question: ****************** ***************************** ****************** ************************ ***** This is old, not peer-reviewed version of the manuscript. For published version, please visit: https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12234 *********************************************** ****************** ************** *********** **** To limit the rapid spread of COVID-19, countries have asked their citizens to stay at home. As a result, demographic and cultural factors related to home life became especially relevant to predicting population well-being during isolation. This pre-registered worldwide study analyses the relationship between the number of adults and children in a household, marital status, age, gender, individualism-collectivism and perceived stress. We used the COVIDiSTRESS Global Survey data of 54,245 online participants from 27 countries. The data was collected worldwide between March 30 and April 6, 2020. Our results provide evidence that higher levels of stress are associated with younger age, being a woman, being single, staying with more children, and living in collectivistic cultures. We discuss our findings by emphasizing the need for the public health to focus on both physical and psychological well-being of these groups, as they may be especially susceptible to experiencing elevated levels of stress.