Abstract
Aim: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has abruptly changed the life of millions as travel and social contacts have been severely restricted. We assessed the psychological impact of COVID-19 on adults and children, with special attention to health care workers (HCWs).Methods: A self-rated online survey, including the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) for adults and the Children Revised Impact of Event Scale-Revised-13 items (CRIES-13) for their 8–18-year-old offspring, was conducted in Italy on March 20–26, 2020. Linear mixed-effects models were applied to the data, accounting for age, sex, education, and other demographic characteristics.Results: Data were available from 2,419 adults (78.4% females, mean age 38.1 ± SD 13.1 years; 15.7% HCW) and 786 children (50.1% male, mean age 12.3 ± 3.2 years). Median (IQR) IES-R score was 30.0 (21.0–40.0), corresponding to mild psychological impact, with 33.2% reporting severe psychological impact. IES-R was lower in HCWs (29.0) than non-HCWs (31.0), but HCWs directly involved in COVID-19 care had higher scores [33.0 (26.0–43.2)] than uninvolved HCWs [28.0 (19.0–36.0)]. Median CRIES-13 score was [21.0 (11.0–32.0)], with 30.9% of the children at high risk for post-traumatic stress disorder. Parent and child scores were correlated.Conclusions: Up to 30% of adult and children in the pandemic area are at high risk for post-traumatic stress disturbances. The risk is greater for HCWs directly involved in COVID-19 care and for their children.
Highlights
On the 11th of March 2020, the WHO reported that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had become a pandemic, involving 114 countries and more than 118,000 cases
On March 10th, in an attempt to contain the spreading of the infection, the Italian government closed all non-essential businesses and services, Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic including schools, universities, parks, theaters, and museums, and imposed severe limitations on the freedom to move and interact socially
We evaluated the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a sample of adults and their children, with special attention to health care workers (HCWs), during the first 2 weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy, at time when the entire country was on general lockdown
Summary
On the 11th of March 2020, the WHO reported that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had become a pandemic, involving 114 countries and more than 118,000 cases. As previously happened in Wuhan, during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, HCWs faced a stressful situation, with high risk of infection, inadequate access to protective devices, and social isolation, with consequent emergence of anxiety and depressive symptoms [4,5,6,7]. These mental health problems can affect HCWs’ attention, understanding, and decision-making ability, and have lasting consequences for their well-being. A study conducted by Wang and colleagues 2 weeks into the China’s outbreak of COVID-19 found that about half of the surveyed HCWs reported moderate to severe psychological impact, with about one-third reporting moderate to severe anxiety symptoms [10]
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