Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health of Chinese Residents in Its Initial Stage

Copyright © 2021 Yang, Liu, Han, Ao and Yang..

This study aims to investigate the effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the Chinese public's mental health during its early stage. We collected the data through an online questionnaire survey. Specifically, we adopted the impact of event scale-revised (IES-R) and state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) to assess symptomatic responses to exposure to traumatic life events and public anxiety, respectively, in the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Then, we evaluated the differences in the scores among various socio-demographic groups using Kruskal-Wakkis H tests and t-tests and analyzed the IES-R, state anxiety (SA) score, and trait anxiety (TA) score using the Pearson correlation analysis. Finally, we conducted a path analysis to determine the mediating role of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (measured by the IES-R) in the relationship between TA and SA. The results show that the average of the SA and TA scores were 48.0 ± 10.4 and 38.0 ± 8.2, respectively; the respondents who suffered from mild, moderate, and severe psychological impacts because of the health crisis accounted for 21.9, 5.2, and 13.1%, respectively; farmers have the highest IES-R score than others; people with the highest income have the lowest SA level; a significant positive correlation existed between the IES-R and STAI scores; and TA produces both direct and indirect (through the IES-R) effects on SA. Overall, the general Chinese public exhibited much higher anxiety levels than normal in the early days of the pandemic outbreak. Accordingly, we strongly recommend psychological counseling and intervention support to mitigate the adverse psychological impacts of such an event.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2021

Erschienen:

2021

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:12

Enthalten in:

Frontiers in psychology - 12(2021) vom: 18., Seite 722093

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Yang, Linchuan [VerfasserIn]
Liu, Yunhong [VerfasserIn]
Han, Li [VerfasserIn]
Ao, Yibin [VerfasserIn]
Yang, Hongtai [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

COVID-19
China
Impact of event scale-revised
Journal Article
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Public anxiety
Questionnaire survey
State-trait anxiety inventory

Anmerkungen:

Date Revised 21.09.2023

published: Electronic-eCollection

Citation Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE

doi:

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.722093

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM335110975