| Abstract |
In addition to being a public physical health emergency, Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) affected global mental health, as evidenced by panic-buying worldwide as cases soared. Little is known about changes in levels of psychological impact, stress, anxiety and depression during this pandemic. This longitudinal study surveyed the general population twice - during the initial outbreak, and the epidemic's peak four weeks later, surveying demographics, symptoms, knowledge, concerns, and precautionary measures against COVID-19. There were 1738 respondents from 190 Chinese cities (1210 first-survey respondents, 861 s-survey respondents; 333 respondents participated in both). Psychological impact and mental health status were assessed by the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), respectively. IES-R measures PTSD symptoms in survivorship after an event. DASS -21 is based on tripartite model of psychopathology that comprise a general distress construct with distinct characteristics. This study found that there was a statistically significant longitudinal reduction in mean IES-R scores (from 32.98 to 30.76, p < 0.01) after 4 weeks. Nevertheless, the mean IES-R score of the first- and second-survey respondents were above the cut-off scores (>24) for PTSD symptoms, suggesting that the reduction in scores was not clinically significant. During the initial evaluation, moderate-to-severe stress, anxiety and depression were noted in 8.1%, 28.8% and 16.5%, respectively and there were no significant longitudinal changes in stress, anxiety and depression levels (p > 0.05). Protective factors included high level of confidence in doctors, perceived survival likelihood and low risk of contracting COVID-19, satisfaction with health information, personal precautionary measures. As countries around the world brace for an escalation in cases, Governments should focus on effective methods of disseminating unbiased COVID-19 knowledge, teaching correct containment methods, ensuring availability of essential services/commodities, and providing sufficient financial support.
|
| MeSH term(s) |
Adolescent ; Adult ; Anxiety/epidemiology ; Anxiety/psychology ; Anxiety/therapy ; Betacoronavirus ; COVID-19 ; Child ; China/epidemiology ; Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology ; Coronavirus Infections/prevention & control ; Depression/epidemiology ; Depression/psychology ; Depression/therapy ; Epidemics ; Female ; Hand Hygiene ; Health Behavior ; Humans ; Internet-Based Intervention ; Longitudinal Studies ; Male ; Masks ; Mental Health ; Middle Aged ; Pandemics/prevention & control ; Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology ; Pneumonia, Viral/prevention & control ; Psychotherapy ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/epidemiology ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/psychology ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/therapy ; Stress, Psychological/epidemiology ; Stress, Psychological/psychology ; Stress, Psychological/therapy ; Young Adult |
