Abstract
BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has led to dramatic social and economic changes in daily life. First studies report an impact on mental health of the general population showing increased levels of anxiety, stress and depression. In this study, we compared the impact of the pandemic on two culturally and economically similar European countries: the UK and Germany.MethodsParticipants (UK = 241, German = 541) completed an online-survey assessing COVID-19 exposure, impact on financial situation and work, substance and media consumption, mental health using the Symptom-Check-List-27 (SCL-27) and the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire.ResultsWe found distinct differences between the two countries. UK responders reported a stronger direct impact on health, financial situation and families. UK responders had higher clinical scores on the SCL-27, and higher prevalence. Interestingly, German responders were less hopeful for an end of the pandemic and more concerned about their life-stability.ConclusionAs 25% of both German and UK responders reported a subjective worsening of the general psychological symptoms and 20–50% of German and UK responders reached the clinical cut-off for depressive and dysthymic symptoms as well as anxieties, it specifically shows the need for tailored intervention systems to support large proportions of the general public.
Highlights
The world health organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-CoV-2 (COVID-19) a pandemic on March 11, 2020 (WHOMedia-Briefing) [1]
We were interesting in comparing the mental health impact of the pandemic on the general population of the UK and Germany, using an online survey investigating the impact on life circumstances and assessing mental health with two different psychological questionnaires (Symptom Check List, SCL-27; Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire, SPQ)
We supplemented the general mental health questionnaire SCL-27 with the SPQ, as we reasoned that a potential increase in anxiety and distress could be accompanied by an increase in psychotic-like experiences [17] that could be captured in the SPQ
Summary
The world health organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) a pandemic on March 11, 2020 (WHOMedia-Briefing) [1]. [13,14,15]) confirm increased levels of stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, sleep disorders as well as an increase in suicidal ideation, etc., in the current pandemic. Balmford and colleagues (2020) used epidemiological models to estimate the “price of life” that various nations were willing to pay in order to protect their people According to their estimation the German government was prepared to pay a factor of 10 more per life than the UK, in April 2020. First studies report an impact on mental health of the general population showing increased levels of anxiety, stress and depression. We compared the impact of the pandemic on two culturally and economically similar European countries: the UK and Germany
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