Authors

• Church Research Institute

Keywords

COVID-19, anxiety, bacterial and virus diseases, church, interpersonal relations, psychological well-being, resilience, social interaction, social networks, trust, well-being (health)

Abstract

The survey charted the concerns and feelings of security and safety of people living in Finland during the coronavirus crisis. This second part of the survey was conducted in May 2020, when the partial loosening of COVID restrictions had been announced. The first part of the survey was conducted in April 2020, when the coronavirus restrictions were at their strictest. The April 2020 survey data are also available at FSD (dataset FSD3508 Mental Resilience of Finnish People I 2020).

Themes of the survey included stress and strain experienced by the respondents, their social networks, and their views on the role of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland in supporting people during the coronavirus crisis. First, the respondents were asked what had brought them comfort during the crisis, and their personal well-being and close relationships were examined with questions on, for example, whether they were regularly in contact with others, had friends they could openly talk to about their worries, and would be willing to help people close to them if needed. Views on safety and security in society were surveyed next with questions on whether the respondents thought people's indifference towards coronavirus restrictions created insecurity, whether news headlines caused fear for them, and whether they were suspicious of all news because they could potentially be fake news.

The respondents were also asked which institutions or groups, such as the Finnish government, health officials, the church, parishes and other religious organisations, or their own family and relatives, they thought were the most significant in creating a feeling of security for them. Stress and strain experienced by the respondents were examined with questions on, for example, whether they were worried about their own financial situation or health, loneliness, an increase in domestic violence, or the situation of health care professionals. The respondents' views were charted on how important various actions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, such as providing spiritual support, food assistance, or online church services, had been during the crisis. They were also asked whether they had used the services or received assistance provided by the church during the crisis, as well as whether they were a member of a church or a religious community and how often they prayed. Finally, the respondents' daily social interaction with others was surveyed, and they were asked how often in the past month they had felt, for example, unhappy, depressed, or lonely.

Background variables included the respondent's gender, NUTS3 region of residence, type of municipality of residence, age, marital status, size of household, level of education, income of the respondent and the household, and economic activity and occupational status.