The psychological burden experienced by Chinese citizens during the COVID-19 outbreak: prevalence and determinants

BMC Public Health

Yuchu Zhou¹  Zhengjia Ren²  Yanhong Liu³ 

[1] Daka Education Consulting Co.Ltd., Chengdu, Sichuan, China;Department of Clinical Psychology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, 401120, Chongqing, China;Department of psychology, Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China;

关键词: Depression;    Anxiety;    COVID-19;    Risk factors;    Prevalence;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-020-09723-0

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe present study is aims to investigate the prevalence and determinants of depression and anxiety among the general population in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in China.MethodsA cross-sectional self-report survey methodology was used to gather the following data from Chinese citizens: sociodemographic information, physical and mental health disorder history, daily online time, social media exposure, feeling toward social media exposure, perception of the disease, infection cases in the local area, and previous experiences with stressful life incidents. Levels of anxiety and depression were self-reported employing the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale and the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item scale, respectively.ResultsAmong the 6130 participants, the prevalence of anxiety and depression was 7.1 and 12%, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that psychological disturbances were associated with gender, people with religious background, being a medical professional, having physical or mental health disease, difficulty accessing medical aids, experience with traumatic incidents, the perceived possibility of sequelae after being cured of COVID-19, daily online time, the source of the information relevant to COVID-19, frequency of receiving information regarding COVID-19, and negative feelings triggered by social media.ConclusionsThere needs to be a consistent message from authorities to reduce the panic and confusion of the public, and to decrease public exposure to persistently negative information. It is necessary to help people transform their negative experiences into positive changes especially for individuals with physical illness, individuals with mental health disorders, and medical professionals.

【 授权许可】

CC BY