Facing new fears during the COVID-19 pandemic: The State of America’s mental health

Abstract

Highlights Examines the intersection of distress, location (region), social vulnerability, and mental health consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic. National sample (n = 10, 368) of adults surveyed during the last week of March 2020 and post-strata weighted. Fear highest among socially vulnerable and unequally distributed across regions of the U.S. Fear, worry and social vulnerabilities are significantly associated with anxiety/depressive symptomatology, net of social vulnerabilities. Subjective assessments of distress are important factors related to mental health, even after controlling for location and group differences.

Exacerbation of Inequities in Use of Diagnostic Radiology During the Early Stages of Reopening After COVID-19

“…In breast imaging, for instance, Asian women were significantly more likely to have timely follow-ups compared with White women [ 13 ]. Patients of Asian ethnicity have been reported to have higher levels of subjective fear of COVID-19 [ 23 ], which may in part account for our finding. These findings are also consistent with other studies that demonstrate the negative effects on health behaviors of the Asian community as a result of xenophobia and discrimination [ 24 , 25 ].…”

Worry, avoidance, and coping during the COVID-19 pandemic: A comprehensive network analysis

“…Pandemics are dynamic events, unfolding over time ( Taylor, 2017 ), whereas our study was cross-sectional in nature. Pandemics and emotional responses to them may also unfold along different lines in different countries and even within a given country ( Fitzpatrick, Drawve, & Harris, 2020 ). Accordingly, further research is needed to investigate whether the network changes over time and whether the network changes with the rise and fall of COVID-19 in and across communities.…”

The Role of Illness Behavior in the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Since the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 to be a global health emergency of international concern [ 1 ], increased anxiety and worry related to the immediate and long-term consequences of this pandemic have affected everybody's life to a great extent, and yet appear to be reasonable [ 2 , 3 ]. Data from sampling of opinion polls around the world during the early months of the pandemic revealed significant levels of COVID-19-related worry [ 2 ].…”