CoVidAffect, real-time monitoring of mood variations following the COVID-19 outbreak in Spain

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak and the ensuing confnement measures are expected to bear a signifcant psychological impact on the afected populations. To date, all available studies designed to investigate the psychological efects of this unprecedented global crisis are based on cross-sectional surveys that do not capture emotional variations over time. Here, we present the data from CoVidAfect, a nationwide citizen science project aimed to provide longitudinal data of mood changes following the COVID-19 outbreak in the spanish territory. Spain is among the most afected countries by the pandemic, with one of the most restrictive and prolonged lockdowns worldwide. The project also collected a baseline of demographic and socioeconomic data. These data can be further analyzed to quantify emotional responses to specifc measures and policies, and to understand the efect of context variables on psychological resilience. Importantly, to our knowledge this is the frst dataset that ofers the opportunity to study the behavior of emotion dynamics in a prolonged lockdown situation.