New Research Findings on the Causes and Consequences of Pandemic Fatigue

During the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and health authorities recommended and prescribed various health-protective behaviours, such as wearing masks and physical distance. While these measures helped contain the pandemic, they had both economic and psychological consequences. People eventually followed the official recommendations less and less. The reason for this was thought to be "pandemic fatigue". So are we humans really so fed up with pandemics that we downplay the measures taken to combat them?

"Using data from a panel survey and two repeated cross-sectional surveys in Denmark and Germany, we were able to measure how pandemic fatigue developed during the COVID 19 pandemic," says Cornelia Betsch, Professor of Health Communication at the University of Erfurt as one of the authors of the study. "Our results now prove the existence of pandemic fatigue, but also its connection with our willingness to follow health recommendations."

Cornelia Betsch and her colleagues draw three conclusions: First, pandemic fatigue is both an informational and a behavioural fatigue that changes over time. Second, it is likely that most people will experience some form of pandemic fatigue during a pandemic. Third, pandemic fatigue is consistently related to people's self-reported tendency and intention to adhere to various health recommendations.

"Our findings suggest that pandemic fatigue is a phenomenon that should not be ignored. At the same time, we see that it is only one of many factors related to people's propensity to adhere to government health recommendations," the researchers point out. "Nevertheless, interventions to reduce pandemic fatigue can be potentially useful – especially if they target younger people, who on average report higher levels of pandemic fatigue."

In both Denmark and Germany, pandemic fatigue quickly subsided as the COVID-19 virus itself subsided. So when should the authorities act? "Interventions to reduce pandemic fatigue may be unnecessary if each pandemic wave is short-lived and people can recover psychologically between waves. However, if pandemic fatigue accumulates from one wave to the next, timely interventions to address pandemic fatigue could be very important," the psychologists state and recommend: "Future research should critically examine whether and under what circumstances interventions to reduce pandemic fatigue are necessary, effective and useful."