A longitudinal study on the mental health of general population during the COVID-19 epidemic in China

Abstract

In addition to being a public physical health emergency, Coronavirus disease 2019 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 second-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 secondsurvey 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, moderateto-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. 4

The immediate mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic among people with or without quarantine managements

“…Consistent with other reports (e.g., Li et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020), our results show a relative high prevalence of mental health problems in our sample. However, these mental health problems were not related with the control measure of quarantine, but the impacts on daily life.…”

Mental Health Status of the General Population during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional National Survey in Japan

“…= 4.61). In terms of symptomatology, 68.4% individuals had "none" (GAD-7 score: 0-4), while 20.8% had "mild" (5-9), 6.8% had "moderate" (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), and 4.2% had "severe" (15-21) anxiety symptoms.…”

“Andrà tutto bene”. The effect of character strengths on psychological distress and self-efficacy during Covid-19 lockdown

“…Similar results emerged in large community samples (n = 7236, Huang & Zhao, 2020), and in countries other than China (Iran, Moghanibashi-Mansourieh 2020; India, Roy et al, 2020;Italy, Cellini et al, 2020;Moccia et al, 2020;North-Spain, Dosil-Santamaria et al, 2020;Paraguay, Rios-Gonzáles & Palacios, 2020;UK, Shevlin et al, 2020). Furthermore, a 4-week longitudinal study (Wang et al, 2020b) focusing on PTSD symptoms and psychological distress (n = 478) showed a significant decline in PTSD symptoms over time, though they remained above cut-off, while no significant changes were seen in depression, anxiety and stress levels. In other words, the psychological impact of Covid-19 may persist, as seen in survivors after the SARS pandemic (Mak et al, 2009), in university students (Cheng & Cheung, 2005;Qian et al, 2005), and the general population (Yeung & Fung, 2007).…”