Prevalence and risk factors for anxiety symptoms during the outbreak of COVID-19: A large survey among 373216 junior and senior high school students in China

Xu, Qingqing; Mao, Zhenxing; Wei, Dandan; Liu, Pengling; Fan, Keliang; Wang, Juan; Xian, Wang; Lou, Xiaomin; Lin, Hualiang; Wang, Chongjian; Wu, Changcai

doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.03.080

Cited by 23 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Given that our results are limited in timeframe, and other countries may have experienced a more prolonged impact of the pandemic, it is not clear whether these findings would apply in countries outside of China. Second, previous studies have reported that the COVID-19 causes increased levels of depression and anxiety in the general public ( 2 – 4 , 17 ). Given that BPSH has historically focused on suicide prevention, our data protocols are mainly designed for depression and suicide risk and as such, neglect asking about anxiety.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has had a substantial impact on the mental health of the general population ( 1 – 4 ). During the pandemic, confirmed cases, people in quarantine, front-line healthcare workers and the general public have experienced varying degrees of anxiety, distress, and fear ( 2 ). To mitigate the psychological disturbance and possible psychological damage to the public, various forms of professional psychological crisis intervention services have been delivered in China ( 5 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparisons of Characteristics Between Psychological Support Hotline Callers With and Without COVID-19 Related Psychological Problems in China

Zhao

Tong

et al. 2021

Front. Psychiatry

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Background: To compare the characteristics between hotline callers with and without the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) related psychological problems.Methods: From January 25 to March 31, 2020, 581 callers with COVID-19 related psychological problems (COVID-19 callers) and 695 callers without COVID-19 related psychological problems (non-COVID-19 callers) to the Beijing Psychological Support Hotline were recruited. The demographic characteristics, primary concerns, suicidal ideation, depression and other psychological problems were compared between the two groups of callers.Results: Both groups of the callers were predominantly female and highly educated. The primary concerns reported by the COVID-19 callers were depression (38.4%) and family relationship problems (26.0%). As compared to the non-COVID-19 callers, COVID-19 callers reported more financial (7.4%) and work related problems (4.1%), but revealed lower prevalence of suicidal ideation (47.9% v 71.3%), lower degrees of psychological distress (74.3 v 79.1), intensity of suicidal ideation (0 v 50), severity of depression (57.9 v 65.1), and higher degree of hopefulness (41.1 v 33.6) (all p values < 0.01). Additionally, a lower proportion of COVID-19 callers met the criteria of depressed mood (51.6% v 61.4%) and other 4 symptoms than the non-COVID-19 callers (p values < 0.01).Conclusions: Based on the content of the primary concerns and the relatively low level of depression of the COVID-19 callers, the psychological intervention for them during the pandemic should focus on “psychological supports.” Coping strategies for daily life stressors and promotion of scientific knowledge about the pandemic should also be included in the hotline-related interventions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparisons of Characteristics Between Psychological Support Hotline Callers With and Without COVID-19 Related Psychological Problems in China

Zhao

Tong

et al. 2021

Front. Psychiatry

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“…A total of 26,377 valid questionnaires were collected, which recruited college students by using a cluster sampling method from Zhengzhou city, Henan Province, China, from 4 February 2020 to 12 February 2020. Participants aged <18 years or aged >25 years or those who took ≤100 s to fully respond to the questions ( n = 1699) were excluded so as to control quality [ 21 ]. In total, 24,678 college students in this analysis met the criteria and were included.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Chinese version of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder tool (GAD-7) was applied to assess anxiety [22]. A GAD-7 score ≥10 was considered as a reasonable cutoff point to screen and identify clinical anxiety cases [21], when the sensitivity and specificity exceeded 0.80 [23]. Meanwhile, it defined four categories: no (0-4), mild (5-9), moderate (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), and severe anxiety (≥15), which had high internal consistency and good test-retest reliability to account for levels of anxiety among college students [24].…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence and Factors for Anxiety during the COVID-19 Pandemic among College Students in China

Guan

Wei

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Background: Knowledge of the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of college students remains limited. Our aim is to investigate the prevalence of anxiety and explore the potential risk and protective factors of anxiety. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was adopted and a total of 24,678 college students were included from Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China, during February, 2020. Anxiety was assessed by using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder tool (GAD-7). Multiple logistic regression models were established for exploring potential factors of anxiety. Results: The overall prevalence of anxiety was 7.3%. After adjusting for potential confounders, sex, place of residence, worried level, fear level, cognitive levels, and behavior status were found to be associated with anxiety (p < 0.05). Students with positive preventive behaviors showed a protective effect against the anxiety symptoms compared to those with negative preventive behaviors. In contrast to the high-cognition category, participants at a low cognitive level were 14.9% more likely to present anxiety symptoms. Conclusion: This large-scale study assessed the prevalence of anxiety and its potential influencing factors among college students. It suggests that the government could strengthen health education related to COVID-19 and supervise the performance of preventive behaviors to handle anxiety.

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“…This inequality might then manifest among these subgroups as relatively lower levels of distress, and subsequently a lower tendency for them to seek help compared to other subgroups. Indeed, while people's mental health after the pandemic had fared worse compared to pre-pandemic times [21,27,28], studies confirmed that stress levels of females, children & adolescents, persons with lower socioeconomic status and pre-existing mental health conditions, as well as minority groups around the world had been disproportionately affected during the pandemic [28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35]. Yet, the population in countries such as Germany and China have also shown resilience against lockdown and social distancing measures, showing no clinically significant changes in anxiety, depression, and distress [27,36,37].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifts in Help-seeking Patterns During COVID-19: Should Social Distancing be Rebranded?

Junus

Kwan

Wong

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Much focus has been placed on mental health symptoms brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic, yet limited discourse & evidence have evaluated how the closure of multiple venues under social distancing measures impacted people's patterns of help-seeking, which had traditionally been the very coping mechanism that buffered individuals from the consequences of those studied symptoms. Using a two-wave (June-July 2019 and June-September 2020) panel data on youths aged 11-35 years old, the present study shows that under social distancing, a significant proportion of individuals who used to rely on their strong ties for support no longer sought help even after controlling for stress level changes & sociodemographic factors, and only those who were facing heavier distress ended up seeking their strong ties for support. By simply closing off social contexts that had traditionally facilitated social support provision among strong ties and not providing people with alternative contexts, current social distancing measures appeared to have effectively increased the difficulty for many to receive social support, thereby leaving them vulnerable to mental health impacts of the pandemic. To prevent the current pandemic from turning into a mental health pandemic, the mantra "social distancing" should be revised to encourage society to remain socially close even while physically distant.

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Prevalence and risk factors for anxiety symptoms during the outbreak of COVID-19: A large survey among 373216 junior and senior high school students in China

Cited by 23 publications

References 34 publications

Comparisons of Characteristics Between Psychological Support Hotline Callers With and Without COVID-19 Related Psychological Problems in China

Comparisons of Characteristics Between Psychological Support Hotline Callers With and Without COVID-19 Related Psychological Problems in China

Prevalence and Factors for Anxiety during the COVID-19 Pandemic among College Students in China

Shifts in Help-seeking Patterns During COVID-19: Should Social Distancing be Rebranded?

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