{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,29]],"date-time":"2026-06-29T04:25:34Z","timestamp":1782707134073,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":64,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,27]],"date-time":"2025-02-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1740614400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>COVID-19 measures in Germany varied during the pandemic, and it seems natural that in addition to factors such as incidence, health system capacity, etc., these interventions and their social and economic consequences had an impact on the evolution of the population\u2019s well-being. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a suspicion that the health burden would fall mainly on population groups with a lower socio-economic status, and that COVID-19, including the policy measures, could therefore contribute to increasing social inequalities in health. We examine several indicators of well-being over the course of the pandemic, analyze the effect of the stringency of the measures on subjective well-being and the extent to which certain social groups were particularly affected.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Our analyses are based on 2020 and 2021 data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), complemented by various regional indicators, including the COVID-19 measures. Data on subjective well-being during the pandemic phases were regressed on the phases, socio-demographic, economic and health-related indicators, stringency of measures and other regional indicators in multi-level models with the district as the top level. Up to <jats:italic>N<\/jats:italic>\u202f=\u202f29,871 observations in 401 districts were included.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Overall, there was little decline in well-being up to the end of the observation period, and even some increase. When the effect of the stringency of the measures was taken into account, the changes were partially attenuated. However, stringency had little direct effect on well-being. People with disabilities and chronic pre-existing conditions were particularly affected by a reduction in well-being. In some cases, COVID-19 measures had slightly different effects in these groups.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>The effects of socio-economic indicators were not strong enough to suggest that lower social status is generally associated with a negative trend in well-being. According to our results, people with disabilities and chronic diseases, including severe obesity, should be given more attention in the future. A change in time-related outcomes when considering COVID-19 measures could indicate adjustment effects on well-being.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1523691","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,27]],"date-time":"2025-02-27T13:22:27Z","timestamp":1740662547000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Regional COVID-19 measures and effects on subjective well-being in Germany: observing trends over time with data from a large population survey"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Emily","family":"Finne","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anna Christina","family":"Nowak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Oliver","family":"Razum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","year":"2020"},{"key":"ref2","volume-title":"A conceptual framework for action on the social determinants of health: social determinants of health","author":"Solar","year":"2010"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"670","DOI":"10.1055\/a-1226-6708","article-title":"Soziale Ungleichheit und COVID-19: sozialepidemiologische Perspektiven auf die Pandemie: [social inequalities and COVID-19: social-epidemiological perspectives on the pandemic]","volume":"82","author":"Wachtler","year":"2020","journal-title":"Gesundheitswesen"},{"key":"ref4","volume-title":"COVID-19 and the social determinants of health and health equity: Evidence brief","year":"2021"},{"key":"ref5","volume-title":"The unequal pandemic: COVID-19 and health inequalities","author":"Bambra","year":"2021"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1116","DOI":"10.1007\/s00103-021-03387-w","article-title":"Soziale Ungleichheit in der regionalen Ausbreitung von SARS-CoV-2: [social inequalities in the regional spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections]","volume":"64","author":"Dragano","year":"2021","journal-title":"Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e966","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-2667(22)00223-7","article-title":"COVID-19 mortality and deprivation: pandemic, syndemic, and endemic health inequalities","volume":"7","author":"McGowan","year":"2022","journal-title":"Lancet Public Health"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"912","DOI":"10.21203\/rs.3.rs-1327912\/v1","article-title":"Regional disparities in SARS-CoV-2 infections by labour market indicators: a spatial panel analysis using German notification data","volume":"1","author":"Wahrendorf","year":"2022","journal-title":"Res Sq"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100056","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmh.2021.100056","article-title":"SARS-CoV-2 among migrants and forcibly displaced populations: a rapid systematic review","volume":"4","author":"Hintermeier","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Migr Health"},{"key":"ref10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100630","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eclinm.2020.100630","article-title":"Ethnicity and clinical outcomes in COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"29","author":"Sze","year":"2020","journal-title":"EClinicalMedicine"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"314","DOI":"10.1007\/s00103-021-03280-6","article-title":"Higher risk of COVID-19 hospitalization for unemployed: an analysis of health insurance data from 1.28 million insured individuals in Germany","volume":"64","author":"Wahrendorf","year":"2021","journal-title":"Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.25646\/9555","article-title":"Soziale Ungleichheit und COVID-19 in Deutschland \u2013 Wo stehen wir in der vierten Pandemiewelle? 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