,05% of targeted citizens have felt more anx- ious; 38,49% more bored; 33,97% more depressed; 37,05% more irascible; 31,83% more furious; 43,46% of them have felt more stressed; 36,10% more tired and 32,79% of respondents have felt more alone. In order not to feel the impact so strongly, the citizens performed some ac- tivities to help themselves in this way. These activities are presented in the Figure 6. CEPAR 2021-01.indd 119 29. 05. 2021 21:31:47 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021120 Armenia Androniceanu, Doina-Mihaela Marton Figure 6: Activities performed by the targeted citizens not to feel the impact so strongly (number of respondents) Source: authors Figure 6 illustrates that in order not to feel the impact of the measures so strongly, the citizens have undergone 6 out of 9 activities in this regard. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the top three activities that helped them to pass more easily over it were watching movies/series (84,09% of respond- ents), listening to music (82,90% of respondents) and communicating with the loved ones through the social media platforms (76,96% of respondents). During the emergency state, most of the citizens were doing workouts at home (17,81%), 17,56% were reading and 16,62% of them were watching movies/series. The least developed activity in emergency state was visiting museums online, just 6,17% of respondents doing this activity. As we can see in Figure 6, in the alert state not many respondents were developing activities to decrease the impact of the measures. However, in the alert state, most of the respondents were doing home workouts, representing a percentage of 22,40%. As in the emergency state, the fewest respondents (just 4,03%) were visiting museums online in the alert state too. These activities helped the citizens more in the emergency state than in the alert state, though the ma- jority of the respondents have been doing these activities during both types of states. For example, the top three activities practiced by the citizens to pass more easily over the impact of the measures imposed by the authorities have been listening to music (70,30%), watching movies/series (62,23%) and 59,61% of respondents have been communicating through the social media platforms with their loved ones. Also, we wanted to identify if the level of trust in the measures adopted by governmental authorities and the level of trust in the information transmit- ted by them in the context of COVID-19 pandemic had an influence over the extent to which the targeted citizens complied with the imposed measures. CEPAR 2021-01.indd 120 29. 05. 2021 21:31:47 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021 121 The Psychosocial Impact of the Romanian Government Measures on the Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic To identify this aspect, we generated a multiple regression model, which can be found in table 4. Table 4: Multiple regression model SUMMARY OUTPUT Regression Statistics Multiple R 0,324449231 R Square 0,105267304 Adjusted R Square 0,100986286 Standard Error 0,844373967 Observations 421 ANOVA df SS MS F Significance F Regression 2 35,06276 17,53138 24,58932 8,01496E-11 Residual 418 298,0204 0,712967 Total 420 333,0831 Coefficients Standard Error t Stat P-value Lower 95% Upper 95% Lower 95.0% Upper 95.0% Intercept 3,69302989 0,096644 38,21271 1,8E-138 3,503061031 3,882999 3,503061 3,882999 The level of trust in the measures adopted 0,193955985 0,055274 3,509012 0,000499 0,085306991 0,302605 0,085307 0,302605 The level of trust in the information transmitted 0,072292013 0,058924 1,226868 0,220563 -0,043532361 0,188116 -0,04353 0,188116 Source: authors As we can see in table 4, the standard error of this regression is 0,844373967. Observations represent the number of the respondents with valid answers (421). R Square (0,105267304) represents the coefficient of determination, so, 10,52% of dependent variable (the degree to which the citizens complied with the measures imposed by the authorities) is explained by the independ- ent variables (the level of trust in the measures adopted and the level of trust in the information transmitted by the governmental authorities), the differ- ence being explained by other factors. Adjusted R Square (0,100986286) represents the corrected value of R Square and it is used to combat (at least partially) the repercussion caused by the increase of R2 at the same time as the independent variable. Significance F is an indicator which, depending on the 0,05 threshold, demonstrates whether the regression is relevant or not for the purpose of which it was formed. In our case, the Significance F’s val- ue is 8,01496E-11 (0,00000000000801496 < 0,05), so, the regression is sta- tistically relevant. The independent variable relating to the level of trust in the measures adopted shows that the dependent variable is changing with 0,193955985 when the independent variable changes with one unit. In ad- dition, the dependent variable is changing with 0,072292013 when the in- dependent variable relating to the level of trust in the information trans- mitted changes. P-value for intercept is 1,8E-138 < 0,05, so, the indicator is statistically relevant. P-value for the level of trust in the adopted measures is 0,000499 < 0,05, so, the indicator is statistically relevant, and the P-value for the level of trust in the information transmitted is 0,220563 > 0,05, so, the in- CEPAR 2021-01.indd 121 29. 05. 2021 21:31:47 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021122 Armenia Androniceanu, Doina-Mihaela Marton dicator is not statistically relevant. So, the regression equation is: the degree to which the citizens complied with the measures imposed by the authorities = 3,69302989 + 0,193955985 * the level of trust in the measures adopted + 0,072292013 * the level of trust in the transmitted information. Through the research, we wanted to identify the impact of the measures over the targeted citizens, but we also wanted to identify some measures that, from the citizens’ perception, would have had a lower impact over them. So, in the survey we introduced one question with open answer, so that citizens can express their point of view. It was a difficult process because respondents could answer and express in their own way. Even so, all of the 421 answers were grouped and analyzed by us in categories such as “communication of public authorities and media”, “keeping the HoReCa industry open”, “kinder- gartens, schools and faculties open”, “sustaining the medical system”, “adop- tion of another management model of the situation”. The most relevant measures identified in the answers of the respondent are specified in table 5. Table 5: The most relevant measures that, from the citizens’ perception, would have a lower impact over them Number of the measure Measures which, according to the targeted citizens, would of had a reduced social and psychological impact over them 1. A communication strategy more transparent, clearer and understandable to the gen-eral public, including the information regarding the restrictions and the medical ones. 2. More consistent statements from the authorities. The information provided should have been more optimistic, presenting more often the positive aspects of this pan- demic, for example, the medical students who volunteered and helped the Public Health Directions or the presentation of the number of cured cases, not only of the large number of infections or deaths. 3. Media should not have been so aggressive in transmitting the information. 4. Like government and local authorities, media should have presented more objectively the situation, without alarming and panicking the population. 5. Keeping the HoReCa industry opened, with strict rules. 6. More efficient, faster and more logical organization of the educational system. Kin- dergartens, schools and universities being opened and classes being held offline, with strict rules or in a hybrid system (online, offline). 7. Stricter measures: rigorous controls to ensure that the entire population respects the measures for limiting the spread of the virus, higher fines for non-compliance or even a global lockdown for 2 weeks. 8. Adopting the Swedish model of crisis management. 9. More efficient, faster and more logical organization of the medical system. Measures that facilitate the access of sick citizens who are not infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus to the medical system. Facilitating mental health services in the online environ- ment and the existence of settled psychological counseling activities. 10. Consulting citizens on the measures to be implemented. Source: authors CEPAR 2021-01.indd 122 29. 05. 2021 21:31:47 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021 123 The Psychosocial Impact of the Romanian Government Measures on the Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic Table 5 presents the most relevant measures recommended by the citizens. The main measure was improving the communication strategy. The majority of the respondents were specifying that they would have implemented a bet- ter communication strategy. They would have adopted a more transparent, clearer, correct, efficient and more explicit strategy. They would have trans- mitted positive information (number of cured people, for example), not just the negative ones (number of deaths, for example). In addition, the respond- ents were specifying that the media played an important role because a lot of aggressive news was transmitted through it, and the drama in every news journal has led the population to fear and depression. Even if at the beginning of pandemic, the number of confirmed cases was low, the people were very scared because of the news and information transmitted by the authorities and media, and at 10,000 confirmed cases per day, people started not to care anymore because they got used to the panic. This research had four hypotheses, two of them were validated and two invali- dated. First hypothesis was invalidated because just 46,56% of the respondents would have respected more the measures adopted to limit the spread of SARS- CoV-2 virus if they had been consulted about the way the virus regarded them. With reference to the second hypothesis, 32,77% of respondent felt more bored as a result of closing restaurants, terraces and cafes compared to those 22,32% respondents who felt more bored as a result of the physical distancing, so, the second hypothesis was validated. Of the single respondents, 75,75% of them spent more time on the social media platforms compared to the mar- ried respondents, 77,85% of them spent more time with their families. As a result, although the percentages are very close, the third hypothesis was invali- dated. In addition, 15% of respondents mentioned that they are very worried regarding the impact of the governmental measures. Of the 15%, no respond- ent felt happy very often; 7,93% of respondents felt happy often; 20,63% of respondents felt happy rarely; 38,09% of respondents felt happy very rarely, and 33,33% of them never felt happy because of the measures adopted by the public authorities. As a result, the fourth hypothesis was validated. The main limitation of the research was the non-inclusion of the population under 19 years and over 40 years old in the research base and in the sample size. In addition, another limitation of the research was the reduced number of the governmental measures and the reduced number of the psychologi- cal and social effects. Considering also the fact that the survey was applied online, we did not have direct contact with the respondents, so we could not detail various information that would have been valuable for our research (for example, the measures proposed by the citizens). We intend to continue this study by expanding the research base and the sam- ple size in order to have a national representativeness for Romania. To achieve this goal, we will diversify our research tools in order to highlight much better the influence of the measures adopted in the context of COVID-19 pandemic on the Romanian population. We want the results of this study to be useful, so we intend to identify the Romanian public authorities’ perception regard- CEPAR 2021-01.indd 123 29. 05. 2021 21:31:47 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021124 Armenia Androniceanu, Doina-Mihaela Marton ing the results of the study. In this way, we think that public authorities will become aware of the actions’ impact during the pandemic and they could improve the strategies and the public policies for a better functioning and organization of the administrative and health system of Romania. 5 Conclusions This research was concluded to identify the impact of the governmental measures adopted in the context of COVID-19 pandemic on citizens aged be- tween 19 and 40 years living in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. The results showed both positive and negative conclusions, and some of them were com- pletely unexpected. Although the adopted measures had both psychologi- cal and social impact on targeted citizens, it was interesting to find out that the social impact (78,38%) was much stronger than the psychological one (60,81%). The public authorities suspended certain areas of activity, so peo- ple could no longer go out with friends and loved ones to socialize and have fun as they were used to do. The physical distancing separated the people, affecting the human and social relations between them. In the same time, it was interesting to find out that more than half of the respondents felt all the social and psychological effect followed through the research. This shows us that the imposed measures had a strong impact on the populations, and their effects will be clearly felt in the long-term. The return to “old normality” will be a long and hard process, and it will be influenced by the social and psycho- logical effect generated by the adopted measures. Another conclusion resulting from the research refers to the fact that al- though not all measures had a major psychological and social impact on the respondents from Bucharest, however, six of eight measures affected more than half of them. All these measures generated changes in respondents’ behavior. From the beginning of the pandemic until now, people are buying more things online; they are paying much more attention to their personal care and hygiene and they are much more cautious about the people around them. The citizens mentioned different measures that, in their perception, would have had a lower impact over them, compared to those imposed by the public authorities. Although, some of them were identified in various forms by many respondents. The communication between governmental authorities and citizens was a problem in respondents’ opinion; so, most of them would have preferred the existence of a more efficient communication strategy. They would have preferred the information to be disseminated in a more positive and less alarming way. The media played an important role as well. Through the media, excessive and aggressive news was disseminated with information that alarmed the population. In addition, the citizens were considering that it should have been allowed the HoReCa industry (Hotels, Restaurants, Cafes) functioned but with strict rules and in this way people could still go out to socialize. At the same time, kindergartens, schools or uni- versities should have remained on offline teaching system, with strict rules. The online teaching system made the educational process in Romania diffi- CEPAR 2021-01.indd 124 29. 05. 2021 21:31:47 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021 125 The Psychosocial Impact of the Romanian Government Measures on the Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic cult, given that many families cannot offer the appropriate devices and the right infrastructure to their children needed to attend online classes. These are just some of the problems citizens would have improved so that the im- pact of the measures would not have become so strong. Another conclusion refers to the fact that the level of trust in the information transmitted by the authorities is not a variable which can influence the extent to which citizens comply with the measures imposed by the governmental authorities. This re- sult is mainly determinate by the fact that the citizens perceived as defective the entire communication and coordination process of the central and local authorities during the pandemic period analyzed. The research revealed also some positive effects of the measures, like the fact that the respondents spent more time with their families. However, the negative effects are worse. They have affected largely both the mental health of the population and the social environment, and the effects will be felt in the long-term. After the end of the pandemic, a new crisis will certainly ap- pear in Romania, so the central government and local authorities should start early to identify some actions to reduce the psychological and social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Bucharest population’ health. 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At , accessed 31 January 2021. CEPAR 2021-01.indd 128 29. 05. 2021 21:31:48 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021 129 The Psychosocial Impact of the Romanian Government Measures on the Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic ANNEXES ANNEXES Questionnaire - Study on the impact of governmental measures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic on the citizens of Bucharest Question 1: How old are you? Question 2: What is your gender? Female. Male. Question 3: What is the last form of study completed? Primary studies. Gymnasium studies. High-school degree. Bachelor’s degree. Master’s degree. Doctoral studies. Post-graduate studies. Question 4: What is your monthly income? Under 1,000 RON. Between 1,001 and 2,000 RON. Between 2,001 and 3,000 RON. Between 3,001 and 4,000 RON. Between 4,001 and 5,000 RON. Over 5,001 RON. Question 5: What is the current state of your relationship? Single. In a relationship. Engaged. Married. Divorced. Widower/widow. the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Bucharest? Yes. No. Question 7: On a scale of 1 to 5, what is your confidence level: (1 – very low; 5 – very high) 1 2 3 4 5 In the measures adopted by the governmental authorities In the information transmitted by the governmental authorities Question 8: Do you consider that the governmental measures adopted have had a negative psychological and social impact on you? Choose. CEPAR 2021-01.indd 129 29. 05. 2021 21:31:48 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021130 Armenia Androniceanu, Doina-Mihaela Marton Yes. No. Psychological impact. Social impact. Question 9: How worried are you about the impact that the governmental measures have on you? Very worried. Worried. Somewhat worried. Not so worried. Not at all worried. Question 10: Which of the following governmental measures do you consider to have had a psychological and social impact on you? (more options allowed) Emergency state Alert state It is not the case Maintaining physical distancing. Imposing of the quarantine. Imposing of the isolation. Restricting people's movement outside of their houses. Closing restaurants, terraces, cafes. Closing cultural, scientific, artistic, religious, sportive and entertainment activities. Holding university classes exclusively online. Working from home. Question 11: From a psychological point of view, as a result of the governmental measures adopted, you felt: (more options allowed) Emergency state Alert state It is not the case More anxious. More bored. More depressed. More irascible. More furious. More stressed. More tired. More alone. Question 12: As a result of the governmental measures, how often have you felt: Never. Very rarely. Rarely. Often. Very often. CEPAR 2021-01.indd 130 29. 05. 2021 21:31:48 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021 131 The Psychosocial Impact of the Romanian Government Measures on the Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic Relaxed. Happy. Calm. Lively. Question 13: From a social point of view, what were the effects of the governmental measures imposed by the authorities on you? (more options allowed) Emergency state Alert state It is not the case Change of the lifestyle. Reduced interaction with other people. More time spent on the social media. More time spent in the front of the TV. More time spent with the family. Question 14: Which of the following activities helped you get over the restrictions imposed by the authorities? (more options allowed) Emergency state Alert state It is not the case Reading. Watching movies/series. Doing sportive exercises. Cooking. Online communication with others. Learning a new foreign language. Visiting museums online. Participating in online classes and workshops. Listening to music. Question 15: What have been the behavioral changes as a result of the governmental measures imposed by the authorities? (more options allowed) Buying more things online. Increased attention to personal care and hygiene. More cautious in interactions with other people. Eating more. Sleeping more. Working more. Reading more. Smoking more. Drinking more. Doing more workouts. No behavioral changes. Others. your opinion, what measures do you think could have been taken by the governmental authorities in order to have a lower psychological and social impact? Your answer. CEPAR 2021-01.indd 131 29. 05. 2021 21:31:49 Central European Public Administration Review, Vol. 19, No. 1/2021132 Armenia Androniceanu, Doina-Mihaela Marton Question 17: On a scale of 1 to 5, to what extent have you complied with the measures imposed by the governmental authorities? 1 2 3 4 5 to a very small extent to a very large extent Question 18: Do you think that you would have complied more with the measures imposed if the governmental authorities had consulted you on them? Yes. No. Question 19: Do you think that the quality of your life has worsened as a result of the governmental measures? Yes. No. CEPAR 2021-01.indd 132 29. 05. 2021 21:31:49