"The Community Helped Me:" Community Cohesion and Environmental Concerns in Personal Assessments of Post-Disaster Recovery

A multilevel approach to social support as a determinant of mental health during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has detrimentally affected the mental health of lower income communities. We sought to investigate the relationship among multilevel social support, specifically individual-, network-, and neighborhood-level social supports, COVID-19-related stressors, and probable diagnoses of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress (PTS), within a racially diverse and predominantly low-socioeconomic status population. We used multiple logistic regressions to assess the odds of diagnosis for high versus low social support and stressor levels. Participants who endorsed high levels of stress had significantly higher odds of probable diagnoses. Participants who endorsed low individual-level social support had higher odds of probable depression and anxiety. Those who endorsed low neighborhood-level social support had higher odds of probable depression and probable PTS. Network-level social support was not significantly associated with the health indicators of interest. Results indicate the importance of both individual- and neighborhood-level support to protect mental health during COVID-19.

Community cohesion during the first peak of the COVID-19 pandemic: A social antidote to health anxiety and stress

Social support gained through community ties has been pivotal in dealing with stressful events. A cross-sectional community sample (N = 2,329) was gathered to assess community cohesion buffering against heath anxiety and perceived stress during the first peak of the pandemic in the UK, using structural equation modeling analyses. Community cohesion acted as a protective mechanism against both health anxiety and stress during the first national lockdown. A strong positive association was also found between health anxiety and stress. Stress and health anxiety scores peaked in the first weeks of the imposed quarantine; as the lockdown was extended, participants reported lower stress, health anxiety and community cohesion scores. The reduction of community cohesion scores was greater for those younger than 45 while the positive association between stress and health anxiety was stronger among males during the lockdown. While community cohesion effects against health anxiety were enhanced for females, community's buffering against stress were greater for males. Strengthening citizens' psychological sense of community through the publicization and support of local initiatives and mutual-aid groups and utilizing methodically green (and blue) spaces to boost neighborhood attraction might be viable strategies within which stress and health anxiety can be suppressed. Conversely, allowing community, regional and national cracks to deepen can exacerbate the impact of stressful events experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.