scholarly journals Mental Health and Behavior During the Early Phases of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Mobile Smartphone and Ecological Momentary Assessment Study in College Students (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy F Huckins ◽  
Alex W DaSilva ◽  
Weichen Wang ◽  
Elin Hedlund ◽  
Courtney Rogers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
College Students ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Health Changes ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Mobile Smartphone ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND Worldwide, the vast majority of people have been impacted by COVID-19. While millions of individuals have become infected, billions of individuals have been asked or required by local and national governments to change their behavioral patterns. Previous research on epidemics or traumatic events suggest this can lead to profound behavioral and mental health changes, but rarely are researchers able to track these changes with frequent, near real-time sampling or compare these to previous years of data on the same individuals. OBJECTIVE We seek to answer two overarching questions by combining mobile phone sensing and self-reported mental health data among college students participating in a longitudinal study for the past two years. First, have behaviors and mental health changed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to previous time periods within the same participants? Second, did behavior and mental health changes track the relative news coverage of COVID-19 in the US media? METHODS Behaviors such as the number of locations visited, distance traveled, duration of phone usage, number of phone unlocks, sleep duration and sedentary time were measured using the StudentLife mobile smartphone sensing app. Depression and anxiety were assessed using weekly self-reported Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMAs) of the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4). Participants were 217 undergraduate students, with 178 students having data during the Winter 2020 term. Differences in behaviors and self-reported mental health collected during the Winter 2020 term (the term in which the coronavirus pandemic started), as compared to previous terms in the same cohort, were modeled using mixed linear models. RESULTS During the initial COVID-19 impacted academic term (Winter 2020), individuals were more sedentary and reported increased anxiety and depression symptoms (P<.001), relative to the previous academic terms and subsequent academic breaks. Interactions between the Winter 2020 term and week of academic term (linear and quadratic) were significant. In a mixed linear model, phone usage, number of locations visited, and week of the term, were strongly associated with increased coronavirus-related news. When mental health metrics (e.g., depression and anxiety) were added to the previous measures (week of term, number of locations visited, and phone usage), both anxiety (P<.001) and depression (P=.029) were significantly associated with coronavirus-related news. CONCLUSIONS Compared with prior academic terms, individuals in Winter 2020 were more sedentary, anxious, and depressed. A wide variety of behaviors, including increased phone usage, decreased physical activity, and fewer locations visited, are associated with fluctuations in COVID-19 news reporting. While this large-scale shift in mental health and behavior is unsurprising, its characterization is particularly important to help guide the development of methods that could reduce the impact of future catastrophic events on the mental health of the population. CLINICALTRIAL

scholarly journals Mental Health and Behavior During the Early Phases of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Mobile Smartphone and Ecological Momentary Assessment Study in College Students

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy F Huckins ◽  
alex dasilva ◽  
weichen wang ◽  
Elin L. Hedlund ◽  
Courtney Rogers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
College Students ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Health Changes ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Mobile Smartphone ◽  
The Impact

BackgroundWorldwide, the vast majority of people have been impacted by COVID-19. While millions of individuals have become infected, billions of individuals have been asked or required by local and national governments to change their behavioral patterns. Previous research on epidemics or traumatic events suggest this can lead to profound behavioral and mental health changes, but rarely are researchers able to track these changes with frequent, near real-time sampling or compare these to previous years of data on the same individuals.ObjectivesWe seek to answer two overarching questions by combining mobile phone sensing and self-reported mental health data among college students participating in a longitudinal study for the past two years. First, have behaviors and mental health changed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to previous time periods within the same participants? Second, did behavior and mental health changes track the relative news coverage of COVID-19 in the US media?MethodsBehaviors were measured using the StudentLife mobile smartphone sensing app. Depression and anxiety were assessed using weekly self-reported Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMAs). Differences in behaviors and self-reported mental health collected during the Winter 2020 term (the term in which the coronavirus pandemic started), as compared to prevous terms in the same cohort, were modeled using mixed linear models.ResultsDuring the initial COVID-19 impacted academic term (Winter 2020), individuals were more sedentary and reported increased anxiety and depression symptoms (P&lt;.001), relative to the previous academic terms and subsequent academic breaks. Interactions between the Winter 2020 term and week of academic term (linear and quadratic) were significant. In a mixed linear model, phone usage, number of locations visited, and week of the term, were strongly associated with increased coronavirus-related news. When mental health metrics (e.g., depression and anxiety) were added to the previous measures (week of term, number of locations visited, and phone usage), both anxiety (P&lt;.001) and depression (P&lt;.05) were significantly associated with coronavirus-related news.ConclusionsCompared with prior academic terms, individuals in Winter 2020 were more sedentary, anxious, and depressed. A wide variety of behaviors, including increased phone usage, decreased physical activity, and fewer locations visited, are associated with fluctuations in COVID-19 news reporting. While this large-scale shift in mental health and behavior is unsurprising, its characterization is particularly important to help guide the development of methods that could reduce the impact of future catastrophic events on the mental health of the population.

scholarly journals Mental Health and Behavior of College Students in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Mobile Smartphone and Ecological Momentary Assessment Study - Part II (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dante Mack ◽  
Alex DaSilva ◽  
Courtney Rogers ◽  
Elin Hedlund ◽  
Eilis Murphy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Sedentary Time ◽  
The United States ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Health Changes ◽  
And Behaviors ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Mobile Smartphone

BACKGROUND Since late 2019, the lives of people across the globe have been disrupted by COVID-19. Millions of people have become infected; billions have been continually asked or required by local and national governments to change their behavioral patterns. Previous research on the COVID-19 pandemic suggests that it is associated with large-scale behavioral and mental health changes, but few studies have been able to track these changes with frequent, near real-time sampling or compare these changes to previous years of data for the same individuals. OBJECTIVE By combining mobile phone sensing and self-reported mental health data in a cohort of college-aged students enrolled in a longitudinal study, we seek to understand the behavioral and mental health impacts associated with the pandemic, measured by search term interest in "coronavirus" and "covid fatigue" across the United States. METHODS Behaviors such as the number of locations visited, distance traveled, duration of phone usage, number of phone unlocks, sleep duration, and sedentary time were measured using the StudentLife mobile smartphone sensing app. Depression and anxiety were assessed using weekly self-reported Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMAs), including the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4). Participants were 217 undergraduate students. Differences in behaviors and self-reported mental health collected during the Spring 2020 term, as compared to previous terms in the same cohort, were modeled using mixed linear models. RESULTS Linear mixed models observed differences in phone usage, sleep, sedentary time and the number of locations visited associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In further models, these behaviors were strongly associated with increased interest in covid fatigue. When mental health metrics (e.g., depression and anxiety) were added to the previous measures (week of term, number of locations visited, phone usage, sedentary time), both anxiety and depression (_P_<.001) were significantly associated with interest in covid fatigue. Notably, these behavioral and mental health changes are consistent with those observed around the initial implementation of COVID-19 lockdowns in the spring of 2020 [@Huckins2020]. CONCLUSIONS In the initial lockdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, people spent more time on their phones, were more sedentary, visited fewer locations, and exhibited increased symptoms of anxiety and depression. As the pandemic persisted through the spring, people continued to exhibit very similar changes in both mental health and behaviors. Though unsurprising, understanding these large-scale shifts in mental health and behaviors is critical in disrupting the negative consequences to mental health during the ongoing pandemic. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/8yt4x

scholarly journals Mental Health and Behavior of College Students in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Mobile Smartphone and Ecological Momentary Assessment Study - Part II

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dante ◽  
Alex DaSilva ◽  
Courtney Rogers ◽  
Elin L. Hedlund ◽  
Eilis I. Murphy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Sedentary Time ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Search Term ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Health Changes ◽  
And Behaviors ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Mobile Smartphone

Background:Since late 2019, the lives of people across the globe have been disrupted by COVID-19. Millions of people have become infected; billions have been continually asked or required by local and national governments to change their behavioral patterns. Previous research on the COVID-19 pandemic suggests that it is associated with large-scale behavioral and mental health changes, but few studies have been able to track these changes with frequent, near real-time sampling or compare these changes to previous years of data for the same individuals.Objectives:By combining mobile phone sensing and self-reported mental health data in a cohort of college-aged students enrolled in a longitudinal study, we seek to understand the behavioral and mental health impacts associated with the pandemic, measured by search term interest in "coronavirus" and "covid fatigue" across the United States.Methods:Behaviors such as the number of locations visited, distance traveled, duration of phone usage, number of phone unlocks, sleep duration, and sedentary time were measured using the StudentLife mobile smartphone sensing app. Depression and anxiety were assessed using weekly self-reported Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMAs), including the Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4). Participants were 217 undergraduate students. Differences in behaviors and self-reported mental health collected during the Spring 2020 term, as compared to previous terms in the same cohort, were modeled using mixed linear models.Results:Linear mixed models observed differences in phone usage, sleep, sedentary time and the number of locations visited associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In further models, these behaviors were strongly associated with increased interest in covid fatigue. When mental health metrics (e.g., depression and anxiety) were added to the previous measures (week of term, number of locations visited, phone usage, sedentary time), both anxiety and depression (_P_&lt;.001) were significantly associated with interest in covid fatigue. Notably, these behavioral and mental health changes are consistent with those observed around the initial implementation of COVID-19 lockdowns in the spring of 2020 [@Huckins2020]. Conclusions:In the initial lockdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, people spent more time on their phones, were more sedentary, visited fewer locations, and exhibited increased symptoms of anxiety and depression. As the pandemic persisted through the spring, people continued to exhibit very similar changes in both mental health and behaviors. Though unsurprising, understanding these large-scale shifts in mental health and behaviors is critical in disrupting the negative consequences to mental health during the ongoing pandemic.

scholarly journals The Impact of Shift Work on Occupational Health Indicators among Professionally Active Adults: A Comparative Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (21) ◽  
pp. 11290
Author(s):  
Henrique Pereira ◽  
Gergely Fehér ◽  
Antal Tibold ◽  
Samuel Monteiro ◽  
Vítor Costa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Shift Work ◽  
Work Engagement ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Health Indicators ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Active Adults

The analysis of the impact of shift work on occupational health still needs further contributions. Therefore, we developed this research with the purpose of assessing the impact of shift work on occupational health indicators, namely burnout, work-engagement, occupational self-efficacy, and mental health functioning (symptoms of depression and anxiety), by comparing workers who did shift work (44.2% of participants) with workers who did not (55.8% of participants). A total of 695 Portuguese professionally active adults between 18 and 73 years of age (Mage = 37.71; SD = 12.64) participated in this study and completed a survey containing a sociodemographic questionnaire and four occupational health measures: The Burnout Assessment Tool, The Work-Engagement questionnaire (UWES), The Occupational Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, and the BSI-18 for mental health symptoms. Results showed statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) for all indicators, demonstrating that participants who worked shifts presented lower scores of work-engagement and occupational self-efficacy, and higher scores of burnout, depression, and anxiety when compared to participants who did not work shifts. Linear regressions showed that shift work explained significant but low percentages of anxiety symptoms, low work-engagement, depression symptoms, low occupational self-efficacy, and burnout. We concluded that non-standard working hours (by shifts) are detrimental to employee occupational health, by increasing the risk of anxiety and depression levels, and burnout, and by reducing work-engagement (as a well-being indicator) and occupational self-efficacy perceptions.

The Impact of Virtual Physical Activity Interventions on Depression and Anxiety among College Students: Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Murray ◽  
Michele Marenus ◽  
Ana Cahuas ◽  
Kathryn Friedman ◽  
Haley Ottensoser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Resistance Exercise ◽  
Interaction Effect ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Exercise Intervention ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND Depression and anxiety are growing issues for college students, with both aerobic-resistance training and mindfulness-yoga exercises known to be effective in reducing symptoms and severity. However, no known research is available comparing these two depression and anxiety interventions simultaneously and in a virtual environment. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine the effects of a virtual aerobic-resistance exercise intervention (WeActive) and a virtual yoga-mindfulness mindfulness exercise intervention (WeMindful) on depression and anxiety symptoms in college students METHODS The participants were 78 college students who anonymously completed a Qualtrics survey including the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and the Major Depression Inventory (MDI) at baseline and the post-test. Participants were randomly assigned to either the WeActive or WeMindful group and underwent two 30-minute virtual aerobic-resistance exercise lessons or yoga-mindfulness lessons per week for eight weeks. RESULTS The results of ANCOVA with repeated measures indicated that, while not statistically significant, both groups showed a notable decrease in anxiety with a marginal significant main effect of time (F = 3.485, p = 0.066, η2 = 0.047) but no significant main effect of group and no significant interaction effect of time with group. The two intervention groups experienced a significant decrease in depression with the main effect of time (F = 3.892, p = 0.052, η2 = 0.052). There was no significant main effect of group or interaction effect of time with group for depression. CONCLUSIONS College students in both WeActive and WeMindful groups experienced a significant decrease in depression symptoms and a decrease, though not significant, in anxiety as well. The study suggests that virtual WeActive and WeMindful interventions are effective approaches to managing US college student depression and anxiety during a pandemic.

scholarly journals Causal Factors of Anxiety and Depression in College Students: Longitudinal Ecological Momentary Assessment and Causal Analysis Using Peter and Clark Momentary Conditional Independence (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy F Huckins ◽  
Alex W DaSilva ◽  
Elin L Hedlund ◽  
Eilis I Murphy ◽  
Courtney Rogers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
College Students ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
First Year ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
First Year College ◽  
First Year College Students ◽  
Ecological Momentary ◽  
Mental Health Factors

BACKGROUND Across college campuses, the prevalence of clinically relevant depression or anxiety is affecting more than 27% of the college population at some point between entry to college and graduation. Stress and self-esteem have both been hypothesized to contribute to depression and anxiety levels. Although contemporaneous relationships between these variables have been well-defined, the causal relationship between these mental health factors is not well understood, as frequent sampling can be invasive, and many of the current causal techniques are not well suited to investigate correlated variables. OBJECTIVE This study aims to characterize the causal and contemporaneous networks between these critical mental health factors in a cohort of first-year college students and then determine if observed results replicate in a second, distinct cohort. METHODS Ecological momentary assessments of depression, anxiety, stress, and self-esteem were obtained weekly from two cohorts of first-year college students for 40 weeks (1 academic year). We used the Peter and Clark Momentary Conditional Independence algorithm to identify the contemporaneous (t) and causal (t-1) network structures between these mental health metrics. RESULTS All reported results are significant at <i>P</i>&lt;.001 unless otherwise stated. Depression was causally influenced by self-esteem (<i>t</i>-1 <i>r</i><sub>p</sub>, cohort 1 [C1]=–0.082, cohort 2 [C2]=–0.095) and itself (<i>t</i>-1 <i>r</i><sub>p</sub>, C1=0.388, C2=0.382) in both cohorts. Anxiety was causally influenced by stress (<i>t</i>-1 <i>r</i><sub>p</sub>, C1=0.095, C2=0.104), self-esteem (<i>t</i>-1 <i>r</i><sub>p</sub>, C1=–0.067, C2=–0.064, <i>P</i>=.002), and itself (<i>t</i>-1 <i>r</i><sub>p</sub>, of C1=0.293, C2=0.339) in both cohorts. A causal link between anxiety and depression was observed in the first cohort (<i>t</i>-1 <i>r</i><sub>p</sub>, C1=0.109) and only observed in the second cohort with a more liberal threshold (<i>t</i>-1 <i>r</i><sub>p</sub>, C2=0.044, <i>P</i>=.03). Self-esteem was only causally influenced by itself (<i>t</i>-1 <i>r</i><sub>p</sub>, C1=0.389, C2=0.393). Stress was only causally influenced by itself (<i>t</i>-1 <i>r</i><sub>p</sub>, C1=0.248, C2=0.273). Anxiety had positive contemporaneous links to depression (<i>t </i> <i>r</i><sub>p</sub>, C1=0.462, C2=0.444) and stress (<i>t </i> <i>r</i><sub>p</sub>, C1=0.354, C2=0.358). Self-esteem had negative contemporaneous links to each of the other three mental health metrics, with the strongest negative relationship being stress (<i>t </i> <i>r</i><sub>p</sub>, C1=–0.334, C2=–0.340), followed by depression (<i>t </i> <i>r</i><sub>p</sub>, C1=–0.302, C2=–0.274) and anxiety (<i>t </i> <i> r</i><sub>p</sub>, C1=–0.256, C2=–0.208). Depression had positive contemporaneous links to anxiety (previously mentioned) and stress (<i>t </i> <i> r</i><sub>p</sub>, C1=0.250, C2=0.231). CONCLUSIONS This paper is an initial attempt to describe the contemporaneous and causal relationships among these four mental health metrics in college students. We replicated previous research identifying concurrent relationships between these variables and extended them by identifying causal links among these metrics. These results provide support for the vulnerability model of depression and anxiety. Understanding how causal factors impact the evolution of these mental states over time may provide key information for targeted treatment or, perhaps more importantly, preventative interventions for individuals at risk for depression and anxiety.

scholarly journals Investigating Mental Health of US College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Survey Study

10.2196/22817 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. e22817 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaomei Wang ◽  
Sudeep Hegde ◽  
Changwon Son ◽  
Bruce Keller ◽  
Alec Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United States ◽  
College Students ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Suicidal Thoughts ◽  
The Impact

Background Evidence suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has generally increased levels of stress and depression among the public. However, the impact on college students in the United States has not been well-documented. Objective This paper surveys the mental health status and severity of depression and anxiety of college students in a large university system in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods An online survey was conducted among undergraduate and graduate students recruited from Texas A&M University via email. The survey consisted of two standardized scales—the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the General Anxiety Disorder-7—for depression and anxiety, and additional multiple-choice and open-ended questions regarding stressors and coping mechanisms specific to COVID-19. Results Among the 2031 participants, 48.14% (n=960) showed a moderate-to-severe level of depression, 38.48% (n=775) showed a moderate-to-severe level of anxiety, and 18.04% (n=366) had suicidal thoughts. A majority of participants (n=1443, 71.26%) indicated that their stress/anxiety levels had increased during the pandemic. Less than half of the participants (n=882, 43.25%) indicated that they were able to cope adequately with the stress related to the current situation. Conclusions The proportion of respondents showing depression, anxiety, and/or suicidal thoughts is alarming. Respondents reported academic-, health-, and lifestyle-related concerns caused by the pandemic. Given the unexpected length and severity of the outbreak, these concerns need to be further understood and addressed.

scholarly journals Depression and anxiety before and during the COVID-19 lockdown: a longitudinal cohort study with university students

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virgínia da Conceição ◽  
Inês Rothes ◽  
Ricardo Gusmão ◽  
Henrique Barros
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
University Students ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
Portuguese Version ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Patient Health ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Impact

AbstractBackgroundFor young people, just as in the general population, COVID-19 caused many changes in their lives, including an increased risk for mental illness symptoms. We aimed to study the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in anxiety and depression symptoms in a cohort of university students.MethodsThis study is part of broader longitudinal research on university students’ mental health with data of the Portuguese version of The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the Portuguese version of the Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) with evaluations on January, May and October 2019 and June 2020, as well as socio-demographic information.Results341 university students (257 females and 84 males) were included, with a mean age of 19.91 (SD=1.58). In June 2020, the mean for perceived wellbeing loss was 60.47% (SD=26.56) and 59.54% (SD=28.95) for mental health loss. The proportion of students with scores equal to or above 15 in the PHQ-9 ranged between 22.6% and 25.5% in 2019 and 37.0% in June 2020. The proportion of GAD-7 scores above cut-off ten ranged between 46.0% and 47.8% in 2019 and 64.5% in 2020. Compared with preceding trends, PHQ-9 scores were 3.11 (CI=2.40-3.83) higher than expected, and GAD-7 scores were 3.56 (CI=2.75-5.37) higher.DiscussionCOVID-19 impacted negatively depressive and anxiety symptoms, confirming previous studies and young people’s vulnerability in such uncertain times.

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