The Combined Impact of Gender and Age on Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms, Depression, and Insomnia During COVID-19 Outbreak in China

Abstract

The mental health problems might have been increased owing to the COVID-19 pandemic with the commencement of the year 2020, therefore, an epidemiological survey appraising the burden of mental health issues among the general population is imperative. This cross-sectional study attempts to reveal the underlying mental health conditions, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms (PTSS), depression, and insomnia, relating to the pandemic situation, and to further examine the combined effects of gender and age on the COVID-19 related mental health consequences. An online survey was conducted among 2,992 adults in China from February 1st 2020 to February 10th 2020. The study uses binary logistic regression to analyze the potential factors associated with PTSD, depression, and insomnia. The results indicate that the prevalence of PTSS, depression, and insomnia are 19.5, 26.9, and 19.6% respectively during the COVID-19. Men and women show different rates of PTSS and depression, whereas no insomnia is found in both males and females. The females above 50 years of age have a lower level of depressive symptoms (OR = 0.448, 95%CI: 0.220–0.911, Cohen's d = −0.443) as compared with females aged 18–25; while the highest effect sizes for PTSS (OR = 2.846, 95%CI: 1.725–4.695, Cohen's d = 0.537) and the depression (OR = 2.024, 95%CI: 1.317–3.111, Cohen's d = 0.314) are seen in males aged 26 to 30. Besides gender, education, living conditions, direct exposure to COVID-19, the post mental and the physical health condition is related to PTSS, depression, and insomnia. Our study suggests that high-risk groups, especially those having two or more related factors and young men, should be the focus of mental health intervention.

Family Care, Economic Stress, and Depressive Symptoms Among Chinese Adults During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Difference by Urban and Rural Areas

“…At the same time, compared with other occupations, medical staff had higher depressive symptoms during the epidemic ( 51 ). Furthermore, another study found that pre-psychological problems, post-psychological problems, 2-week illness were significantly associated with higher depressive symptoms ( 52 ). Finally, Wuhan exposure, media exposure, ethnicity, religion, and living arrangement were also considered in the previous studies ( 52 , 53 ).…”

“…Furthermore, another study found that pre-psychological problems, post-psychological problems, 2-week illness were significantly associated with higher depressive symptoms (52). Finally, Wuhan exposure, media exposure, ethnicity, religion, and living arrangement were also considered in the previous studies (52,53). Therefore, these variables were included in this study because they had been examined in previous related studies (49)(50)(51)(52)(53).…”

“…Finally, Wuhan exposure, media exposure, ethnicity, religion, and living arrangement were also considered in the previous studies (52,53). Therefore, these variables were included in this study because they had been examined in previous related studies (49)(50)(51)(52)(53).…”

The Impact of the Corona Virus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Chinese Middle School Students’ Self-Perceived Emotional States: A Wuhan Perspective

“…The Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic broke out suddenly at the beginning of 2020 in Wuhan, China and quickly spread across the whole country and other parts of the world (Chen et al, 2020(Chen et al, , 2021Dan, 2020;Li and Xu, 2020). Due to its highly contagious nature and unavailable treatment drugs, the public had to face a long period time of home quarantine, which not only increased the sensitivity of the general public to the new pandemic, but also posed a serious threat to people's mental health (Dan, 2020;Liu, 2020;Liu et al, 2021).…”

The Effect of Stress, Worries and Resilience on Sleep Quality of Chinese Population During the Normalization of COVID-19 Pandemic Prevention and Control

“…Thirdly, at present, Chinese pandemic prevention and control was relatively stable, but the existence of imported cases and the safety problems of imported food will also cause stress on domestic public [18,19]. Lastly, many people exhibit compulsive checking and reassurance seeking regarding possible pandemic-related threats or experience traumatic stress symptoms, such as frequent nightmares and intrusive thinking [16, [20][21][22]. People's exposure to stress is associated with decreased sleep quality, while people with higher perceived stress tend to have lower sleep quality.…”