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Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Mental Health

Date Submitted: Mar 12, 2021
Date Accepted: Jul 6, 2021
Date Submitted to PubMed: Aug 3, 2021

The final, peer-reviewed published version of this preprint can be found here:

Factors Associated With Psychological Disturbances During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Multicountry Online Study

Plomecka M, Gobbi S, Neckels R, Radzinski P, Skorko B, Lazzeri S, Almazidou K, Dedic A, Bakalovic A, Hrustic L, Ashraf Z, Es Haghi S, Rodriguez-Pino L, Waller V, Jabeen H, Alp AB, Behnam M, Shibli D, Baranczuk-Turska Z, Haq Z, Qureshi S, Strutt A, Jawaid A

Factors Associated With Psychological Disturbances During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Multicountry Online Study

JMIR Ment Health 2021;8(8):e28736

DOI: 10.2196/28736

PMID: 34254939

PMCID: 8396308

Factors associated with psychological disturbances during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multi-country online study

  • Martyna Plomecka; 
  • Susanna Gobbi; 
  • Rachael Neckels; 
  • Piotr Radzinski; 
  • Beata Skorko; 
  • Samuel Lazzeri; 
  • Kristina Almazidou; 
  • Alisa Dedic; 
  • Asja Bakalovic; 
  • Lejla Hrustic; 
  • Zainab Ashraf; 
  • Sarvin Es Haghi; 
  • Luis Rodriguez-Pino; 
  • Verena Waller; 
  • Hafsa Jabeen; 
  • A. Beyza Alp; 
  • Mehdi Behnam; 
  • Dana Shibli; 
  • Zofia Baranczuk-Turska; 
  • Zeeshan Haq; 
  • Salah Qureshi; 
  • Adriana Strutt; 
  • Ali Jawaid

ABSTRACT

This study anonymously screened 13,332 individuals worldwide for acute psychological symptoms related to Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic from March 29th to April 14th, 2020. A total of n=12,817 responses were considered valid. n=1077 participants from Europe were screened a second time during May 15th to May 30th to longitudinally ascertain the persistence of psychological effects. Female gender, pre-existing psychiatric condition, and prior exposure to trauma were identified as notable factors associated with increased acute psychological symptoms during COVID-19. The same factors, in addition to, being related to someone who demised due to COVID-19 and using social media more than usual predicted persistence of psychological disturbances. Optimism, ability to share concerns with family and friends like usual, positive prediction about COVID-19, and daily exercise predicted fewer acute and persistent psychological symptoms. These results could aid in dynamic optimization of mental health services during and following COVID-19 pandemic.


 Citation

Please cite as:

Plomecka M, Gobbi S, Neckels R, Radzinski P, Skorko B, Lazzeri S, Almazidou K, Dedic A, Bakalovic A, Hrustic L, Ashraf Z, Es Haghi S, Rodriguez-Pino L, Waller V, Jabeen H, Alp AB, Behnam M, Shibli D, Baranczuk-Turska Z, Haq Z, Qureshi S, Strutt A, Jawaid A

Factors Associated With Psychological Disturbances During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Multicountry Online Study

JMIR Ment Health 2021;8(8):e28736

DOI: 10.2196/28736

PMID: 34254939

PMCID: 8396308

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