Adaptive function and correlates of anxiety during a pandemic

The association of severe COVID anxiety with poor social functioning, quality of life, and protective behaviours among adults in United Kingdom: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Anxiety about COVID-19 is common. For most people this is an appropriate response to the loss of livelihoods and loved-ones, disruptions to social networks, and uncertainty about the future. However, for others these anxieties relate to contracting the virus itself, a phenomenon termed COVID anxiety. Little is known about the characteristics of people with severe COVID anxiety or the impact it has on their daily lives.

METHODS

We conducted a two-phase cross-sectional survey of people aged 18 or over who were living in United Kingdom, self-identified as anxious about COVID-19, and had a score of ≥9 on the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale. We recruited participants nationally through online adverts and locally via primary care services in London. Data on demographic and clinical factors were used in multiple regression modelling to examine the greatest contributors to functional impairment, poor health-related quality of life and protective behaviours in this sample of individuals with severe COVID anxiety.

RESULTS

We recruited 306 people with severe COVID anxiety between January and September 2021. Most were female (n = 246, 81.2%); they had a median age of 41 (range = 18-83). The majority of participants also had generalised anxiety (n = 270, 91.5%), depression (n = 247, 85.5%), and a quarter (n = 79, 26.3%) reported a physical health condition which put them at increased risk of hospitalisation with COVID-19. Half had severe social dysfunction (n = 151, 52.4%). One in ten reported never leaving their home, one in three washed all items brought into their house, one in five washed their hands constantly, and one in five of those with children reported not sending them to school because of fears of COVID-19. Increasing co-morbid depressive symptoms best explained functional impairment and poor quality of life after controlling for other factors.

CONCLUSIONS

This study highlights the high degree of co-occuring mental health problems, and the extent of functional impairment and poor health-related quality of life among people with severe COVID anxiety. Further research is needed to establish the course of severe COVID anxiety as the pandemic progresses, and steps that can be taken to support people who experience this distress.

Changes in Adolescent Mental and Somatic Health Complaints Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Three-Wave Prospective Longitudinal Study

PURPOSE

Measures taken to limit the spread of the COVID-19 may have had unintended consequences for the mental and somatic health of children and adolescents.

METHODS

A nationwide three-wave survey in a representative sample of 12-16 year olds in Norway, with baseline data collected in January 2019 (n = 9,240; 49% girls) and follow-ups in June 2020 (n = 3,564; 49% girls) and June 2021 (n = 3,540; 47% girls). Linear mixed-effects models were used to estimate change and identify predictors thereof in mental and somatic health complaints.

RESULTS

Following an initial stable trend from before the pandemic to the early phase, both mental health problems (predicted value at T1 .56 [CI .55, .58], T1-T2 change -.04 [CI -.07, -.02], T2-T3 change .12 [CI .09, .14]) and somatic health complaints (predicted value at T1 .59 [95% CI .58, .61], T1-T2 difference -.09 [95% CI -.11, -.65], T2-T3 difference .18 [95% CI .15, .21]) increased significantly 15 months into the pandemic, when controlling for age in the models. When compared to boys, girls had a significantly more pronounced increase in mental health problems and somatic health; loneliness in the early stages of the pandemic significantly predicted health complaints one year later, both mental and somatic complaints.

DISCUSSION

Our findings suggest that the prolonged pandemic situation and the related societal restrictions have had an impact on adolescent health in general and on the health of girls in particular. The rise in mental and somatic health complaints can in part be attributed to an increase in loneliness.