We are All in This Together: The Comparison of Coronavirus' Experiences in Croatia and Other European Countries

Abstract

Different countries were successful in different ways in their
attempts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which
compromised the health of many people. Stress levels rose
and the restrictive measures impacted the citizens' trust in
institutions. An important resource for managing crises is a
country’s economic growth. Given that the gross domestic
product (GDP) per capita is one indicator of economic growth, the goal of this study is to investigate the differences
in perceived stress and trust in institutions between European
countries categorized into below-average, average and
above-average GDP per capita levels during the coronavirus
pandemic. The analyses of N = 84,080 participants from 29
countries gathered via an online survey showed that citizens
of higher-level GDP per capita countries experienced less
stress and had more trust in institutions. Compared to the
average level, Croatian citizens experienced somewhat
higher stress and had somewhat higher trust in the
government’s measures. These results imply that economic
growth is one of the country-level factors associated with the
quality of managing the coronavirus pandemic.