TY - JOUR
T1 - The psychological impact of COVID-19 and restrictive measures in the world
AU - Passavanti, Marco
AU - Argentieri, Alessandro
AU - Barbieri, Diego Maria
AU - Lou, Baowen
AU - Wijayaratna, Kasun
AU - Foroutan Mirhosseini, Ali Seyed
AU - Wang, Fusong
AU - Naseri, Sahra
AU - Qamhia, Issam
AU - Tangerås, Marius
AU - Pelliciari, Matteo
AU - Ho, Chun Hsing
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
PY - 2021/3/15
Y1 - 2021/3/15
N2 - Background: In a short time, the COVID-19 pandemic turned into a global emergency. The fear of becoming infected and the lockdown measures have drastically changed people's daily routine. The aim of this study is to establish the psychological impact that the COVID-19 pandemic is entailing, particularly with regards to levels of stress, anxiety and depression, and to the risks of developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Methods: The study, carried out with a sample of 1612 subjects distributed in seven countries (Australia, China, Ecuador, Iran, Italy, Norway and the United States), allowed us to collect information about the psychological impact of COVID-19. Results: The findings of this study show that the levels of stress, depression and anxiety, as well as the risks of PTSD, are higher than average in over half of the considered sample. The severity of these disorders significantly depends on gender, type of outdoor activities, characteristics of their homes, eventual presence of infected acquaintances, time dedicated to looking for related information (in the news and social networks), type of source information and, in part, to the level of education and income. Conclusions: We conclude that COVID-19 has a very strong psychological impact on the global population. This appears to be linked to the coping strategies adopted, level of mindful awareness, socio-demographic variables, people's habits and the way individuals use means of communication and information.
AB - Background: In a short time, the COVID-19 pandemic turned into a global emergency. The fear of becoming infected and the lockdown measures have drastically changed people's daily routine. The aim of this study is to establish the psychological impact that the COVID-19 pandemic is entailing, particularly with regards to levels of stress, anxiety and depression, and to the risks of developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Methods: The study, carried out with a sample of 1612 subjects distributed in seven countries (Australia, China, Ecuador, Iran, Italy, Norway and the United States), allowed us to collect information about the psychological impact of COVID-19. Results: The findings of this study show that the levels of stress, depression and anxiety, as well as the risks of PTSD, are higher than average in over half of the considered sample. The severity of these disorders significantly depends on gender, type of outdoor activities, characteristics of their homes, eventual presence of infected acquaintances, time dedicated to looking for related information (in the news and social networks), type of source information and, in part, to the level of education and income. Conclusions: We conclude that COVID-19 has a very strong psychological impact on the global population. This appears to be linked to the coping strategies adopted, level of mindful awareness, socio-demographic variables, people's habits and the way individuals use means of communication and information.
KW - Anxiety
KW - COVID-19
KW - Clinical psychology
KW - Depression
KW - Mental health
KW - PTSD
KW - Psychological Impact
KW - Stress
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2021.01.020
DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2021.01.020
M3 - Article
C2 - 33516085
AN - SCOPUS:85099817377
SN - 0165-0327
VL - 283
SP - 36
EP - 51
JO - Journal of Affective Disorders
JF - Journal of Affective Disorders
ER -