Aims. The United Nations warned of COVID-19-related mental health crisis; however, it is unknown whether there is an increase in the prevalence of mental disorders as existing studies lack a reliable baseline analysis or they did not use a diagnostic measure. We aimed to analyse trends in the prevalence of mental disorders prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods. We analysed data from repeated cross-sectional surveys on a representative sample of non-institutionalised Czech adults (18+ years) from both November 2017 (n = 3306; 54% females) and May 2020 (n = 3021; 52% females). We used Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) as the main screening instrument. We calculated descriptive statistics and compared the prevalence of current mood and anxiety disorders, suicide risk and alcohol-related disorders at baseline and right after the first peak of COVID-19 when related lockdown was still in place in CZ. In addition, using logistic regression, we assessed the association between COVID-19-related worries and the presence of mental disorders. Results. The prevalence of those experiencing symptoms of at least one current mental disorder rose from a baseline of 20.02 (95% CI = 18.64; 21.39) in 2017 to 29.63 (95% CI = 27.9; 31.37) in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The prevalence of both major depressive disorder (3.96, 95% CI = 3.28; 4.62 v. 11.77, 95% CI = 10.56; 12.99); and suicide risk (3.88, 95% CI = 3.21; 4.52 v. 11.88, 95% CI = 10.64; 13.07) tripled and current anxiety disorders almost doubled (7.79, 95% CI = 6.87; 8.7 v. 12.84, 95% CI = 11.6; 14.05). The prevalence of alcohol use disorders in 2020 was approximately the same as in 2017 (10.84, 95% CI = 9.78; 11.89 v. 9.88, 95% CI = 8.74; 10.98); however, there was a significant increase in weekly binge drinking behaviours (4.07% v. 6.39%). Strong worries about both, health or economic consequences of COVID-19, were associated with an increased odds of having a mental disorder (1.63, 95% CI = 1.4; 1.89 and 1.42, 95% CI = 1.23; 1.63 respectively). Conclusions. This study provides evidence matching concerns that COVID-19-related mental health problems pose a major threat to populations, particularly considering the barriers in service provision posed during lockdown. This finding emphasises an urgent need to scale up mental health promotion and prevention globally.

The extent of alcohol education and GPs' attitudes towards alcohol were associated with the reported number of patients managed. Thus, it is worth exploring the extent to which improved education, using pharmacotherapy in primary health care and a shift to personalized health care in which individual patients are facilitated to undertake their own assessment and management (individual responsibility) might increase the number of heavy drinkers who receive feedback on their drinking and support to reduce their drinking.

Background and aimsYoung people’s involvement in online gaming and the use of social media are increasing rapidly, resulting in a high number of excessive Internet users in recent years. The objective of this paper is to analyze the situation of excessive Internet use among adolescents in the Czech Republic and to reveal determinants of excessive use of social media and excessive online gaming.MethodsData from secondary school students (N = 4,887) were collected within the 2015 European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs. Logistic regression models were constructed to describe the individual and familial discriminative factors and the impact of the health risk behavior of (a) excessive users of social media and (b) excessive players of online games.ResultsThe models confirmed important gender-specific distinctions – while girls are more prone to online communication and social media use, online gaming is far more prevalent among boys. The analysis did not indicate an influence of family composition on both the excessive use of social media and on excessive online gaming, and only marginal effects for the type of school attended. We found a connection between the excessive use of social media and binge drinking and an inverse relation between excessive online gaming and daily smoking.Discussion and conclusionThe non-existence of significant associations between family environment and excessive Internet use confirmed the general, widespread of this phenomenon across the social and economic strata of the teenage population, indicating a need for further studies on the topic.

This study tested the multi-society generalizability of an eight-syndrome assessment model derived from factor analyses of American adults’ self-ratings of 120 behavioral, emotional, and social problems. The Adult Self-Report (ASR; Achenbach and Rescorla 2003) was completed by 17,152 18–59-year-olds in 29 societies. Confirmatory factor analyses tested the fit of self-ratings in each sample to the eight-syndrome model. The primary model fit index (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation) showed good model fit for all samples, while secondary indices showed acceptable to good fit. Only 5 (0.06%) of the 8,598 estimated parameters were outside the admissible parameter space. Confidence intervals indicated that sampling fluctuations could account for the deviant parameters. Results thus supported the tested model in societies differing widely in social, political, and economic systems, languages, ethnicities, religions, and geographical regions. Although other items, societies, and analytic methods might yield different results, the findings indicate that adults in very diverse societies were willing and able to rate themselves on the same standardized set of 120 problem items. Moreover, their self-ratings fit an eight-syndrome model previously derived from self-ratings by American adults. The support for the statistically derived syndrome model is consistent with previous findings for parent, teacher, and self-ratings of 1½–18-year-olds in many societies. The ASR and its parallel collateral-report instrument, the Adult Behavior Checklist (ABCL), may offer mental health professionals practical tools for the multi-informant assessment of clinical constructs of adult psychopathology that appear to be meaningful across diverse societies.

Our findings demonstrate more favourable attitudes towards people with mental illness among Czech medical doctors when compared to the Czech general population. Stigma, however, is high among both these groups.

Introduction:We aimed to estimate the prevalence of current mental disorders in the Czech population, and to identify associated disability.Methods:We conducted a representative cross-sectional household survey of the Czech adult, community-dwelling population. We used the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.), WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0, and Self-Identification as Mentally Ill (SELFI) scale alongside sociodemographic and other covariates. We reached 75% response rate. Descriptive statistics of the sample were assessed and median (M) disability levels with interquartile range (IQR) according diagnosis were calculated on a scale ranging from 12 to 50. Linear regression models were used to identify factors associated with disability.Results:In our sample of 3 306 participants,21.9% experienced a mental disorder in 2017. Prevalence rates for mood, anxiety, alcohol use, non-alcohol substance use, and psychotic disorders corresponded to 5.5%, 7.3%, 10.8%,2.9%, and1.5%respectively. Alcoholdependencewasidentifiedin6.6%,andmajordepressionin4.0%of the sample. Disability in the general population was significantly lower (M = 12; IQR = 12, 17) than in those with mood (M = 20; IQR = 14; 29), anxiety (M = 18; IQR = 13; 26), alcohol use (M = 14; IQR = 12; 18), non- alcohol substance use (M = 15; IQR = 12; 19), or psychotic disorders (M = 22; IQR = 16.4; 29.4).Conclusions:People with mental disorders have considerably elevated disability in comparison to mentally healthy participants. The prevalence of mental disorders in the Czech Republic is mostly in line with European prevalence rates but it is lower for anxiety disorders and two times higher for alcohol use disorders.

This is one of the first studies, which compares the level of stigmatizing behaviour in countries that used to be on the opposite sides of the Iron Curtain. The aim was to identify the prevalence of reported and intended stigmatizing behaviour towards those with mental health problems in the Czech Republic and to compare these findings with the findings from England. The 8-item Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale (RIBS) was used to assess stigmatising behaviour among a representative sample of the Czech population (n=1797). Results were compared with the findings of an analogous survey from England (n=1720), which also used the RIBS. The extent of reported behaviour (i.e., past and present experiences with those with mental health problems) was lower in the Czech Republic than in England. While 12.7% of Czechs reported that they lived, 12.9% that they worked, and 15.3% that they were acquainted with someone who had mental health problems, the respective numbers for England were 18.5%, 26.3% and 32.5% (P<0.001 in each of these items). On the other hand, the extent of intended stigmatizing behaviour towards those with mental health problems is considerably higher in the Czech Republic. Out of maximum 20 points attached to possible responses to the RIBS items 5-8, Czechs had a lower total score (x=11.0, SD=4.0) compared to English respondents (x=16.1, SD=3.6), indicating lower willingness to accept a person with mental health problems (P<0.001). The prevalence of stigmatizing behaviour in the Czech Republic is worrying. Both, further research and evidence based anti-stigma interventions, should be pursued in order to better understand and decrease stigmatizing behaviour in the Czech Republic and possibly across the post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

This study tested for similarities and differences across societies in self-ratings of problems, personal strengths, and aspects of adaptive functioning on the Adult Self-Report (ASR) for nonclinical samples of adults ages 18 to 59 in 17 societies ( N = 10,197). Results indicated considerable consistency across societies regarding mean ratings on the ASR problem items. Most effect sizes (ESs) for societal differences in problem scales were small (2–5%). Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses indicated that culture clusters and society accounted for small percentages of variance in Internalizing, Externalizing, and Total Problems scores, with most of the variation accounted for by individual differences within societies. In contrast to the small effects of society on problem scores, for the ASR Personal Strengths scale the societal ES was 34% and culture cluster accounted for 12% of the variance. Worse reported relations with spouse/partner were associated with higher problem scores. Overall, findings indicated considerable similarity but also some important differences in self-reported problems and adaptive functioning across 17 societies.