Abstract
BackgroundWith the spread of COVID-19, the deterioration of public mental health has become a major global and social problem.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to elucidate the relationship between the 3 mental health problems associated with COVID-19, that is, perceived stress, severe mental distress, and anxiety symptoms, and the various demographic factors, including occupation.MethodsA nationwide web-based questionnaire survey was conducted in Japan from August 4 to 31, 2020. In addition to sociodemographic data, the degrees of perceived stress, severe mental distress, and anxiety symptoms associated with COVID-19 were measured. After performing a descriptive statistical analysis, factors related to stress, severe mental distress, and anxiety symptoms were analyzed using logistic regression analysis.ResultsA total of 8203 respondents submitted survey responses, among whom 34.9% (2861/8203) felt intense stress associated with COVID-19, 17.1% (1403/8203) were depressed, and 13.5% (1110/8203) had severe anxiety symptoms. The logistic regression analysis showed that each of the 3 mental health problems were prevalent in females, nonbinary gender, people in their 50s, 60s and older, respondents who visited psychiatrists, and those currently in psychiatric care. Severe mental distress and anxiety symptoms were associated with the number of effective lifestyle coping strategies during the lockdown period. Severe mental distress was only prevalent in teenagers and respondents in their 20s, as students tended to develop stress and severe mental distress. With regard to occupation, working in nursing care and welfare, education and research, and medical and health sectors was associated with stress; however, working in these occupations was not associated with severe mental distress and anxiety symptoms. Unemployment was associated with severe mental distress and anxiety symptoms. All 3 mental health problems were prevalent in part-time workers and those working in entertainment and arts sectors.ConclusionsGender, age, occupation, history of psychiatric visits, and stress coping mechanisms were associated with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, but their associations with stress, severe mental distress, and anxiety symptoms differed. In addition, the actual state of mental health varied according to the respondents’ occupation. It is necessary to consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health not only at the individual level but also at the occupational level.
Highlights
The global pandemic of the novel COVID-19 has continued since the unexplained advent of the pneumonia virus in Wuhan, China in December 2019 [1]
Gender, age, occupation, history of psychiatric visits, and stress coping mechanisms were associated with mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, but their associations with stress, severe mental distress, and anxiety symptoms differed
34.9% (2861/8203) of the respondents reported that they had been very stressed about COVID-19 over the previous month
Summary
The global pandemic of the novel COVID-19 has continued since the unexplained advent of the pneumonia virus in Wuhan, China in December 2019 [1]. COVID-19 causes physical frailty and gives rise to mental health problems [5]. Depression and anxiety have been reported to have increased among the public during the pandemic [6,7]. Aside from anxiety regarding the disease, the policies employed by many countries to stop the spread of the infection (eg, quarantine, social distancing, isolation of infected people) have affected people’s mental health [8,9]. With the spread of COVID-19, the deterioration of public mental health has become a major global and social problem
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