scholarly journals Dynamics of COVID-19’s psychological impact in the Czech Republic: Situation during spring 2020

E-psychologie ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 40-59
Author(s):  
Iva Stuchlíková ◽  
Dalibor Kučera ◽  
Tomáš Mrhálek ◽  
Eva Potužníková ◽  
Michaela Plassová

The study presents the results of a screening focused on the psychological impact associated with the outbreak and further development of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech population during March-May 2020. The aim of the study was to investigate temporal dynamics of psychological impact covering the first wave of the epidemic, i.e., first phases of the epidemic growth, culmination, decrease, and slow return to a normal lifestyle. The sample of 2716 respondents aged between 18 and 89 years participated in an online survey from March 18th to May 25th, 2020; part of them (typically seniors and others, who had not access to the internet) were assisted in entering the data by trained interviewers. The survey comprised questionnaires capturing emotional states, psychological disturbance, anxiety, and depression. The changes in the scores by pandemic phase (time frame) were studied for the whole sample and for gender and age groups. The results show that the threat of COVID-19 caused a significant increase in negative emotional experience and in the symptoms of psychological disturbance, anxiety, and depression in the Czech population in a time of infection culmination, even when the spread of the pandemic was well controlled, and then a gradual decline over time. The data indicated that the pandemic situation had a more pronounced impact on women and younger adults. The study also showed that in situations of pandemic stress associated with isolation, when isolated people are interviewed about their mental state, their reports on negative experiencing might be significantly reduced compared to direct anonymous self-reports data entry.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iva Stuchlikova ◽  
Dalibor Kučera ◽  
Eva Potužníková ◽  
Tomáš Mrhálek ◽  
Michaela Plassová

This study presents the results of a screening focused on the psychological impact associated with the outbreak and further development of COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech population. The aim of the study was to investigate temporal dynamics of psychological impact in a longer period covering phases of the epidemic growth, culmination, decrease, and slow return to a normal lifestyle. The sample of 2716 respondents aged between 18 and 89 years participated in an online survey from March 18th to May 25th, 2020; part of them (typically seniors and others, who had not access to the internet) were assisted in entering the data by trained interviewers. The survey comprised questionnaires capturing emotional states, psychological disturbance, anxiety, and depression. The changes in the scores by time phase were studied for the whole sample and for gender and age groups. The results show that the threat of COVID-19 caused a significant increase in negative emotional experience and in the symptoms of psychological disturbance, anxiety, and depression in the Czech population in time of infection culmination, even when the spread of the pandemic was well controlled, and then a gradual decline over time. The data indicated that the pandemic situation had a more pronounced impact on women and younger adults. The study also showed that in situations of pandemic stress associated with isolation, when isolated people are interviewed about their mental state, their reports on negative experiencing might be significantly reduced compared to direct anonymous self-reports data entry.


Author(s):  
Fabiana Silva Ribeiro ◽  
Flávia H. Santos ◽  
Luis Anunciação ◽  
Lucas Barrozo ◽  
Jesus Landeira-Fernandez ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency of international concern, and the main measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus causing COVID-19 were social distancing, quarantine, and self-isolation. Although these policies are effective in containing the spread of the virus, they might represent a challenge to psychological well-being, increasing levels of depressive and anxiety-related symptoms. Aims: We explored the frequency of anxiety and depression symptoms during COVID-19 restrictions and associations with sociodemographic factors in a Brazilian sample. Method: Data of a total of 936 Brazilian adults (68.2% women) aged 18 to 77 years old (M = 38.95, SD = 13.91) were collected through an online survey. Results: In general, we observed a frequency of 17.36% for severe anxiety and 66.13% for severe depression symptoms, in which younger participants (18–39 years old) and women showed higher scores in anxiety and depression scales compared to older age groups. Logistic regressions showed that women were more likely to present severe symptoms of anxiety (20.4%) compared to men (10.9%), as well as respondents in the educational sector (24.3%) compared to those in the health sector (10%). Conclusions: We highlight the importance of mental health professionals in developing strategies to help younger adults to mitigate the effects of social restriction.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serena Petrocchi ◽  
Annalisa Levante ◽  
Federica Bianco ◽  
Ilaria Castelli ◽  
Flavia Lecciso

The present study focused on the psychological impact that the lockdown due to coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) had on families in Italy. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Italian government imposed a strict lockdown for all citizens. People were forced to stay at home, and the length of the lockdown was uncertain. Previous studies analyzed the impact of social distance measures on individuals' mental health, whereas few studies have examined the interplay between the adults' functioning, as parents, during this period and the association with the child's adjustment. The present study tested if maternal distress/coping predicts children's behaviors during the COVID-19 lockdown, hypothesizing a mediation effect via children's emotional experience. Participants were 144 mothers (Mage = 39.3, 25–52, SD = 5.6) with children aged 5–10 years (Mage = 7.54, SD = 1.6, 82 boys); mothers answered to an online survey. Results indicated that mothers with higher exposure to COVID-19 showed higher levels of distress and higher display of coping attitudes, even if in the structural equation modeling model, the COVID-19 exposure was not a predictor of mothers' distress. Compared with mothers with good coping skills, mothers with higher stress levels were more likely to attribute negative emotions to their children at the expense of their positive emotions. Moreover, children's emotions acted as mediators between maternal distress/coping and children's adaptive/maladaptive behaviors. In conclusion, it is important to support parents during pandemic emergence, by providing them with adequate information to manage the relationship with their children, to reduce their level of distress and to enhance their coping abilities.


Author(s):  
Gülden Güvenç ◽  
Damla Til Öğüt

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an extensive deterioration of many industries including the global tourism industry. There has been a strong need for psychology-informed research on tourism that investigates the impact and implications of the pandemic. This chapter is based on a qualitative study that included 60 individuals, recruited through snowball sampling method, 10 females and 10 males from three age groups. Participants were sent an online survey, querying their feelings and thoughts regarding tourism during and after the pandemic, to investigate the psychosocial impact of the pandemic on the population's tourism-related representations, decisions, and emotions. The data was subjected to thematic analysis that would reflect the social representations of the participants and the effects of the pandemic on these representations. Findings were discussed from social and clinical psychology perspectives, particularly via Maslow's and Fiske's theories and the discursive psychology perspective that aim to unfold decision-making processes and motivation underlying human actions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vikesh Kumar ◽  
Mohit Varshney ◽  
Harmandeep Singh ◽  
Amandeep Singh ◽  
Julien S. Baker

Abstract Objective: The WHO has stressed to regularly monitor the mental health of populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we conducted this study to examine anxiety and depression among recovered and recovering COVID-19 patients. Subjects and Methods: An online survey was conducted using social media platforms. The study participants were COVID-19 infected individuals who had recovered or still were in the recovery phase from COVID-19. We collected information on demographics, clinical characteristics and physical complications of COVID-19. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were assessed using previously validated tools. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were applied to analyze the data. Results: 53.4% of respondents reported that they had a fear of getting COVID-19 again. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were present in 71.7% and 97.6% of respondents respectively. Both disorders were present in 71.3% of respondents. The respondents with shorter durations of physical symptoms (< 2 weeks) demonstrated less anxiety (OR = 0.19; 95% CI: 0.05 - 0.67) and depression (OR = 0.03; 95% CI: 0.01 - 0.37). Conclusion: Anxiety and depression appear as common psychological complications in COVID-19 recovering and recovered patients. Longer durations of COVID-19 related physical symptoms were associated with an increased likelihood of anxiety and depression.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabetta Pisanu ◽  
Annalisa Di Benedetto ◽  
Maria Rita Infurna ◽  
Raffaella I Rumiati

The COVID-19 outbreak imposed an overwhelming workload as well as emotional burdens on healthcare professionals (HCPs). In May 2020, an online survey was administered to HCPs in Italy to assess the pandemic’s psychological impact and to investigate possible predictive factors that led to individual differences. Female and younger respondents, especially those operating in northern Italy experienced more frequently negative emotional states such as irritability, anxiety, loneliness, and insecurity. However, positive feelings, first of all solidarity, were also reported especially by female and older workers. The majority of the negative as well as positive emotional states were experienced almost equally by both doctors and nurses, and independently of the operational unit in which they operated. Our findings can provide useful information in planning more tailored psychological interventions to support this category of workers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 1191-1201
Author(s):  
Gregory P Strauss ◽  
Farnaz Zamani Esfahlani ◽  
Eric Granholm ◽  
Jason Holden ◽  
Katherine Frost Visser ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective Anhedonia, traditionally defined as a diminished capacity for pleasure, is a core symptom of schizophrenia (SZ). However, modern empirical evidence indicates that hedonic capacity may be intact in SZ and anhedonia may be better conceptualized as an abnormality in the temporal dynamics of emotion. Method To test this theory, the current study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine whether abnormalities in one aspect of the temporal dynamics of emotion, sustained reward responsiveness, were associated with anhedonia. Two experiments were conducted in outpatients diagnosed with SZ (n = 28; n = 102) and healthy controls (n = 28; n = 71) who completed EMA reports of emotional experience at multiple time points in the day over the course of several days. Markov chain analyses were applied to the EMA data to evaluate stochastic dynamic changes in emotional states to determine processes underlying failures in sustained reward responsiveness. Results In both studies, Markov models indicated that SZ had deficits in the ability to sustain positive emotion over time, which resulted from failures in augmentation (ie, the ability to maintain or increase the intensity of positive emotion from time t to t+1) and diminution (ie, when emotions at time t+1 are opposite in valence from emotions at time t, resulting in a decrease in the intensity of positive emotion over time). Furthermore, in both studies, augmentation deficits were associated with anhedonia. Conclusions These computational findings clarify how abnormalities in the temporal dynamics of emotion contribute to anhedonia.


Author(s):  
Yavuz Lima ◽  
Seçkin Şenışık ◽  
Nevzad Denerel ◽  
Onur Hurşitoğlu ◽  
Görkem A. Balcı ◽  
...  

Objective: Although the psychological states of athletes were negatively affected during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a lack of studies examining the psychological impact on athletes according to age, sports discipline, and contact requirement of the sport. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on elite athletes according to age, sport discipline (team-individual), and contact requirements of the sports (contact and non-contact). Material and methods: Three questionnaires (Depression anxiety stress scale-21, Impact of events scale (IES), International physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ)) were sent to participants’ smartphones, six weeks after professional football leagues were postponed. The online survey was completed by 440 athletes and 126 non-athlete volunteers. Athletes were divided into three groups as follows; team sports, individual contact, and individual non-contact-sports. Also, each group was subdivided into two age groups as youth and adult. Results: Depression, anxiety, and stress scores for the team sports were significantly lower than individual contact-sports (p<0.01 each) and individual non-contact-sports (p=0.02, p<0.01, p<0.01, respectively). IES score for the team sports was significantly lower than the individual contact sports, individual non-contact sports, and non-athlete volunteers (p<0.01, p=0.02, p=0.04, respectively). There was no other significant difference between the scale scores of the groups (athletes-control, or youth-adult) (p>0.05). Conclusion: Mental health status of team sport athletes were relatively protected, whereas, individual contact sports athletes were highly affected. The psychological states of individual contact athletes should be monitored closely, and necessary psychosocial support should be provided to create coping strategies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitchell Turner ◽  
Philipp Beranek ◽  
Shane L. Rogers ◽  
Kazunori Nosaka ◽  
Olivier Girard ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 outbreak has led to the implementation of strict restrictions in Australia, which have severely impacted sporting activities. Tennis is played by 6.2% of the population within the Oceania region, and is a valuable sport for maintaining social, mental, and physical health. Current literature indicates the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the mental health of Australian residents. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in training and match play due to the outbreak, and its effects on emotional well-being of Australian senior tennis players. Additionally, explore any differences between middle aged (41–60 years) and senior (61 years and over) Australian tennis players. An online survey was used to assess training and match play habits, as well as ascertain the emotional well-being of tennis players. The survey was active from 24th April 2020 until 6th June 2020. Participants were adult (41+ years) tennis players from Australia. Wilcoxon signed rank tests were performed to check for differences in training hours and tennis matches played. Mann–WhitneyUtests were used to assess the difference in Brief Emotional Experience Scale (BEES) scores, employment status as well as the training hours and tennis matches played between the two age groups. A Kendall's Tau B correlation test was performed to assess the associations of training, match play and demographic characteristics with BEES scores. Kruskal–Wallis tests assessed differences in BEES scores between participants of differing match play formats, tennis experience and cessation of tennis training time periods. There were 245 respondents who met our inclusion criteria. Tennis training hours along with the tennis matches played significantly decreased during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID-19, 85.09 and 88.48%, respectively. No significant (p&gt; 0.05) differences were observed between age groups for any of the training modality hours, nor was there any significant difference in number of tennis matches played. The participants average BEES score was 0.99 ± 1.27, indicating that respondents had a positive emotional well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. The emotional well-being of the senior group was significantly (P= 0.002) higher than the middle aged group. Together, our results show that training and tennis match play decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, however the emotional well-being of senior tennis players in Australia appeared to not be negatively affected.


2021 ◽  
Vol 06 (03) ◽  
pp. 20-26
Author(s):  
Rakesh Roushan ◽  

Introduction: COVID-19 emerged as a global pandemic and its disastrous effects have been felt all over the world. In India, people faced two phases of lockdown. The Government imposed several restrictions on the residents which increased temporary unemployment for many workers. The pandemic has caused a serious impact on the mental health of the people. This survey was done on the verge of lockdown-2, by using DASS-42 scale questionnaire. The aim of this present study was to access the effect of lockdown-2 on mental wellbeing in the Indian population. Methods: It was a study conducted during the second wave of COVID-19 via an online survey using DASS-42 scale questionnaire in the Google Forms bilingually. The outcome of the questionnaire was the assessment of the degree of depression, anxiety, and stress on Likert scale. Results: 170 individuals participated in this study. All participants experienced stress, anxiety and depression during lockdown. The results revealed that the lockdown affects psychological health of people. There was no association between men and women in terms of the degree of depression, anxiety, and stress on Likert scale. Conclusion: During the second lockdown in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the residents suffered from a moderate level of depression, moderate level of stress, and mild level of anxiety. It is also evident that different age groups have experienced a psychological impact of the pandemic. The outbreak of this pandemic indicates the need to pay greater attention to mental health to prevent and diminish the psychological outcomes of the pandemic.


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