This study validated Polish versions of the Coronavirus Stress Measure (CSM) and the COVID-19 Burnout Scale (COVID-19-BS) to measure stress and burnout associated with COVID-19. Participants were 431 Polish young adults (72.6% female; Meanage = 26.61 ± 12.63). Confirmatory factor analysis verified a one-factor solution for both the CSM and the COVID-19-BS. Both scales had high internal consistency reliability. Coronavirus stress and COVID-19 burnout were positively related to depression, anxiety, and stress and negatively related to resilience. The coronavirus stress and COVID-19 burnout were correlated with elevated levels of depression, anxiety, and stress over and beyond resilience, age, and gender. Findings suggest that the Polish versions of the CSM and the COVID-19-BS are valid scales to measure stress and burnout related to COVID-19. Findings also demonstrated that the coronavirus stress and COVID-19 burnout experienced during the later stages of the pandemic might be a permanent risk factor for mental health problems.

The COVID-19 pandemic could be regarded as a chronic psychological burden that may lead to prolonged, unmanageable stress, e.g. burnout. Previous studies on COVID-19 have indicated that pandemic burnout was frequent in the general population and could beregarded as a risk factor for psychopathological symptomatology (e.g. depression, anxiety).This study used a network approach to investigate the associations between pandemic burnout symptoms and symptoms of depression and anxiety among Polish adolescents. A total of 389 adolescents participated in a survey in two stages: in June 2021 (shortly after students’ return to schools after the COVID-19 lockdowns were lifted; n = 181) and in September 2021 (shortly after the beginning of the new school year; n = 208). Data were collected by means of a survey aimed at measurement of anxiety, depression, and symptoms of COVID-19 burnout. The network analysis indicated that (1) pandemic burnout is rather a separate syndrome of symptoms compared to depression and anxiety; (2) emotional and mental exhaustion symptoms such as feelings of hopelessness andworthlessness were central to pandemic burnout; (3) the stability of the pandemic burnout symptoms was relatively low, indicating that this syndrome could be dynamic or internally heterogenic.

The COVID-19 pandemic and preventive measures undertaken by many governments have had a significant impact on family relationships, which could result in worsened parenting. In our study, we used network analysis to examine the dynamic system of parental and pandemic burnout, depression, anxiety, and three dimensions of relationship with an adolescent: connectedness, shared activities, and hostility. Parents (N = 374; Mage = 42.9) of at least one child at the age of adolescence completed an online survey. The central symptoms in the network were parental emotional exhaustion and parental anxiety. Parental emotional exhaustion correlated negatively with activities shared with the adolescent, but positively with hostility. Anxiety correlated positively with parental emotional exhaustion. Emotional exhaustion and anxiety were the strongest bridge symptoms between parental burnout, internalizing symptoms, and parenting. Our results suggest that psychological interventions supporting parent-adolescent relationships should address primarily parental emotional exhaustion and anxiety.