Mental Distress and Its Contributing Factors Among Young People During the First Wave of COVID-19: A Belgian Survey Study

Rens, Eva; Smith, Pierre; Nicaise, Pablo; Lorant, Vincent; Broeck, Kris Van den

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.575553

Cited by 72 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Moreover, the significance of resilience might also reflect more external than internal resilience factors, as this measure included many items on social support, and as the correlation with our social support measure was quite high (i.e., 0.70; see Appendix 6). Therefore, despite the non-significance of the association between social support and psychopathology, strong social networks are still likely important factors in safeguarding adolescents' mental health during the pandemic -in line with previous work evidencing this link (Dvorsky et al, 2021;Nitschke et al, 2021;Rens et al, 2021;Veer et al, 2021).…”

Section: Associated With Psychopathology Symptomssupporting

confidence: 77%

COVID-19-related changes in adolescents' daily-life social interactions and psychopathology symptoms

Achterhof¹,

Myin-Germeys²,

Bamps³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Early findings on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adolescents, suggest that – despite being at the lowest physical health risk – both their mental health and day-to-day social lives are strongly affected. In this longitudinal study, we assessed changes in adolescent psychopathology symptoms, the quality and quantity of daily-life social interactions, and the relationship between social interactions and psychopathology symptoms before and during the pandemic.A sample of n=173 Flemish adolescents (mean age=16.0 at latest measurement; 89% girls) from the SIGMA cohort was tested between January 2018 - June 2019; and between April 27th - May 10th 2020. Subclinical psychopathology was assessed using the Brief Symptom Inventory-53; daily social interactions were assessed in six-day experience sampling periods with ten daily questionnaires.Multilevel linear and logistic regression analyses indicated lower general psychopathology and anxiety symptoms, beyond age effects; fewer face-to-face social interactions, more online social interactions; and higher-quality face-to-face interactions during the pandemic than before. Negative associations between psychopathology and the quality of face-to-face peer and family interactions were stronger during the pandemic than pre-pandemic.The observed decrease and stability in psychopathology symptoms is surprising and potentially reflects resilience. Although digital communication may buffer much of the quarantine-induced distress, the current results imply that high-quality face-to-face interactions with family and peers may have been more powerful in keeping adolescents resilient. As restrictions are lifted and adolescents’ daily lives and social worlds change, it is crucial to learn more about the longer-term effects of the experienced social deprivation.

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Section: Associated With Psychopathology Symptomssupporting

confidence: 77%

COVID-19-related changes in adolescents' daily-life social interactions and psychopathology symptoms

Achterhof¹,

Myin-Germeys²,

Bamps³

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Belgian respondents reported the highest new incidence of anxiety, depression, and PTSD across all countries studied, and the highest prevalence of anxiety (presumed diagnosis based on positive screening results). We did not investigate the effect of loneliness and low social support on mental health, but a study among young Belgium people found these factors to be the main predictors of mental distress [49]. Another study in Belgium found psychological distress to be associated with the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and containment measures [50].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Prevalence, New Incidence, Course, and Risk Factors of PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, and Panic Disorder during the Covid-19 Pandemic in 11 Countries

et al. 2021

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We aimed to evaluate the prevalence and incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and panic disorder (PD) among citizens in 11 countries during the Covid-19 pandemic. We explored risks and protective factors most associated with the development of these mental health disorders and their course at 68 days follow up. We acquired 9543 unique responses via an online survey that was disseminated in UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, India, Latvia, Poland, Romania, and Sweden. The prevalence and new incidence during the pandemic for at least one disorder was 48.6% and 17.6%, with the new incidence of PTSD, anxiety, depression, and panic disorder being 11.4%, 8.4%, 9.3%, and 3%, respectively. Higher resilience was associated with lower mental health burden for all disorders. Ten to thirteen associated factors explained 79% of the variance in PTSD, 80% in anxiety, 78% in depression, and 89% in PD. To reduce the mental health burden, governments should refrain from implementing many highly restrictive and lasting containment measures. Public health campaigns should focus their effort on alleviating stress and fear, promoting resilience, building public trust in government and medical care, and persuading the population of the measures’ effectiveness. Psychosocial services and resources should be allocated to facilitate individual and community-level recovery from the pandemic.

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“…The anxiety subscale consists of items 2, 4, 7, 9, 15, 19, and 20, with scores ranging from normal (0-7), mild (8)(9), moderate (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), severe (15)(16)(17)(18)(19), to extremely severe (20+). Finally, the stress subscale consists of items 1, 6, 8, 11, 12, 14, and 18, with scores ranging from normal (0-14), mild (15)(16)(17)(18), moderate (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25), severe (26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33), to extremely severe (34+). The DASS-21 is a reliable, easy-to-use screening instrument and has been wellreceived globally.…”

Section: Depression Anxiety and Stress Scalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We used the English version of the UCLA-LS scale validated by past research (28). Participants with a score of 6 or higher were categorized as experiencing a high level of loneliness (29). The score then collapsed into one of two categories: a score of 3-5 reflects a negative screening for loneliness, and a score of 6-9 reflects a positive screening for loneliness.…”

Section: University Of California Los Angeles Loneliness Scalementioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological Outcomes and Associated Factors Among the International Students Living in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Alam

et al. 2021

Front. Psychiatry

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Background: The emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has created a severe mental health problem for international students living in China. Despite the little information on the psychological impact on international students, we aimed to assess the psychological outcomes and associated factors among international students currently living in China during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted from May 28, 2020 to June 12, 2020 on 402 full-time international students across 26 provinces in China. The frequency of symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, psychological distress, loneliness, and fear was assessed with the English versions of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6), University of California, Los Angeles, Loneliness Scale (UCLA-LS), and Fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19S) scales, respectively.Results: The prevalence of symptoms of depression (73.4%), anxiety (76.6%), stress (58.5%), insomnia (77.6%), psychological distress (71.4%), loneliness (62.4%), and fear (73.1%) among international students during the COVID-19 pandemic was shown. The prevalence of moderate to extremely severe symptoms of all psychological outcomes was significantly associated with 26–30-year-old students, students who lived with roommates, and students who stayed in China shorter than 2 years. Participants in the central region reported significantly moderate to extremely severe symptom levels of all the psychological outcomes except fear symptoms. Univariate analysis indicated that a significant association of all psychological outcomes was found among 26–30-year-old students and students who stayed in China shorter than 2 years. Multivariate analysis showed that Engineering, Business, Social Sciences and Law, and Language students were significantly associated with the symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and fear. Participants staying in China for shorter than 2 years were associated with a higher risk of all psychological outcomes except psychological distress and loneliness symptoms.Conclusions: We found a higher prevalence of psychological outcomes and risk factors among international students during the COVID-19 pandemic. We immediately appealed to university authorities, mental health professionals, and government officials to provide mental health interventions and strategies for their international students, particularly young, central region students, living with roommates, different study backgrounds, and short time staying during the pandemic.

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Mental Distress and Its Contributing Factors Among Young People During the First Wave of COVID-19: A Belgian Survey Study

Cited by 72 publications

References 47 publications

COVID-19-related changes in adolescents' daily-life social interactions and psychopathology symptoms

COVID-19-related changes in adolescents' daily-life social interactions and psychopathology symptoms

Prevalence, New Incidence, Course, and Risk Factors of PTSD, Depression, Anxiety, and Panic Disorder during the Covid-19 Pandemic in 11 Countries

Psychological Outcomes and Associated Factors Among the International Students Living in China During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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