Acute mental health responses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia

Abstract

The acute and long-term mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are unknown. The current study examined the acute mental health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in 5070 adult participants in Australia, using an online survey administered during the peak of the outbreak in Australia (27 th March to 7 th April 2020). Self-report questionnaires examined COVID-19 fears and behavioural responses to COVID-19, as well as the severity of psychological distress (depression, anxiety and stress), health anxiety, contamination fears, alcohol use, and physical activity. 78% of respondents reported that their mental health had worsened since the outbreak, one quarter (25.9%) were very or extremely worried about contracting COVID-19, and half (52.7%) were worried about family and friends contracting COVID-19. Uncertainty, loneliness and financial worries (50%) were common. Rates of elevated psychological distress were higher than expected, with 62%, 50%, and 64% of respondents reporting elevated depression, anxiety and stress levels respectively, and one in four reporting elevated health anxiety in the past week. Participants with self-reported history of a mental health diagnosis had significantly higher distress, health anxiety, and COVID-19 fears than those without a prior mental health diagnosis. Demographic (e.g., non-binary or different gender identity; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status), occupational (e.g., being a carer or stay at home parent), and psychological (e.g., perceived risk of contracting COVID-19) factors were associated with distress. Results revealed that precautionary behaviours (e.g., washing hands, using hand sanitiser, avoiding social events) were common, although in contrast to previous research, higher engagement in hygiene behaviours was associated with higher stress and anxiety levels. These results highlight the serious acute impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of respondents, and the need for proactive, accessible digital mental health services to address these mental health needs, particularly for those most vulnerable, including people with prior history of mental health problems. Longitudinal research is needed to explore long-term predictors of poor mental health from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Safe but Lonely? Loneliness, Anxiety, and Depression Symptoms and COVID-19

“…Thus, findings of the current study suggest that a similar reciprocal coupling between anxiety and depression symptoms and situational response to COVID-19 may be found even at the initial stages of response to COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, Newby et al (2020) has observed in a cross-sectional study with 5070 adult participants that participants with self-reported history of a mental health diagnosis had significantly higher distress, health anxiety, and COVID-19 fears than those without a prior mental health diagnosis.…”

“…A two-wave study conducted on Korean national representative sample revealed that despite accurate belief update of COVID-19 severity, participants were less willing to engage in preventive measures during the second wave of the study, and this decrease in motivation was mediated by increased depressive symptoms (Park et al, 2020). At the same time, later work on the subject revealed a positive association between depressive symptoms and more strict self-quarantine behavior (Nelson et al, 2020) and between stress and anxiety levels engagement in hygiene behaviors (Newby et al, 2020). Thus, it is still not clear to what degree adverse psychological symptoms are linked to precautionary behavior engagement and how the relation changes in time.…”

Knowledge and perception of COVID-19 pandemic. Before-and-after online community survey.

“…At the beginning many people were worried about the health of their family, similarly to the results noted in other studies [28,32,33]. Such concerns increased as the government imposed physical distancing, quarantine and isolation, especially for the elderly who have the greatest mortality risk [29].…”

A moderated-mediation model of fear of illness and subjective psychological well-being during COVID-19 pandemic

“…There is loads of evidence to suggest that fear of illness predicts negative and positive mental health. More recently, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the positive relationship between fear of illness and psychological distress has become apparent (Ahorsu et al 2020;Harper et al 2020;Newby et al 2020;Parlapani et al 2020;Satici et al 2020). Further, Shigemura et al (2020) found an association between heightened fear of illness and the potential development of mental health disorders even among healthy people during the current pandemic.…”