Urban Amenities, Household Economic Conditions, and Emotional and Psychological Outcomes of Hong Kong Residents during the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aims to provide empirical evidence on whether and how individuals’ emotional and psychological outcomes were influenced by urban service accessibility, household economic conditions, and personal characteristics during a public health crisis. This study uses geocoded survey data from three waves of the Hong Kong Panel Study of Social Dynamics collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Point of interest of urban amenities from a map database, linking individual-level observations to the spatial distribution of urban service. A series of emotional and psychological outcomes were considered, namely, fear of getting infected, feelings of isolation, anxiety, and future life envisions. Results of generalized linear regressions and logistic regressions show that people with economic conditions affected by COVID-19 are more worried about being infected, have worse HSCL, and are more pessimistic about their lives in the five years to come. Besides, living in local areas with better accessibility to urban services is associated with lower concern about getting infected with COVID-19; also associated with less isolated feelings, less HSCL, and better life envision, albeit not significant. Hong Kong natives are less worried about getting infected but have worse HSCL scores and less positive life envision; the difference in HSCL diminishes in the period of low COVID-19 transmission while the difference in future life envision does not. Marital status is the major factor affecting the feeling of isolation: single people, including never married and separated/divorced/widowed, are more likely to feel isolated. These associations held when control variables were added, as well as individual’s previous HSCL or life envision were included. Concern about getting infected, the feeling of isolation, and HSCL during the COVID-19 outbreak period negatively impact future life envision even in a mild transmission period.