Psychological impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on Vietnamese community

Purpose: This study investigates the psychological impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on Vietnamese people and examines the factors affecting their psychological well-being during and after the lockdown period. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the survey answers of 701 Vietnamese respondents, this study explores the psychological impact associated with COVID-19 lockdown in Vietnam. Using a newly developed “mvord” package in R that controls the heterogeneity in error structure of the sample units (Hirk et al., 2020), the study runs multivariate ordinal logistic regression models to examine the determinants of the emotional outcomes. Findings: The study discloses negative psychological states among the Vietnamese community during and after the lockdown, including boredom, anxiety, sadness, stress, anger, precautionary measures and post-traumatic stress symptoms. Demographic characteristics (male gender, young age, poor-health condition, high educational level, small family size, officers or professionals, using public transport, quarantine experience before the lockdown, non-extended lockdown period and living in rural areas) and various difficulties during lockdown (insufficient information about COVID-19, income loss, having daily-life difficulties and unhappy experiences during lockdown) are related to higher degrees of different psychological symptoms during and after lockdown in Vietnam. Originality/value: This study identifies the importance of mitigating the detrimental effects of the COVID-19 lockdown on Vietnamese well-being and prepares the Vietnamese government better to handle the public mental issues during future lockdowns. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.