Increased generalized anxiety, depression and distress during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in Germany

Since the first cases of the novel coronavirus disease SARS-CoV-2 were reported in December 2019 in China, the virus has spread in most countries. The aim of the present study was to assess initial data on the mental health burden of the German public during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional...

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Veröffentlicht in:Journal of public health (Oxford, England) Jg. 42; H. 4; S. 672
Hauptverfasser: Bäuerle, Alexander, Teufel, Martin, Musche, Venja, Weismüller, Benjamin, Kohler, Hannah, Hetkamp, Madeleine, Dörrie, Nora, Schweda, Adam, Skoda, Eva-Maria
Format: Journal Article
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: England 23.11.2020
Schlagworte:
Access to Information
Adult
Aged
Anxiety - epidemiology
COVID-19 - epidemiology
COVID-19 - psychology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Depression - epidemiology
Fear
Female
Germany - epidemiology
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Pandemics
Prevalence
SARS-CoV-2
Stress, Psychological - epidemiology
Trust
Germany
COVID-19
generalized anxiety
COVID-19-related fear
depression
mental health
ISSN:1741-3850, 1741-3850
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Zusammenfassung:Since the first cases of the novel coronavirus disease SARS-CoV-2 were reported in December 2019 in China, the virus has spread in most countries. The aim of the present study was to assess initial data on the mental health burden of the German public during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Germany and collected complete datasets from 15 704 German residents aged 18 years and over. Besides demographics, generalized anxiety (GAD-7), depression (PHQ-2) and psychological distress (DT) were assessed. Furthermore, COVID-19-related fear, trust in governmental actions to face COVID-19 and the subjective level of information regarding COVID-19 were covered. Significantly increased symptoms were highly prevalent in all dimensions: generalized anxiety (44.9%), depression (14.3%), psychological distress (65.2%) and COVID-19-related fear (59%). Females and younger people reported higher mental burden. Trust in governmental actions to face COVID-19 and the subjective level of information regarding COVID-19 are negatively associated with mental health burden. However, the subjective level of information regarding COVID-19 is positively associated with increased COVID-19-related fear. The provision of appropriate psychological interventions for those in need and the provision of transparency and comprehensible information are crucial during the current pandemic.
Bibliographie:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:1741-3850
1741-3850
DOI:10.1093/pubmed/fdaa106