Risk of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress During the Second Wave of COVID-19 in Slovenia

Abstract

The spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to numerous negative consequences on the mental health of the population throughout the world. The main aim of our study was to compare the risk for depression, anxiety, and stress during the second wave of the pandemic in Slovenia. An additional goal was to analyze the association of depression, anxiety, and stress, with the most relevant subjective factors that define the quality of life. Furthermore, we aimed at determining whether health workers have a higher risk for depression following the course of the pandemic. The study was conducted on the general population, between July 2020 and January 2021 through an online survey. The data of 1,728 respondents in two samples of respondents (782 at baseline – first measurement point and 946 during the second measurement point) of the second wave were analyzed using zero-inflated negative binomial regression and Mann-Whitney U-test. The findings of this study show that the rise the second wave was associated with a higher risk for depression, anxiety and stress. The risk for all three was higher for younger participants. Women showed a higher risk for anxiety and stress. Finances, relationships, and housing dissatisfaction were relevant predictors for depression, anxiety and stress. Health workers in our sample showed a higher risk for stress, but not for depression or anxiety, than the general population. Our findings highlight the urgent need for coordinating and developing mental health services and tailored interventions to reduce the mental health burden, especially in the younger.

Two years after lockdown: Longitudinal trajectories of sleep disturbances and mental health over the COVID‐19 pandemic, and the effects of age, gender and chronotype

“…Notwithstanding the adoption of this regional approach consisting of lighter restraining measures than the first lockdown, some longitudinal investigations showed a persistent impact of the emergency period on sleep (Conte et al, 2021 ; Salfi et al, 2021a ) and mental health (Salfi et al, 2021a ) among the Italian population during the second contagion wave. These results were consistent with the international literature confirming long‐lasting repercussions on sleep features (Basishvili et al, 2021 ; Liu et al, 2022 ; Trakada et al, 2022 ) and psychological measures (Benke et al, 2022 ; Chodkiewicz et al, 2021 ; Daly & Robinson, 2022 ; Rus Prelog et al, 2022 ; Wetherall et al, 2022 ) during the second COVID‐19 wave, suggesting the urgency of large‐scale interventions to preserve the general well‐being. In the last days of 2020, the administration of the first COVID‐19 vaccine to the adult population was authorised by the European and Italian medicines agencies.…”

Two years after lockdown: longitudinal trajectories of sleep disturbances and mental health over the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of age, gender, and chronotype

“…Notwithstanding the adoption of this regional approach consisting of lighter restraining measures than the first lockdown, some longitudinal investigations showed a persistent impact of the emergency period on sleep (Conte et al, 2021; and mental health among the Italian population during the second contagion wave. These results were consistent with the international literature confirming long-lasting repercussions on sleep features (Basishvili et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2022;Trakada et al, 2022) and psychological measures (Benke et al, 2022;Chodkiewicz et al, 2021;Rus Prelog et al, 2022;Wetherall et al, 2022) during the second COVID-19 wave, suggesting the urgency of large-scale interventions to preserve the general well-being. In the last days of 2020, the administration of the first COVID-19 vaccine to the adult population was authorised by the European and Italian medicines agencies.…”

“…Specifically, younger people (Amicucci et al, 2021;Daly et al, 2020;Jahrami et al, 2022;Rossi et al, 2020) and women (Daly et al, 2020;Rossi et al, 2020;Salfi et al, 2020;Salfi, Lauriola, et al, 2021) reported higher rates of sleep disturbances and psychological symptoms. These results were confirmed by Italian and European studies (Benke et al, 2022;Chodkiewicz et al, 2021;Rus Prelog et al, 2022;Wetherall et al, 2022) addressing the effect of the second wave of COVID-19. Similarly, the evening chronotype was associated with more evident changes in sleep patterns and increased sleep and mental health problems both during the lockdown (Bottary et al, 2022;Merikanto et al, 2022;Salfi, Lauriola, et al, 2021) and the second contagion wave .…”

Common mental disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong: Age-related differences and implications for dementia risk

“…In contrast, despite all the challenges that the older population may face during the pandemic, lower rates of mental distress in this population compared to younger age groups have been reported, with older adults faring better than younger adults in multiple metrics of mental health ( 33 ). Several large representative surveys of adults in the US ( 34 ), UK ( 35 ), Denmark ( 36 ), Slovenia ( 37 ) and China ( 38 ) have also found an inverse relationship between age and mental health symptoms. Compared to younger adults, older adults seem to respond to the pandemic with a more positive emotional response and reported lower rates of anxiety and depression.…”

“…Such inconsistencies emphasize the need for further research to explore age differences in the psychological impact of COVID-19, whilst taking into consideration of the potential confounding effects of various social determinants of mental health changes during the COVID-19 pandemic such as female, lower socioeconomic status as well as subjective poorer physical health ( 42 – 44 ). Moreover, it is worth noting that most of the studies outlined above (except Pedersen et al ( 36 ) and Prelog et al ( 37 )) provided only a snapshot of the immediate and the early months of the mental health responses following the COVID-19 outbreak, which may evolve with the development of the pandemic, public health interventions, and repeated exposure to social distancing regulations.…”