Psychological Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown on Family Members; a Qualitative Study

Aims: Major traumatic events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the related lockdown can affect the family as the fundamental unit of all societies. This study aimed to explain family members’ psychological experiences of the COVID-19 lockdown. Participants Methods: This qualitative study was conducted from October 2020 to February 2021 on Public population living in Khorramabad, Iran. The sample size that achieved data saturation was 29 by purposive sampling. Unstructured in-depth interviews were used to collect the data. The inductive content analysis approach proposed by Graneheim Lundman was used to analyze the data. Findings: Both positive (movement toward the expansion of the worldview and a sense of pleasure and happiness) and negative (anxiety, a sense of isolation, intensification of loneliness, mood and energy changes, hardship and fatigue from lockdown, boredom, anger, depression, disruption of the sleep-wake patterns, being fed up with limitations, feelings of helplessness, more frequent family disputes and arguments and Internet abuse) psychological aspects were recognized, each of which had some subcategories. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic lockdown created negative and disruptive experiences and positive and constructive experiences for different individuals.