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Psychological distress in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic: Preliminary development of an assessment scale.

ABSTRACT: COVID-19 is now spreading worldwide, and poses some public mental health problems which requires close attention. This study aims to develop a scale of COVID-19 related psychological distress in healthy public (CORPD) to assess the severity of psychological distress in uninfected healthy populations. We compiled a 14-item scale which contains two dimensions- Anxiety & fear and Suspicion -using the classical measurement theory. 652 Chinese citizens consented and completed a survey through an online questionnaire APP. The reliability test showed that the scale had good internal consistency reliability and Split-Half reliability, and the validity test showed that it had good structure validity, content validity and criterion correlation validity. This scale can be used to assess the psychological distress of people in China and in other COVID-19-hit regions and countries. It also provides a reference for future studies on COVID-19 or other respiratory infectious diseases related public mental health.

SUBMITTER: Feng LS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7278642 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Psychological distress in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic: Preliminary development of an assessment scale.

Feng Lin-Sen LS Dong Zheng-Jiao ZJ Yan Ruo-Yu RY Wu Xiao-Qian XQ Zhang Li L Ma Jun J Zeng Yong Y

Psychiatry research 20200608

COVID-19 is now spreading worldwide, and poses some public mental health problems which requires close attention. This study aims to develop a scale of COVID-19 related psychological distress in healthy public (CORPD) to assess the severity of psychological distress in uninfected healthy populations. We compiled a 14-item scale which contains two dimensions- Anxiety & fear and Suspicion -using the classical measurement theory. 652 Chinese citizens consented and completed a survey through an onli ...[more]

PMID: 32535511

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Project description:BackgroundDuring major pandemics such as COVID-19, the fear of being infected, uncertain prognoses, and the imposition of restrictions may result in greater odds of emotional and psychological distress. Hence, the present study examines the predictors of psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, and how they differ by gender.MethodsData of 2,756 adults aged 18 years and above from a cross-sectional online survey conducted between July and October 2020 was used for this study. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was carried out. The results were presented as adjusted odds ratio (aOR) with their respective confidence interval (CI).ResultsLower odds of psychological distress were found among males compared to females and among individuals aged 45-64 or 65-84 years compared to those aged 18-44. The odds of psychological distress decreased with a rise in income, with individuals whose annual income was greater than or equal to $100,000 being less likely to experience psychological distress compared to those whose income was less than $20,000. The odds of psychological distress were higher among residents of Ontario compared to residents of Quebec. Similarly, the odds of psychological distress were higher among individuals who reported experiencing COVID-19 symptoms compared to those who did not report any COVID-19 symptoms. The disaggregated results by gender showed that age, province, and self-reported COVID-19 symptoms had significant associations with psychological distress in both males and females, but these effects were more pronounced among females compared to males. In addition, income was negatively associated with psychological distress for both males and females, with this effect being stronger among males.ConclusionFive exposure variables (gender, age, province, experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, and total annual income in 2019) significantly predicted the likelihood of reporting psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Clearly, there is an imminent need to provide mental health support services to vulnerable groups. Additionally, interventions and policies aimed at combating psychological distress during pandemics such as COVID-19 should be gender specific.

Dataset Information

Psychological distress in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic: Preliminary development of an assessment scale.

Publications

Psychological distress in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic: Preliminary development of an assessment scale.

Similar Datasets

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