Gloster, AT;
Lamnisos, D;
Lubenko, J;
Presti, G;
Squatrito, V;
Constantinou, M;
Nicolaou, C;
... Karekla, M; + view all
(2020)
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: An international study.
PLoS One
, 15
(12)
, Article e0244809. 10.1371/journal.pone.0244809.
Preview |
Text
journal.pone.0244809.pdf - Published Version Download (554kB) | Preview |
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered vast governmental lockdowns. The impact of these lockdowns on mental health is inadequately understood. On the one hand such drastic changes in daily routines could be detrimental to mental health. On the other hand, it might not be experienced negatively, especially because the entire population was affected. METHODS: The aim of this study was to determine mental health outcomes during pandemic induced lockdowns and to examine known predictors of mental health outcomes. We therefore surveyed n = 9,565 people from 78 countries and 18 languages. Outcomes assessed were stress, depression, affect, and wellbeing. Predictors included country, sociodemographic factors, lockdown characteristics, social factors, and psychological factors. RESULTS: Results indicated that on average about 10% of the sample was languishing from low levels of mental health and about 50% had only moderate mental health. Importantly, three consistent predictors of mental health emerged: social support, education level, and psychologically flexible (vs. rigid) responding. Poorer outcomes were most strongly predicted by a worsening of finances and not having access to basic supplies. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that on whole, respondents were moderately mentally healthy at the time of a population-wide lockdown. The highest level of mental health difficulties were found in approximately 10% of the population. Findings suggest that public health initiatives should target people without social support and those whose finances worsen as a result of the lockdown. Interventions that promote psychological flexibility may mitigate the impact of the pandemic.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: An international study |
| Location: | United States |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0244809 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244809 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright: © 2020 Gloster et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
| Keywords: | Adult, COVID-19, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Middle Aged, Pandemics, SARS-CoV-2, Socioeconomic Factors |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute of Epidemiology and Health > Applied Health Research |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10119272 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
