COVID stress syndrome: Concept, structure, and correlates

Abstract

Background Research shows that the COVID Stress Scales have a robust multifactorial structure, representing five correlated facets of COVID‐19‐related distress: (a) Fear of the dangerousness of COVID‐19, which includes fear of coming into contact with fomites potentially contaminated with SARSCoV2, (b) worry about socioeconomic costs of COVID‐19 (e.g., worry about personal finances and disruption in the supply chain), (c) xenophobic fears that foreigners are spreading SARSCoV2, (d) traumatic stress symptoms associated with direct or vicarious traumatic exposure to COVID‐19 (nightmares, intrusive thoughts, or images related to COVID‐19), and (e) COVID‐19‐related compulsive checking and reassurance seeking. These factors cohere to form a COVID stress syndrome, which we sought to further delineate in the present study. Methods A population‐representative sample of 6,854 American and Canadian adults completed a self‐report survey comprising questions about current mental health and COVID‐19‐related experiences, distress, and coping. Results Network analysis revealed that worry about the dangerousness of COVID‐19 is the central feature of the syndrome. Latent class analysis indicated that the syndrome is quasi‐dimensional, comprising five classes differing in syndrome severity. Sixteen percent of participants were in the most severe class and possibly needing mental health services. Syndrome severity was correlated with preexisting psychopathology and with excessive COVID‐19‐related avoidance, panic buying, and coping difficulties during self‐isolation. Conclusion The findings provide new information about the structure and correlates of COVID stress syndrome. Further research is needed to determine whether the syndrome will abate once the pandemic has passed or whether, for some individuals, it becomes a chronic condition.

Psychological impact of COVID-19 in the Swedish population: Depression, anxiety, and insomnia and their associations to risk and vulnerability factors

“…Among the worries, worry over one's own personal finances was clearly and consistently the one most linked to depression, anxiety, and insomnia. This finding relates to recent results by Taylor et al [44] demonstrating a strong association between fear of perceived threat of COVID-19 and COVID-19related socioeconomic consequences.…”

WITHDRAWN: Development of the “COVID-19 Psychological Destruction Scale”: A Validity and Reliability Study

“…Domestic and foreign literature was reviewed to create an item pool, and the scales that may be relevant were examined. Two scales named The Fear of COVID-19 Scale (Ahorsu et al, 2020) and COVID Stress Scales (Taylor et al, 2020), which may be related to the subject, were found in the literature. No scale related to the "COVID-19 Psychological Destruction Scale" was found in the literature.…”

Emotional and Behavioral Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Health Anxiety, Intolerance of Uncertainty, and Distress (In)Tolerance

“…Health anxiety and illness attitudes were associated with virus anxiety, concerns about SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 related stress, depressive symptoms, (generalized) anxiety, death anxiety and the likelihood of self-isolation [ 13 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 ]. While, the latter mentioned studies did not specifically differentiate between health anxiety emerged due to COVID-19 and health anxiety existing “before” COVID-19, Taylor et al [ 19 , 20 ] were the first to ask for “premorbid” health anxiety and found a significant correlation with COVID-19-related distress.…”