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

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.