Anxiety, worry and perceived stress in the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic, March 2020. Preliminary results

Abstract

Introduction:Since the beginning of the outbreak in China, ending 2019, the Novel Coronavirus has spread subsequently to the rest of the world causing an ongoing pandemic. The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared COVID-19 "a public health emergency of international concern." Taking into consideration the lockdown and quarantine situation, a research team of doctors from the Hospital of Salamanca, decided to do an evaluation of the current emotional state on the general population with a webbased survey in English and in Spanish, which was considered a useful and fast method that could help us determine how people perceived stress and worry due to the COVID-19. Methods: The survey included a 22 items, gathering information in 3 sections: Sociodemographic data, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) by Cohen and additional queries that assessed the current worry and change of behaviours due to this pandemic. Results: The survey received 1091 respondents from 41 countries, from March 17 to the 1 st of April, 2020. The mean age of the respondents was 43.1 (14.2) years old, and more than two thirds were women. 21.1% were health personnel. The mean of the PSS-10 score was 17.4 (6.4). Significantly higher scores were observed among women, youth, students, and among those who expressed concern and those who perceived increased susceptibility to the COVID-19. In contrast, no significant differences were observed between the health professionals and the general population. A weak correlation was observed between mean relative volume RSV of the last 28 days and the number of cases reported (rho = 0.31, p <0.001) and deaths (rho = 0.28, p <0.001). Discussion: With these results the researchers describe an increase of affective symptoms due to the COVID-19. This pandemic is raising the anxiety levels. The findings of the study show the affective and cognitive alterations people are going through. This survey is the first attempt to measure the psychological consequences this pandemic is having, in order to be able to provide the support to confront this global issue, addressing the mental health care that will be needed.

Study on Awareness of Covid-19, Anxiety and Compliance on Social Distancing in Indonesia During Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic

“…Anxiety has a signi cant negative correlation with age (r = -.331, p <.01) so that the more mature age, anxiety tends to be lower. This nding is supported by previous research which state older individuals show low levels of anxiety (Limcaoco et al, 2020). (Frazier et al, 2019) emphasize that there are three components that can explain decision making in older individuals, namely theory of mind, regulation of emotions and memories of past experiences.…”

“…In Lee, (2020) showing that younger adults have more anxiety about COVID-19. (Limcaoco et al, 2020) also said that older individuals showed lower levels of anxiety even though this group was reported as having a high risk of contracting COVID-19 while young adult individuals had higher stress levels because they showed concern about being infected with COVID-19.…”

Self-blame regret, fear of COVID-19 and mental health during post-peak pandemic

“…Research regarding the emotions and mental health in the context of infectious diseases is still scarce. Yet, one of the researched emotions linked with mental health during the pandemic is regret (Limcaoco et al, 2020). Regret is an emotional experience elicited when an individual is unsatis ed with the acquired outcome among the possibility of better options (Shepherd & O'Carroll, 2014).…”

“…Considering the fast transmission of the virus between humans, high mortality rates and strict prevention measures including travel bans, home con nements, social distancing, compulsory face mask wear, school suspensions, this time of global crisis is characterized with strong negative emotions and deteriorated mental health. Several studies reported the heightened negative affectivity symptoms due to the pandemic (Limcaoco et al, 2020) and documented that COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated mental health issues including depression across the world (Bäuerle et al, 2020;Choi, Hui & Wan, 2020;Nickell et al, 2004;Tsang, Scudds, & Chan, 2004).…”

The prevalence rate and demographic correlates of perceived stress in Alberta during the COVID-19 pandemic: A one-week cross-sectional study

“…Another early pandemic response study examining stress levels of individuals in different countries around the world from March 17 to April 1, 2020, found that on average, individuals reported being moderately stressed. 12 Factors associated with signi cantly higher scores included identifying as female, young age, being a student, expressing concerns about virus contraction, and feeling susceptible to the coronavirus. Additionally, healthcare workers have reported more severe levels of anxiety, depression, insomnia, and somatization symptomologies during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”