Meaningful activities during COVID-19 lockdown and association with mental health in Belgian adults

BMC Public Health

Fernández-Solano Ana Judit¹  Rodriguez-Bailón Maria²  De Pauw Robby³  De Letter Miet³  Calders Patrick³  Oostra Kristine³  Van de Velde Dominique³  Cruyt Ellen³  De Vriendt Patricia⁴  Vlerick Peter⁵  Szmalec Arnaud⁶  Vidaña-Moya Laura⁷  Merchán-Baeza Jose Antonio⁸ 

[1] Department of Occupational Therapy. School of Health Sciences, Catholic University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain;Department of Physiotherapy (Occupational Therapy), University of Malaga, Málaga, Spain;Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Speech-language Pathology/Audiology, Ghent University, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, B3, entrance 46, 9000, Ghent, Belgium;Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Speech-language Pathology/Audiology, Ghent University, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, B3, entrance 46, 9000, Ghent, Belgium;Department of Occupational Therapy, Artevelde University College, Ghent, Belgium;Mental Health Research group, Frailty in Ageing Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium;Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Department of Work, Organization and Society, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium;Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium;Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium;Research Group GrEUIT, Escola Universitària d’Infermeria i Teràpia Ocupacional de Terrassa (EUIT), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Terrassa, Spain;Research group on Methodology, Methods, Models and Outcomes of Health and Social Sciences (M3O), Faculty of Health Science and Welfare, University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia (UVIC-UCC), 08500, Vic, Spain;

关键词: Corona;    General health;    Meaningful activities;    Occupations;    Resilience;    Well-being;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-021-10673-4

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe spread of COVID-19 has affected people’s daily lives, and the lockdown may have led to a disruption of daily activities and a decrease of people’s mental health.AimTo identify correlates of adults’ mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown in Belgium and to assess the role of meaningful activities in particular.MethodsA cross-sectional web survey for assessing mental health (General Health Questionnaire), resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), meaning in activities (Engagement in Meaningful Activities Survey), and demographics was conducted during the first Belgian lockdown between April 24 and May 4, 2020. The lockdown consisted of closing schools, non-essential shops, and recreational settings, employees worked from home or were technically unemployed, and it was forbidden to undertake social activities. Every adult who had access to the internet and lived in Belgium could participate in the survey; respondents were recruited online through social media and e-mails. Hierarchical linear regression was used to identify key correlates.ResultsParticipants (N = 1781) reported low mental health (M = 14.85/36). In total, 42.4% of the variance in mental health could be explained by variables such as gender, having children, living space, marital status, health condition, and resilience (β = −.33). Loss of meaningful activities was strongly related to mental health (β = −.36) and explained 9% incremental variance (R2 change = .092, p < .001) above control variables.ConclusionsThe extent of performing meaningful activities during the COVID-19 lockdown in Belgium was positively related to adults’ mental health. Insights from this study can be taken into account during future lockdown measures in case of pandemics.

【 授权许可】

CC BY