COVID-19 Pandemic: Influence of Gender Identity on Stress, Anxiety, and Depression Levels in Canada

Chidi Chima,April Gusnowski,Wesley Vuong,Marianne Hrabok,Reham Shalaby,Vincent I O Agyapong,Shireen Surood,Mobolaji A Lawal,Andrew J Greenshaw,Kristopher Wells

doi:10.3390/traumacare2010002

Abstract

Background: This cross-sectional study explored variation of the prevalence of perceived stress, depression and anxiety among different self-identified gender identity groups in the Canadian population during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Anxiety, depression, and stress were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) respectively. Data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance. Results: There were 8267 respondents to the online survey; 982 (12.0%) were male-identified, 7120 (86.9%) female-identified, and 92 (1.1%) identified as a diverse gender group. Prevalence rates for clinically meaningful anxiety (333 (41.7%), 2882 (47.6%), 47 (61.0%)), depression (330 (40.2%), 2736 (44.3%), 46 (59.7%)), and stress (702 (79.6%), 5711 (86.4%), 74 (90.2%)) were highest among respondents who self-identified as “other gender” followed by female-identified and then male-identified, respectively. There were statistically significant differences between gender groups for mean scores on GAD-7 (F (2, 6929) = 18.02, p < 0.001), PHQ-9 (F (2, 191.4) = 11.17, p < 0.001), and PSS (F (2, 204.6) = 21.13, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Gender identity differences exist in terms of the prevalence and severity of anxiety, depressive, and stress symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. This finding highlights the importance of incorporating self-identified gender identity in medical research, clinical practice, and policy.

Highlights

A cross-sectional survey was used to explore the impact of gender identity on the perceived stress, depression, and anxiety symptom scores among the individuals who subscribed to the Text4Hope program
A total of 44,992 individuals subscribed to Text4Hope in the first 6 weeks, and 8267 of them responded to the online survey invitation, yielding a response rate of 19.4%
This study’s results demonstrate variation among gender identity for the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, which aligns with findings from previous studies on past pandemics

Summary

Introduction

To 23 December 2021, there had been 276,436,619 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 5,374,744 deaths, while in Canada estimates accounted for 1,907,771 cases of COVID-19 and 30,085 deaths (WHO 2020) This cross-sectional study explored variation of the prevalence of perceived stress, depression and anxiety among different self-identified gender identity groups in the Canadian population during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions: Gender identity differences exist in terms of the prevalence and severity of anxiety, depressive, and stress symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. This finding highlights the importance of incorporating self-identified gender identity in medical research, clinical practice, and policy

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion