Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Associated Factors 1 Year After the Beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Chinese Residents

Abstract

Background: By investigating the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among residents during a period of low transmission, this study reflects the long-term impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and identify which categories of residents are more likely to develop PTSD due to an acute infectious disease crisis, facilitating the development of targeted strategies to protect mental health after outbreaks of similar acute infectious diseases in the future.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in China from 4 to 26 February 2021. A convenience sampling strategy was adopted to recruit participants. Participants were asked to complete the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). A multivariable linear stepwise regression analysis model was used to identify which factors were associated with PTSD in residents of China.Results: A total of 2,361 Chinese residents completed the questionnaire. The mean PCL-5 score for the respondents was 13.65 (SD = 8.66), with 219 (9.28%) patients having probable PTSD symptoms. Respondents who were female (β = 0.038), had a relative or friend who had contracted COVID-19 (β = 0.041), and had poor health (β = 0.184) had higher PCL-5 scores, while the population aged over 60 years (β = −0.063), who agreed that COVID-19 information was released in a timely manner (β = −0.347), who had experienced a relatively limited impact of COVID-19 on their life (β = −0.069), and who agreed that the local prevention initiatives were sophisticated (β = −0.165) had lower PTSD scores.Conclusions: Outbreaks of acute infectious diseases can have long-term psychological health effects in the general population. In addition, health policy makers need to be concerned about and implement measures to support the mental health of vulnerable groups.

Post-traumatic stress disorder and associated factors among adults exposed to stress in Ethiopia: A meta-analysis and systematic review

“…The other factor associated with PTSD in this meta-analysis is being female; this result is consistent with other studies conducted in Ethiopia 11 , 46 , 47 and Nigeria. 48 The probable evidence of the association could be the effect of exposure to sexual assault and being more prone to be abused and this kind of trauma strongly leads to PTSD.…”

An investigation of the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder, turnover intention and psychological resilience among medical staff in a public hospital in China during the outbreak of the omicron variant in the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022

“…In the present study, the prevalence of PTSD among health care workers was 14.4%, which was higher than the prevalence of PTSD among the general population in China (9.28%) (17). This difference may be because the general public is not directly fighting on the front line of the epidemic and perhaps is not fully aware of the dangers of the new variant of COVID-19 due to a lack of medical knowledge.…”

COVID-19 Related Stress and Mental Health Outcomes 1 Year After the Peak of the Pandemic Outbreak in China: the Mediating Effect of Resilience and Social Support

“…Due to effective COVID-19 prevention measures, China was the first country to experience a great fall of coronavirus cases and achieved control of the pandemic during last year ( 49 ). Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted mental health and developed COVID-19 related mental problems among Chinese people ( 50 , 51 ). The present study supported three of our hypotheses, which were (a) COVID-19 related stress was positively associated with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic growth; (b) resilience and social support were negatively associated with depression and anxiety but positively associated with post-traumatic growth; (c) resilience and social support mediated the relationship between COVID-19 related stress and mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic growth).…”