Young adults’ perceptions of information on social distancing measures and everyday life during the COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark and Sweden: an interview study

ABSTRACT

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Denmark and Sweden’s governments and health authorities implemented social distancing measures as the main strategy to limit the spread of the coronavirus. In Denmark, these were mostly mandatory, whereas in Sweden they were primarily voluntarily based. The aim of this study was to explore how young adults in Denmark and Sweden retrieved and perceived information during the COVID-19 pandemic and what their experiences of everyday life were with the implemented social distancing measures. To this end, 30 Danish and Swedish young adults between 18 and 25 years were interviewed. The participants considered themselves informed and reflected on multiple sources of information. However, social distancing measures were translated in different ways and had both negative and positive implications for their everyday lives. Many participants felt that their youth – as a significant phase in life – became restricted.

KEYWORDS:

• Youths
• adolescents
• comprehensibility
• communication
• compliance
• policy implementation

Introduction

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and health authorities globally implemented social distancing measures as the main strategy to limit the spread of the virus. This was based on the premise that the spread of the virus would slow down if citizens stayed home from school or work, avoided large gatherings, and refrained from touching one another (Jefferson et al., 2011). However, one study indicated that younger people found social distancing measures during the pandemic as less acceptable compared to older people (Nilsen et al., 2023). Furthermore, young adults were less likely than older age groups to rely on traditional news broadcasts and public authorities’ information channels where information on social distancing measures was predominantly conveyed (Dyregrov et al., 2021). A study in Norway found that young persons aged 13–20 years retrieved most information about COVID-19 from the internet and online news, and they perceived this information as sufficient and covering their information needs (Kaiser et al., 2021). Generally, young adults experienced physical isolation from peers, teachers, extended families, and community networks, and thus may be more negatively affected by social distancing restrictions. Studies have shown that young adults experienced isolation, constraint, loss of formative life moments, and reverberation of structural inequalities (Lundström, 2022). In addition to this, studies have documented that adolescents of varying backgrounds experienced higher rates of depression, anxiety, and stress due to the pandemic (de Oliveira et al., 2022; Jones et al., 2021; Kleine et al., 2023; Meherali et al., 2021; Nearchou et al., 2020; Octavius et al., 2020; Panchal et al., 2023; Panda et al., 2021; Samji et al., 2022; Shah et al., 2020; von Soest et al., 2022). Against this background, it is important to investigate how young adults perceived the information about social distancing measures provided by public health authorities and politicians, as well as their experiences of these measures.

The aim of the study was twofold. First, it sought to investigate how young adults between 18 and 25 years in Denmark and Sweden perceived the information about social distancing measures, and from where they retrieved this information. In Denmark, these measures were mostly mandatory, whereas in Sweden they were primarily voluntarily based (Mens et al., 2021; Seing et al., 2021). Second, the study also investigated how the social distancing measures influenced the everyday lives of young adults in the two countries. The study seeks to contribute with knowledge on how young adults understand, interpret, and navigate the information and make decisions on how to act responsibly whilst maintaining the ambition to pursue a normal life as a young person. This knowledge is potentially useful for understanding young adults as a target group for health policies and information on social distancing measures.

Methods

Study design

The study is based on a qualitative design suitable for exploring and investigating understandings, experiences, and motivations as well as discrepancies between these (Denzin & Lincoln, 1998, 2018). This method was considered beneficial in order to be able to gain an in-depth understanding of the perceptions of young people, using an open-minded exploratory approach on a population that is sparsely studied. Data consists of semi-structured interviews with young adults aged 18–25 years from Denmark and Sweden. The WHO has advocated the term ‘physical’ distancing rather than ‘social’ distancing because it more precisely reflects the practices involved, given that digital technology has enabled people to be socially connected without being physically close (Gudi, 2020). In this article, we use the term social distancing because it is still widely used.

Recruitment of participants

The study aimed to recruit a variety of young adults by combining an initial purposeful sampling strategy with snowball sampling (Guest, 2014). This sampling strategy was chosen, because it is particularly suitable for recruiting groups that can be difficult to attract to research projects (Guest, 2014). To facilitate an overview of the sample of young adults, a recruitment spreadsheet was developed of the participants and their characteristics. The recruitment spreadsheet allowed the researchers to actively search for a diverse group of participants in terms of age, location, gender, and educational level. This was used by researchers from both countries when the recruitment process started in September 2022.

First, following a purposeful sampling strategy, participants were recruited through the researchers’ own networks. For instance, by reaching out to colleagues, students, friends, and relatives. Second, participants who agreed to participate were asked if they knew others interested in participating, thus applying a snowball sampling strategy (Naderifar et al., 2017). The Danish recruitment ended in December 2022, resulting in 15 interviews. The purposeful sampling in Sweden did not lead to many recommendations of additional participants, i.e. a snowball sample. To secure an appropriate number of participants in Sweden, extended strategies were adopted by the end of October. In Sweden, three upper secondary schools were approached by the researchers calling and e-mailing managers, administrators, and/or principals, which did not result in additional participants. Further, it was decided to include an open post on social media (Facebook), resulting in a few more participants. Extended networks were used and by November 2022, 15 participants were also included in Sweden.

Semi-structured interviews

The interview guide was developed by the research group, initially in Denmark, and then translated to Swedish. A back-and-forth translational process ensured that the interview guide was translated correctly (Koller et al., 2012). It focused on investigating participants’ experiences with and interpretations of information on social distancing measures. One pilot test was conducted in both countries with a participant that fitted the recruitment criteria. This led to minor revisions. The interviews were conducted online and physically. Online interviews were conducted using the digital video conference tools Zoom or Microsoft Teams. The chosen format depended on the preference of the participant. In Sweden, EK conducted all interviews. Thirteen interviews were conducted online, while the rest were conducted physically in accordance with the participants’ preferences. In Denmark, DT and LV conducted all interviews. Thirteen interviews were conducted online and two physically. Thus, all in all, 30 participants (16 female and 14 male) between the age of 18 and 25 years (mean = 21) were interviewed (see Table 1). On average, the Swedish interviews lasted 26 minutes (the shortest 20 minutes and the longest 37 minutes). On average, the Danish interviews lasted 40 minutes (the shortest 24 minutes and the longest 77 minutes). All interviews were recorded and transcribed. In Sweden, the transcription was performed by a professional firm, whereas DT and LV transcribed the Danish interviews.

Table 1. List of participants.

No.	Age	Sex	Nationality	Education	Residence area
Danish participants
1	21	Female	Danish	Short-term	Urban
2	20	Female	Danish	Short-term	Urban
3	18	Female	Danish	Short-term	Rural
4	19	Male	Danish	Short-term	Rural
5	23	Female	Danish	Short-term	Rural
6	21	Male	Danish	Short-term	Rural
7	19	Male	Danish	Short-term	Rural
8	20	Male	Danish	Medium-term	Urban
9	23	Female	Danish	Medium-term	Urban
10	20	Male	Danish	Medium-term	Urban
11	20	Male	Danish	Medium-term	Urban
12	23	Female	Danish	Medium-term	Rural
13	22	Male	Danish	Long-term	Urban
14	24	Female	Danish	Long-term	Urban
15	22	Female	Danish	Long-term	Urban
Swedish participants
1	25	Female	Swedish	Long-term	Urban
2	22	Female	Swedish	Medium-term	Urban
3	18	Female	Swedish	Short-term	Urban
4	19	Male	Swedish	Medium-term	Rural
5	22	Male	Swedish	Medium-term	Urban
6	23	Male	Swedish	Medium-term	Urban
7	19	Male	Swedish	Short-term	Urban
8	20	Female	Swedish	Medium-term	Urban
9	19	Male	Swedish	Medium-term	Rural
10	21	Female	Swedish	Medium-term	Urban
11	23	Female	Swedish	Medium-term	Urban
12	19	Male	Swedish	Medium-term	Urban
13	24	Male	Swedish	Long-term	Urban
14	24	Female	Swedish	Medium-term	Urban
15	22	Female	Swedish	Medium-term	Urban

Ethical considerations

The project did not require approval from The Committees on Health Research Ethics for the Capital Region of Denmark (Journal-nr.: 20052405) as it does not constitute a health research project under the Danish Act on Research Ethics Review of Health Research Projects Section 2. In Sweden, ethical approval was applied for and granted by the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (Dnr 2022–03376–01). Prior to the interviews, all participants provided oral or written consent, and they were provided an information letter stating that participation was voluntary, that data would be treated with confidentiality and that participants could withdraw their participation at any time, in accordance with the Helsinki declaration (The World Medical Association, 2018). They were also informed that the questions asked in the interviews potentially could evoke emotions associated with the pandemic, which could possibly cause some stress or discomfort. They were also informed about the potential benefits of this study, in terms of having a say about how to enable comprehensible and acceptable information to citizens in future crisis situations.

Data analysis

The data analysis was based on Graneheim and Lundman’s (2004) approach to qualitative content analysis, in which initially meaning units are systematically selected, and grouped in subthemes. In this study, meaning units of the Swedish data was coded in NVivo, whilst the Danish coding was performed in Excel. The Danish data was initially coded by LV and the Swedish data by EK. The initial coding was discussed with JK and PN. Then these codes and preliminary themes were compared and discussed by LV and EK, and to strengthen the validity of the analysis, NS participated in these discussions. The analytical process commonly moves back and forth as subthemes are revised and overarching main themes are discovered (Graneheim & Lundman, 2004). In this study, codes and themes from the Swedish and Danish data sets were merged into a mutual coding tree encompassing the similarities and differences between the two countries (see Table 2). Finally, a selection of quotations illustrating the themes was made, and the final and comparative part of the analysis was discussed with and validated by the rest of the authors.

Table 2. Final coding tree for Denmark and Sweden.

Common themes	Information of the social distancing measures	Youth life and the influence of the pandemic
Common sub-themes	Reflections and sources of information	The transformation
	Interpretations and translations of information	Wants and deprivation
		The moral compass

Results

The results are presented in two main themes with underlying sub-themes highlighting how young adults experienced and perceived information on social distancing measures and how the measures influenced their everyday lives (see Table 3).

Table 3. Summary table of main findings.

Main theme	Sub-theme	Summary	Representative quote
Information on social distancing measures	Reflections and sources of information	Young adults retrieved information on social distancing measures through different sources, mainly the public health agencies via e.g. press conferences, digital newspapers or television, and news clips from national news channels.	‘So, the positive thing was that […] they [the digital newspapers] summarised these press conferences which were quite long and confusing into good (useful), bulleted summaries.’ (Swedish participant no. 1, female, 25 years)
		For both countries, participants preferred news sources that provided condensed versions of the health authorities’ statements, as these were perceived as the most trustworthy source.	‘So, it was very much this [the news app] I used in the end as well, because there were many press conferences, so there was a lot to keep an eye on, and it could be a bit difficult to navigate.’ (Danish participant no. 12, female, 23 years)
	Interpretations and translations of information	Participants from both countries expressed that it required interpretation to incorporate information on social distancing measures into their lives.	’[…] I think it was difficult with [the definition of] “necessity,” because when is something necessary? Because of course you must go down and shop, and no, it’s not necessary for four of us to go down there, but if I can go down and shop, can I also pass by my friend on the way? Or is that unnecessary?’ (Danish participant no. 1, female, 21 years)
		Young adults in both countries struggled to interpret the measures and implement them into their everyday lives. They appreciated information from schools, workplaces, and sports associations that concerned a specific part of their life.	‘Because it’s always a balance you make with friends and family and […] what you can come up with. Yes, if we can see each other and so on, or just “No, now maybe we should cancel this”. […] yes, we talked a lot about that.’ (Swedish participant no. 11, female, 23 years)
Youth life and the influence of social distancing measures	The transformation	Participants experienced transformation and many areas in their lives were affected by the implemented social distancing measures. e.g. school life had structured their everyday life.	‘Sometimes I talk to my [fellow] students and I don’t even remember what we’ve read or what we did in a semester, I just, “Huh? What did we read? Right, wait, which teacher?” […]’ (Swedish participant no. 15, female, 22 years).
	Wants and deprivation	Participants described youth as a transitional phase in life filled with once-in-a-lifetime experiences and the pandemic took away these opportunities.	‘The worst thing was this gap, that you couldn’t do anything [about], e.g. I did not get to live out my teenage years.’ (Swedish participant no. 3, female, 18 years)
		Participants regarded social relations an important part of youth life. These were affected both negatively (feelings of isolation and boredom) but also as a relief from social pressure.	‘[…] So, the social […] got better as soon as they eased the restrictions.’ (Swedish participant no. 5, male, 22 years)
	The moral compass	Being young and navigating measures during the pandemic required reflections on moral beliefs and standards. e.g. they were highly aware of being young and healthy as opposed to others, who would potentially suffer more if they were infected with COVID-19.	‘For myself, I may not belong to a risk group so to speak, but I can infect others who may not have the same good chances of having milder [symptoms].’ (Swedish participant no. 6, male, 23 years)

Information on social distancing measures

The first main theme addresses how young adults retrieved information on social distancing measures during the pandemic and what sources they used. It shows how they kept themselves informed during the pandemic and highlights how they reflected on their choice and evaluation of different sources of information. Some information details were experienced as unclear. Recommendations and restrictions could change at short notice, which required the participants to revisit information and discuss practical implications with others. This theme comprises two underlying sub-themes: reflections and sources of information; and interpretations and translations of information.

Reflections and sources of information

For the Swedish participants, the primary sources of information on social distancing measures were the Public Health Agency (in Swedish ‘Folkhälsomyndigheten’), digital newspapers, or television news clips. The Public Health Agency was considered the most valid and objective source because it was perceived as a first-hand source. A similar picture was evident in Denmark, where press conferences and national news channels (both online and live) were mentioned as the primary and most reliable sources of information. Press conferences featuring politicians and representatives from the Danish Health Authority (in Danish ‘Sundhedsstyrelsen’) were considered reliable, while news channels were deemed second most reliable, as they communicated the press conferences in a shorter format.

In Sweden, the press conferences were initiated by the Public Health Agency, whereas in Denmark they were initiated and hosted by the government and the prime minister. Common for both countries were that the press conferences were perceived as lengthy and filled with unclear and fuzzy details. A Swedish participant deemed digital newspapers comprehensible and accessible sources of information, because they summarised content from press conferences:

So, the positive thing was that […] they [the digital newspapers] summarised these press conferences which were quite long and confusing into good (useful), bulleted summaries. (Swedish participant no. 1, female, 25 years)

In the initial phase of the pandemic, participants were more likely to watch the entire press conferences. Some of the Danish participants also described that watching the press conferences became a social activity, where they sat down with families and watched it together to discuss the impact of the newest measures afterwards. Especially because in the first wave of the pandemic, they were not able to attend other social activities.

Towards the middle and the end of the pandemic, many expressed that they perceived the press conferences as tiring and redundant, partly as they by then had found a way to navigate through the information on social distancing measures and partly because there was rarely any good news. They reached a state of saturation and thus tended to use other sources, and the health authorities’ web pages only when they felt the need to double-check specific information.

Other comprehensible and accessible sources of information were digital newspapers and news apps as they summarised the content and new recommendations from press conferences. Very few participants questioned whether the health authorities were to be perceived as trustworthy at all. One Danish participant explained:

I watched the press conferences in the beginning. Always. […] I also kept up [with the news] via my TV2 News app, which was constantly running with the new restrictions, and I got a message when new restrictions were confirmed, or an overview of the restrictions that had been announced at the press conferences. So, it was very much this [the news app] I used in the end as well, because there were many press conferences, so there was a lot to keep an eye on, and it could be a bit difficult to navigate. (Danish participant no. 12, female, 23 years)

The use of different sources to obtain relevant information was common for both Swedish and Danish participants.

In Sweden specifically, the participants often highlighted the Swedish health care’s webpage on health and diseases (1177.se) which had the latest information on how to interpret symptoms and when to stay home. A specific webpage like this was not mentioned in the Danish material. However, some Danish participants referred to public commercials informing on measures. These were often shown at train, bus, and metro stations.

All participants used social media, such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, but they were not perceived as primary sources of information on social distancing measures. However, information from certain newspapers or politicians they followed tended to pop up in their feeds, which they would read. The participants appreciated the easy and accessible information from newspapers and authorities that popped up on social media and stated that this often caught their attention. They also saw plenty of discussions initiated by individuals in commentary tracks on social media filled with different opinions regarding the pandemic, but they would interpret these as individual views and opinions and not as valid sources of information. Thus, participants seemed well reflected on how to differentiate between different types of informational sources. However, when asked how they preferred information on social distancing measures to be communication in case of a new pandemic, almost all participants mentioned that for the government and health authorities to reach young people, they should use social media services, such as Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok and Facebook much more. e.g. by using functions such as tweets, posts, live sessions, stories as well as collaborations with influencers. Additionally, it was underlined that information should be easy to absorb and understand, containing only the essential aspects of the information as opposed to the extensive amount of information that was perceived as overwhelming during the pandemic. Thus, there was a wish for targeted, relevant communication aimed at them as a certain population group. A Swedish participant suggested:

[…] In order to get them to be able to get a hold of the information best [the best way to enable them to get the information would be to] bombard social media with it, like all social media, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and there needs to be bigger fonts on it and shorter texts so it’s kind of like a warning that pops up a little here and there. Because then I think it’s easier to take it in than if it’s a long text, even if it comes up, but then you just scroll on. (Swedish participant no. 8, female, 20 years)

Interpretations and translations of information

Participants from both countries expressed that it required interpretation to incorporate information on measures into their lives. Interpretation was described as the filtering process where relevant information was picked out from the enormous amount of information given and afterwards adjusted to the participants’ individual lives. A Danish participant explained:

There were these restrictions that [entailed that] you had to stay indoors[…] or no, you had to avoid too much unnecessary contact with other people, and therefore you also had to avoid going to all sorts of places. [In this case] I think it was difficult with [the definition of] ‘necessity,’ because when is something necessary? Because of course you must go down and shop, and no, it’s not necessary for four of us to go down there, but if I can go down and shop, can I also pass by my friend on the way? Or is that unnecessary? (Danish participant no. 1, female, 21 years)

This participant described a general insecurity in terms of how to interpret information that was relevant in her daily life. She was concerned with doing ‘the right thing’ in ways where she did not cause infections by accident. Another participant also described interpretation as a necessity. Here, interpretation was described more as a social than an individual process.

I think it was difficult, but it was also because I experienced that I was able to change my own idea of how to behave and interpret the restrictions when I heard what others thought or what others had done […] from the start, I also took it a little more seriously than some of my friends did. It was perhaps also a way for us to try finding a common understanding of what the restrictions meant and what we could allow ourselves to do. (Danish participant no. 12, female, 23 years)

Summing up, young adults in both countries struggled to interpret the measures and implement them into their everyday lives. They appreciated information from schools, workplaces, and sports associations that concerned a specific part of their life. Discussions with friends and family often occurred, primarily when participants needed to interpret current recommendations and to clarify how they could (and should) comply with them. A Swedish participant explained:

Because it’s always a balance you make with friends and family and […] what you can come up with. Yes, if we can see each other and so on, or just ‘No, now maybe we should cancel this’. […] yes, we talked a lot about that. (Swedish participant no. 11, female, 23 years)

Despite the need for interpretations, almost all participants described themselves as well-informed regarding how they were expected to behave during the pandemic. The main message with staying home when ill was perceived as comprehensible although the details regarding for example what symptoms defined you as ill were not as clear. Further, as the information flow was quite extensive and recommendations changed over time, the participants found it challenging to keep themselves up dated. In Sweden especially, the voluntary approach with recommendations made it difficult for the participants to know what was expected of them and in what situations they were allowed to gather. In a few cases it was also highlighted how young adults themselves experienced being translators, having to inform their parents on for example what ‘proper’ news sources were. For example, a Danish participant explained how his parents would trust information from various sources, e.g. traditional news sources, but also sources such as TikTok, whereas he would be more source critical. He explained:

I don’t think they have experienced all that misinformation [as my generation has] […] or have been taught about source criticism […], they are more trusting than we are. This could be the news for one thing, they trust them blindly, whereas we are more critical [like] ‘is it true, what they are saying? (Danish participant no. 7, male, 19 years)

Youth life and the influence of social distancing measures

The second main theme concerns how young adults’ lives were affected by the social distancing measures and what consequences they had for them. Youth, as a stage in life, was described as a short-lasting phase filled with important transitional events such as turning 18, graduating, starting education and gap years. All of which was thought to be of great significance to the participants, as they held the potential for development. Due to the pandemic, the participants experienced that this phase of life was taken away or limited for their generation. This main theme covers three underlying sub-themes: the transformation; wants and deprivation; and the moral compass.

The transformation

Overall, the first sub-theme emphasises the many arenas in young adults’ lives that were transformed and affected by the implemented social distancing measures. Common for many participants from both Denmark and Sweden was that school had structured their everyday life. Educational settings were arenas for both learning and social life. This changed almost overnight as most teaching became online in March 2020. In Denmark education at all levels switched to distance learning, and in Sweden mainly high schools and universities/university colleges switched to distance-based teaching (Hall et al., 2022).

A minor part of the participants stated that their grades and results improved in school due to not having anything else to do but studying. However, most of the participants stated that their schoolwork was negatively affected by distance learning. A Danish participant explained:

Well, I remember things went very downhill for me at school. I was very hard-working when I was at school, and I got good grades […] Always attended class. When we started […] online teaching, […] a lot of teachers […] commented on it, and they also had conversations with me afterwards about my motivation, because it wasn’t the same anymore […] So, it was hard not to be [physically] at school, because I think it’s fun to be at school, I like being at school. When it’s just taken away from you, you lose a bit of motivation. (Danish participant no. 11, male, 20 years)

Prior to the pandemic, he was both motivated and got good grades but during the pandemic, he experienced that he had a hard time leaving the bed because there was nowhere he needed to be, except in an online forum where no one could see if he was awake or not. He elaborated:

[…] When it [the teaching] is […] on Teams, it just becomes totally uniform, and the teacher just talks, and there isn’t much interaction between teachers or students, so it gets very boring. (Danish participant no. 11, male, 20 years)

In Sweden, the young adults were also affected by the digital distance format. Some even explained that they lacked skills they should have learnt during these years. One Swedish participant explained:

Sometimes I talk to my [fellow] students and I don’t even remember what we’ve read or what we did in a semester, I just, ‘Huh? What did we read? Right, wait, which teacher?’ And there’s a lot of stuff that I don’t even know how to begin to catch up with, because it feels like this kind of, what do they say, ‘a zone blur’, a classmate said, meaning that it’s just this kind of fog of education that just disappeared in the middle. (Swedish participant no. 15, female, 22 years)

She described a loss of motivation, like the Danish participant, but she also reported a worse educational output. In addition to school related changes, the participants from both countries also highlighted how they were unable to attend leisure activities and how some were fired from their jobs in the service industry that were heavily affected by the pandemic.

Wants and deprivation

Overall, the participants described youth as a transitional phase with once-in-a-lifetime experiences and the pandemic took away this opportunity. The expectations of being young were commonly not fulfilled. The participants often described that they felt deprived of their youth, which was regarded as a significant phase of life, and considered a transition to adult life. A Swedish participant explained that:

The worst thing was this gap, that you couldn’t do anything [about], e.g. I did not get to live out my teenage years. (Swedish participant no. 3, female, 18 years)

This phase of life was constituted by different defining moments, such as graduating and travelling during a gap year, which would provide them with experiences and lessons important for becoming an adult.

Another overall finding in this sub-theme was the importance of social relations in youth life and how this was affected by the pandemic. This was described both in terms of feeling isolated and bored when not seeing friends. However, it was also stated that the social expectations of them were reduced and that this initially was experienced as alleviating and positive, e.g. in terms of not being perceived as boring if they stayed at home on a Friday night. In this way, they felt relief from social pressure, showcasing an important duality in the experiences of the participants. Further, communities in social media grew rapidly, but physically organised social activities were shut down and the natural contact paths during weekends were aggravated. A Swedish participant said:

But restrictions that you weren’t allowed to be out in bars, etc., I remember that as soon as it subsided, you were back in these public environments […] So the social […] got better as soon as they eased the restrictions. Then, of course, you have become a little more cautious about maybe not hugging or shaking hands with every person you meet, that you might not have thought about before […] you don’t do that anymore simply because you think about it. (Swedish participant no. 5, male, 22 years)

However, the participants also stated that it was impossible to stay isolated for all this time. They maintained a few close relations. After the pandemic, the participants explained that they found themselves with a reduced number of friends. In the Danish material, some participants also experienced feelings of loneliness:

You were very alone. I think it was […] this thing about being alone. So, you […] thought about thoughts that you normally didn’t process that much because you were alone in your head. It was something that could be pushed aside. (Danish participant no. 1, female, 21 years)

This feeling of loneliness was connected directly to the way the measures on social distancing affected almost all social activities.

The moral compass

This sub-theme reflects the moral decision-making aspect of being young and navigating measures during the pandemic as it required reflections on moral beliefs and standards. It shows the extensive moral decision-making the participants had to make to live in accordance with measures of social distancing. The participants reflected on how to interpret social distancing measures and described their awareness of being young and healthy as opposed to others, who would potentially suffer more if they were infected with COVID-19. A Swedish participant said:

For myself, I may not belong to a risk group so to speak, but I can infect others who may not have the same good chances of having milder [symptoms] (Swedish participant no. 6, male, 23 years)

Participants in both countries felt responsible for others, in particular older relatives. They had reservations about seeing grandparents due to not wanting to risk spreading the coronavirus. This both meant staying home when having the slightest symptom or avoiding contact with other young adults before a family gathering, such as birthdays or Christmas. A Danish participant described it as follows:

At the beginning […] you had so much fear that you were the person who passed on the infection without even knowing that you were sick. So, you were always careful […] so I got nervous about hugging and being affectionate, also with my family in general. (Danish participant no. 1, female, 21 years)

Like this participant, many of the young adults felt anxious about potentially being infected with COVID-19. This feeling was not related to their own health situation but rather to others. A Swedish participant described it as follows:

Of course, you were more careful. You waited if you were shopping […] you kept your distance and you weren’t the same, you weren’t as stressed, you had to take it easy […] now you had to take it a little slower in case another person appeared as an obstacle. So, it’s clear that one made changes. (Swedish participant no. 8, female, 20 years)

The Swedish data differed from the Danish in terms of evaluating one’s own efforts and asking yourself the question; is what I am doing good enough? The Swedish young adults expressed a ‘good enough-mentality’, in which the unclear recommendations in combination with the participants’ ambitions to live a life associated with being young, made it difficult for them to do precisely what the Swedish Public Health Agency recommended. A participant explained:

[…] we were flexible all the time. So, it was like this, if we had met, if we had written an exam together, or when it wasn’t really home schooling, then the restrictions were somehow that we could be at school, but then, you weren’t allowed to hang out. But then, we still had parties, we met eight, nine, ten people in a small [one-room apartment] somewhere, but then we felt that we had been with each other at school all day so then we wouldn’t get more infected because we hung out after school. (Swedish participant no. 4, male, 19 years)

The Danish data did not only show a fear of infecting others, but also a fear of being blamed for the spread of the disease by relatives, other citizens, or politicians. A participant described it like this:

Yes, my mother and my family generally blamed the young people a bit […] At the beginning, I actually also felt a responsibility forced on me if I wanted to go out with my friends. So, it wasn’t like they looked at me with ‘evil eyes’, because that is not how my family sees me, but it [was implied that it] must have been me who passed on the infection if someone in the family had been infected with corona. (Danish participant no. 1, female, 21 years)

Because of this, participants felt they were being shamed for their choices made to maintain youth-life. The Danish participant also described how her grandparents restrained from attending Christmas eve because she and her sister were there, and how this was directly related to her age. Another participant felt that young adults were blamed for the spread of coronavirus in the public debate:

There was a lot of debate on Facebook. A huge number of people made critical comments and there was a huge number of debates there; also, between young adults and those who were a little older. There was a bit of mudslinging. Posts, that BT or Ekstra Bladet [Danish tabloids] had made, where they almost held the young adults responsible for transmission. (Danish participant no. 1, female, 21 years)

To navigate these feelings of shame and guilt over being young and potentially spreading the coronavirus, the participants described that it mattered how other people interpreted the information given. The young adults used that as a guideline for what they would allow themselves to do. A participant expressed that:

[…] I very much think that is what it was all about: ‘I’ve heard that there are others who have done it, and I guess I can do that too. (Danish participant no. 12, female, 23 years)

Discussion

The aim of the study was to understand how Danish and Swedish young adults perceived information about social distancing measures, and where they retrieved this information. Additionally, the study investigated how social distancing measures influenced their everyday lives, resulting in two main themes. The first theme showed how the participants kept themselves informed and how they reflected on their choice and evaluation of different information sources. The findings suggest that young adults in both countries constantly interpreted and translated social distancing measures. The second theme showed how the participants’ everyday lives were affected by these measures and what consequences they had for them. Youth, as a stage in life, was described as a short-lasting phase filled with important transitional events, which the participants felt were taken away or limited for their generation. The expectations of being young were commonly not fulfilled the way the participants wanted and expected. Further, the study highlighted how the participants reflected on, interpreted, and incorporated social distancing measures in their lives and described their awareness of being young and healthy as opposed to others, who would potentially suffer more if they were infected with COVID-19. Thus, they were constantly doing moral decision-making to adhere to social distancing measures, while also living a young life.

Participants’ descriptions of youth as a certain short life phase with important and pivotal transitions underline the deep impact social distancing measures had on this specific group. This echoes what youth studies have earlier pointed out, where adolescence has been described as a period in life where many explore different options related to vocation, relationships, and other areas before making a commitment (Nations, n.d..). Social connection with peers is emphasised, and evidence points to associations between positive friendships and peer relationships and psychological well-being and reduced mental health symptomatology at this time (La Greca & Harrison, 2005). So, although young adults are generally not at risk for the physical impacts of COVID-19 and have mild courses and good prognoses (Castagnoli et al., 2020; Mantovani et al., 2021; Williamson et al., 2020), social distancing measures brought extensive disruption to their everyday lives. Staying inside, only socialising with members of their households, and not attending educational settings prohibited in-person interactions with peers and might have led to poor social and mental health outcomes. This is confirmed by numerous studies on mental and social health among adolescents. The COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing measures implemented impacted adolescent mental health in various ways. Higher rates of anxiety, depression, stress (de Oliveira et al., 2022; Jones et al., 2021; Kleine et al., 2023; Meherali et al., 2021; Nearchou et al., 2020; Octavius et al., 2020; Panchal et al., 2023; Panda et al., 2021; Samji et al., 2022; Shah et al., 2020; von Soest et al., 2022), collective experiences of isolation, constraint, loss of formative life moments, and reverberation of structural inequalities (Lundström, 2022), and negative impact on health-related quality of life (Nobari et al., 2021) have been observed for this population because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In our study, participants described loss of motivation in relation to schoolwork, feelings of isolation and boredom, reduced number of friends, and in Denmark feelings of loneliness. This echoes findings from other studies, e.g. Rogers et al (Rogers et al., 2021), who found that American adolescents perceived various changes in their relationships with family and friends (e.g. less perceived friend support) during COVID-19. Interestingly, however, some participants also described certain experiences of relief, as social expectations were reduced, and less social pressure was expressed. In a comment, Matthew Morrisette (2021) makes a similar point that though social anxiety, loneliness and social isolation have undoubtedly increased among many children and adolescents, it is also worth commenting on the subset of children and youths with (some degree of) social phobia for whom temporary lessening of distress may have been observed while schools were closed owing to a lack of exposure to anxiety-provoking situations in the school environment. Vildekilde et al. (2023) suggest that the perceived loss of meaning, control, and sense of coherence among Danish young adults may be interpreted as the result of living in a stable, secure, individualistic, and free cultural context, which is also the case for citizens in Sweden. During the COVID-19 pandemic our participants suddenly encountered unexpected, uncontrollable uncertainties and authoritative responses for the first time, which they had to accept, when not being used to authorities interfering with individual and social behaviour.

Another important finding of our work is the moral decision-making that the participants constantly had to do. They had to navigate and steer by a moral compass. Here an interesting difference between Denmark and Sweden emerged, as Danish participants felt that they were sometimes blamed by relatives, politicians and in the public debate for the spread of the virus. This could possibly be explained by stricter measures being implemented in Denmark, whereas social distancing measures in Sweden were more voluntarily based (Mens et al., 2021; Seing et al., 2021). Despite the two countries share many cultural, historical, political, and economic characteristics, their COVID-19 response strategies differed during the first wave of the pandemic. However, we also observed how the participants had great consideration of their responsibility for being potential disease carriers. This aspect is relevant to stress, when communicating information on social distancing measures, as it has also been observed in other studies. For example, Abbott et al (Abbott et al., 2020) have argued that adolescents may be more motivated to engage in protective behaviours if they are reminded about the possible consequences of infection for people in high-risk groups, such as older people. Similarly, Yang et al. (2020) concluded that protecting family and friends at risk was a motivating factor for adolescents to adhere to preventive measures. In this way, young adults adhering to social distancing measures could be considered as other-oriented prosocial behaviour (de Leeuw et al., 2023), and social and behavioural studies have shown that focusing on worst case scenarios – such as the risk of infecting vulnerable populations – may encourage people to make sacrifices for others (Bavel et al., 2020).

Implications for future practice: communicating policy measures to young adults during a crisis

This study aimed to explore how young adults perceived information during the COVID-19 pandemic and what their experiences of everyday life were with the implemented social distancing measures. This study contributes with knowledge of the perceptions of an under-represented group, i.e. young adults. Young adults represent a unique demographic group with different psychological needs and experiences to other age cohorts. Hence, decision-makers, health authorities and policy makers should consider this, when tailoring communication during crises. The current study throws light on some aspects of importance in this effort. It demonstrates not only the hardships the participants suffer when social distancing, but also the innovative strategies and moral decision-making they apply to overcome these, as well as how they make sense of youth life during a pandemic. Based on these insights, a few learning points are worth considering when developing public health information on social distancing measures to young adults.

First, it is important to acknowledge the excessive consequences that social distancing measures had for this group, and awareness needs to be paid to the increased mental and social implications. Participants in our study uttered a wish for the authorities and politicians to speak directly to them and take their wishes, hardships, and needs seriously. Participants mentioned that they lacked a platform, where they could ask questions, that young people were often portrayed negatively, and that they lacked recognition of the great impact, the restrictions had on their social lives. However, it is also worth noting, that social distancing measures posed some positive potential. For example, participants mentioned less social pressure and potential for strengthened bonds to members of their households.

Second, as pointed out above, participants felt a significant responsibility to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. However, especially among Danish participants, they felt blamed for this, which was not experienced as constructive. So, on the one hand, focusing messaging on severity from the perspective of individuals with meaningful connections to young adults, e.g. older relatives, is important while on the other hand, it is also important to underline that they alone do not carry this responsibility. As it has been highlighted elsewhere (Bonell et al., 2020; Vildekilde et al., 2023), it is not effective for long-term acceptance of behaviour to take a forceful or authoritarian approach to behaviour change. The Danish participants’ experiences of being blamed for the spread of the coronavirus has also been observed by Wistoft (2020), who underlined that the tendency to moralise over young people that did not comply with the social distancing measures, risked creating even more hostility towards the measures among adolescents. Instead, in line with other studies on effective communication during crises, positive and pro-social messages creating a ‘we’ is recommended (Bavel et al., 2020; Bonell et al., 2020).

Third, another interesting aspect from our findings is the social potential of social distancing. Though, in nature social distancing is asocial, it was not always experienced as such by our participants. While most physical social activities were paused, others emerged. For example, when watching the press conference together with relatives. In terms of terminology, it therefore seems that instead of using the term ‘social distancing’, it might be more pertinent to use ‘physical distancing’ to underline that it is indeed necessary and possible to maintain and promote social and emotional closeness, e.g. within households and through social media, while keeping a physical distance. This resonates with the WHO’s recommendations of the use of ‘physical’ instead of ‘social’ distancing (Gudi, 2020). On a similar note, Nicholas Long (2020) has suggested, that authorities make available other social constellations, through a rhetoric of ‘social containment’ instead of ‘social distancing’. That is, enabling ‘social bubbles’ and allowing for citizens to engage in (a few) other social settings outside of their households, as maintaining connections is important for mental and psychological health.

Fourth, young adults pose a great potential for and resource of being translators, knowledge-brokers, or mediators when it comes to the interpretation and communication of information about social distancing measures to relatives and peers. The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the most ordinary social environments into arenas of moral judgement. As the virus spread, grocery shopping, a night out, hanging out with friends or a trip to the cinema carried with them new moral norms because of social distancing measures. Now coming into proximity of another person could be seen as a moral transgression. In response to this, the participants in our study constantly engaged in moral considerations and decision-making when interpreting what behaviour was acceptable in accordance with the implemented social distancing measures. Studies have shown how researchers and health professionals have acted as knowledge brokers during the pandemic (Dal Mas et al., 2021; El-Jardali et al., 2020), whereas our study highlights the role of young adults in this endeavour.

Fifth, some specific recommendations for communicating information on social distancing measures were reported by the participants. Almost every participant – across the two countries – mentioned that the most effective way for health authorities and politicians to reach them, was through social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and TikTok. Preferably by using functions such as tweets, stories, posts, and live sessions. They underlined that the information would be most comprehensible, if it was written in a short form, e.g. in bullet point form. The information should be easy to understand, containing only central and essential aspects of the information on the social distancing measures as opposed to the extensive amount of information that was often presented during press conferences. In our study, we saw a tendency of young adults to be positive towards the political and health authorities’ communication of social distancing measures, which they regarded as credible sources of information. Credibility of communication is a well-known aspect within behavioural science, as it is recommended that rules are communicated through sources and channels that are credible and trustworthy for the target audience (Bavel et al., 2020; Bonell et al., 2020). On the contrary, unclear and conflicting messages risk impacting the credibility of messages negatively (Castiglioni & Gaj, 2020), which was observed, when the participants regarded the press conferences as fuzzy and confusing. These findings are further interesting in light of our previous study showing less acceptability among younger respondents (Nilsen et al., 2023), because the participants in this study still sought and trusted information from authorities, which could indicate that lack of acceptability is not necessarily based on general distrust in authorities or a tendency to seek information in rabbit holes.

Strengths and limitations

The study findings should be considered in light of some methodological limitations. First, purposeful sampling may have posed challenges to the generalisability of the findings, as the participants only represent a small percentage of the target population, and as this recruitment strategy has the limitation of potentially leading to a homogenous sample of participants. Further, as we also recruited participants through personal social networks, there is a potential lack of representativeness. However, we believe that we did a great effort to recruit as diverse a sample of young adults as possible by developing a recruitment spreadsheet to guide the process and ensure a representative sample in terms of age, gender, geographic spread and rural versus urban location. Furthermore, we believe that it is a strength that the study represents young adults from two countries with quite different social distancing measures implemented. Second, the interviews were conducted after the pandemic which may have led to the possibility of recall bias, as the participants were asked to reflect on experiences that occurred a year or two ago. Thus, the accuracy and completeness of their perceptions may have weakened over time. In addition to this, recruitment was made difficult, as it was evident that a lot of the young people that were approached expressed a certain ‘covid-19 fatigue’, that is being tired of talking about the pandemic. Thus, the timing of the study may have been better if the participants had been interviewed during the pandemic or in the direct aftermath of it. However, this was not possible due to practical issues.

Conclusion

In conclusion, our study showed that young adults between 18 and 25 years kept themselves informed through, reflected, and evaluated on different sources of information. The primary sources of information were the public health agencies (via press conferences), digital newspapers and newscasts from the national newspapers. Social distancing measures were interpreted and translated in different ways with both negative and positive implications for their everyday lives. The participants constantly had to do moral decision-making when navigating and adapting social distancing measures to fit their daily social lives. However, they generally felt that part of their youth – as a special phase in life – was lost or limited as a consequence of the social distancing measures implemented to slow down the coronavirus.

Acknowledgments

We thank all participants for taking their time to participate in the interviews and for providing valuable insights.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The participants of this study did not give written consent for their data to be shared publicly, so due to the sensitive nature of the research supporting data is not available.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Innovation Fund Denmark under Grant 0211-00026B.