Psychological reactions to COVID-19: Survey data assessing perceived susceptibility, distress, mindfulness, and preventive health behaviors.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: O'Brien WH
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7797503 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Rationale: India and the USA, the worst affected countries by COVID-19, experienced very different pandemic courses. By 2020, COVID-19 cases had steadily declined in India, whereas the fight continued in the US. The people of India and the USA perhaps perceived threats very differently, influenced by their knowledge, available healthcare facilities, and social security. We conducted an online survey study to compare COVID-related perceptions between Indian participants (IND-P) and US-based participants (US-P). Methods: COVID-related perceptions such as stress, knowledge, and preventive behaviors were measured with specific questionnaires, and normalized scores were computed. T-tests were used to compare the perception scores, while the Kruskal-Wallis-H (KWH) tests were used to compare socioeconomic distributions between participants from two countries. Generalized linear model (GLM) adjusted for sociodemographic confounders estimated the association between the country of residence and COVID-perception. Results: The IND-P (N = 242) were younger and male-dominated compared with the US-P (N = 531) (age: KWH = 97.37, p < 0.0001, gender: KWH = 140.38, p < 0.0001). Positive attitudes toward preventive guidelines were associated with higher perceived risk and stress (r = 0.35, p < 0.001, and r = 0.21, p < 0.001, respectively) but not with the knowledge (r = -0.05, p = 0.14). Compared with the US-P, the IND-P had lower knowledge (5.19 ± 1.95 vs. 7.82 ± 1.35; t-test: p < 0.0001), higher stress (7.01 ± 1.51 vs. 6.07 ± 1.61; t-test: p < 0.0001), and better adherence to preventive guidelines (8.84 ± 1.30 vs. 8.34 ± 2.09; t-test: p = 0.0006). GLM demonstrated a significant association between the country and COVID-perception scores. Conclusion: The IND-P experienced higher stress and perceived threat during COVID-19 than the US-P, perhaps due to a lack of faith in the healthcare system and insecurity. Despite lower knowledge, the IND-P had better acceptance of preventive guidelines than the US-P.
| S-EPMC8473728 | biostudies-literature
Project description:As the COVID-19 pandemic extends into another year, the causes and consequences of pandemic fatigue and vaccine hesitancy have become prominent concerns. This dataset contains MTurk survey responses from 658 vaccinated USA samples indicating: (a) pandemic fatigue and psychological distress (physical and trauma symptoms); (b) delays in receiving medical care due to COVID-19 restrictions; (c) vaccine-related behavior and beliefs (type of vaccine and vaccine hesitancy), and (d) COVID-19 preventive health behaviors. Several predictor variables were also collected including: (a) demographic variables; (b) COVID-19 health risk factors; (c) perceived susceptibility to disease and intolerance of uncertainty; (d) attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioral control about COVID-19 vaccine from the theory of planned behavior; (e) compassion for self and others; (f) psychological flexibility and inflexibility; (g) Buddhist mindfulness insight (impermanence, acceptance of suffering, nonself attachment, mindfulness); and (h) cultural orientation and authoritarianism. The data were collected between August 28th and October 18th of 2021. Out of the 746 MTurk workers who responded to the survey, 88 were removed from the dataset due to failing attention checks and problems with quality data. The responses from the remaining 658 allow an examination of the associations between fatigue and distress from COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccine related behaviors and beliefs; preventive health behaviors for COVID-19; COVID-19 susceptibility; intolerance of uncertainty; together with compassion, psychological flexibility, mindfulness, cultural orientation, as well as authoritarianism as possible moderators of COVID-19 fatigue, distress, and vaccine beliefs.
| S-EPMC9195342 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Fears that digital technologies harm adolescents' mental health abound; however, existing research is mixed. This study examined how perceived technological impairment (i.e., perceptions of digital technology interfering with daily life) related to psychological distress across five years in adolescence. A latent curve model with structured residuals was applied to disentangle between-from within-person associations, in which it was tested whether (a) adolescents who increased in their perceptions of technological impairment over time also increased in psychological distress (between-person) and (b) if an adolescent who reported greater perceptions of technological impairment relative to their underlying trajectory at one wave consequently reported greater distress at the subsequent wave (within-person). These associations were tested in a sample of 2104 adolescents (Mage = 12.36; 52% girls; 48% Non-White). Perceived technological impairment and psychological distress increased together over time. Girls and older adolescents (13-15 at baseline) reported greater initial levels of perceived impairment. Younger adolescents (9-12 at baseline) increased more steeply in perceived impairment over time. There was no evidence of longitudinal within-person associations. The findings suggest that although there is evidence of between-person associations in which increases in perceived technological impairment coincide with increases in psychological distress, the absence of within-person associations cautions against a cause-and-effect narrative between digital technology use and mental health.
| S-EPMC9511468 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Prior research examining links between neighborhood violence and mental health has not been able to establish whether it is perceived levels of neighborhood violence, or actual levels of violent crime, that matter most for adolescents' psychological well-being. In this study, we ascertained both perceived neighborhood safety and objectively-measured neighborhood-level violent crime (using a novel geospatial index of police-reported crime incidents) for 4464 adolescent respondents from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2011-2014). We used propensity score-matched regression models to examine associations between these measures and CHIS adolescents' symptoms of psychological distress. We found that adolescents who perceived their neighborhood to be unsafe were two times more likely than those who perceived their neighborhood to be safe to report serious psychological distress (OR = 2.4, 95 % CI = 1.20, 4.96). Adolescents who lived in areas objectively characterized by high levels of violent crime, however, were no more likely than their peers in safer areas to be distressed (OR = 1.41; 95 % CI = 0.60, 3.32). Our results suggest that, at the population level, adolescents' perceptions of neighborhood violence, rather than objective levels of neighborhood crime, are most salient for their mental health.
| S-EPMC5052152 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically affected mental health, creating an urgent need for convenient and safe interventions to improve well-being. Online mindfulness interventions show promise for improving depression, anxiety, and general well-being.ObjectiveTo assess: 1) the impact of online mindfulness on psychological distress, 2) altruistic efforts, and 3) the quantity, quality, and availability of online mindfulness resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods233 participants (203 U.S.; 20 international; 10 unknown) participated in this prospective, single-arm, non-randomized clinical trial of a single online mindfulness meditation session with pre- and post-surveys.Main outcome measures(a) Mindfulness session helpfulness, online platform effectiveness, and immediate pre- to post-session changes in momentary stress, anxiety, and COVID-19 concern; (b) qualitative themes representing how people are helping others during the pandemic; (c) absolute changes in quantity of mindfulness-oriented web content and free online mindfulness resource availability from May to August 2020.ResultsMost participants felt the online mindfulness session was helpful and the electronic platform effective for practicing mindfulness (89%, 95% CI: [82 to 93%]), with decreased momentary anxiety (76%; 95% CI: [69 to 83%]), stress (80%; [72 to 86%]), and COVID-19 concern (55%; [46 to 63%]), (p < 0.001 for each measure). Participants reported helping others in a variety of ways during the pandemic, including following public health guidelines, conducting acts of service and connection, and helping oneself in hopes of helping others. "Mindfulness + COVID" search results increased by 52% from May to August 2020. Most (73%) Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health member websites offer free online mindfulness resources.ConclusionsVirtual mindfulness is an increasingly accessible intervention available world-wide that may reduce psychological distress during this isolating public health crisis. Kindness and altruism are being demonstrated during the pandemic. The consolidated online mindfulness resources provided may help guide clinicians and patients.
| S-EPMC8419565 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The authors examined perceived income inadequacy as a predictor of self-reported depressive symptomatology and anxiety in the original sites of the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health I project. Perceived income inadequacy, self-reported household income, and control factors (e.g., subjective health) were entered into hierarchical regression analyses predicting psychological distress. Findings suggest that perceived income inadequacy and not household income significantly predicted more self-reported depressive symptomatology and greater self-reported anxiety. This supports previous findings that objective income measures alone are not adequate indicators of socioeconomic status in older adults.
| S-EPMC2814818 | biostudies-other
Project description:Changes in the labor market and employment contracts over the past several decades and a recent global recession have increased the salience of perceived job insecurity as a risk factor for poor mental health. We use 25 years of prospective data from the Americans' Changing Lives study to examine long-term histories of perceived job insecurity and their link to psychological distress. We build on the prior literature by using a much longer window of exposure and accounting for involuntary job losses over the lengthy observation period. We find that persistent perceived job insecurity is strongly and significantly associated with greater psychological distress among U.S. workers in the latter part of their careers. Moreover, considering histories of exposure reveals more nuance in the sociodemographic characteristics and employment interruptions that predict persistent or intermittent insecurity and that identify contemporary older workers at particular risk.
| S-EPMC5558894 | biostudies-other
Project description:Serious psychological distress (SPD) can adversely impact health and quality of life after cancer. The purpose of this study is to examine the association between SPD and the receipt of preventive care services and cancer screening among survivors and adults without a cancer history. A total of 12,564 cancer survivors and 160,023 adults without a cancer history as comparison group were identified from the population-based Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2008-2015). SPD was assessed using the 6-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. We examined use of preventive care and cancer screening services in cancer survivors and comparison adults with/without SPD. Multivariable logistic regression models were conducted for each outcome: preventive service (i.e. blood pressure, cholesterol, influenza vaccination, routine and dental check-up) or cancer screening (i.e. mammography, Papanicolau test, colorectal cancer screening) adjusting for demographic, comorbidity, usual source of care covariates. Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Prevalence of SPD was 9.8% in cancer survivors compared to 4.6% in comparison adults. Survivors with SPD were more frequent utilizers of medical care, reporting 10 or more visits to the doctor's office in the past 12 months (29.3% vs. 14.1% without SPD). Having SPD was associated with lower odds of being up-to-date with preventive service use and cancer screening among age- and gender-eligible individuals. The magnitude of the effect was greater in adults' age ≥65 years. Better coordination of care and patient-physician discussions are likely needed to improve delivery of recommended preventive services for persons with SPD.
| S-EPMC6637742 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundResearch has shown that orphans in sub-Saharan Africa are at increased risk for mental health problems. Exposure to maltreatment and HIV/AIDS-related stigmatization are related to orphans' psychological distress. Yet, researchers stress the need for more research in low-income countries to identify which factors of being an orphan may lead to psychological distress.ObjectivesThe present study aims to systematically investigate orphans' experiences of maltreatment and stigmatization to identify factors that relate to their psychological distress.MethodsIn total, 89 Tanzanian children who had lost at least one parent were compared to 89 matched non-orphans (mean age: 11 years; 51% boys). We measured exposure to maltreatment and perceived stigmatization as an orphan. Mental health was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, the Children's Depression Inventory, the UCLA PTSD Index for Children, and the Reactive-Proactive Questionnaire.ResultsOrphans reported significantly more experiences of neglect, but not of abuse. A group comparison revealed more depressive symptoms, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and aggressive behavior among orphans. Neglect, abuse, and stigmatization correlated with orphans' internalizing and externalizing problems, yet only neglect and stigmatization were related to orphans' depression severity. Perceived stigmatization moderated the relationship between neglect and depression.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that orphans in Tanzania are at increased risk of experiencing neglect. Maltreatment and perceived stigmatization may play a role in orphans' psychological distress. Culturally appropriate and evidence-based interventions may help to prevent maltreatment and stigmatization of orphans.
| S-EPMC4654768 | biostudies-literature
Project description:PurposeBased on the health belief model and theory of planned behavior, this study investigated how age group (adolescence and emerging adulthood) moderated the relative effects of perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, and subjective norms on preventive behavior against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).MethodsThis secondary data analysis utilized data from adolescents (n=272) and emerging adults (n=239). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed to test the moderating effect of age group on the relationships among variables.ResultsHigher perceived susceptibility (β=.21, p<.001), perceived severity (β=.14, p=.002), subjective norms (friends) (β=.26, p<.001), subjective norms (parents) (β=.44, p<.001), and subjective norms (schools) (β=.28, p<.001) enhanced COVID-19 preventive behaviors. Moderated regression analysis showed that subjective norms (friends and school) impacted preventive behavior in adolescents more than in emerging adults.ConclusionGiven the need to increase perceived susceptibility and severity among adolescents and emerging adults, these findings provide baseline data for designing effective COVID-19 prevention interventions that consider the developmental characteristics of different age groups. Interventions by health centers at universities can strengthen COVID-19 preventive behavior among emerging adults. As adolescents are influenced by friends, their peer roles must be strengthened to enhance adherence to COVID-19 preventive guidelines.
| S-EPMC10183761 | biostudies-literature