ABSTRACT
Objectives@#The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had various effects on mankind, especially children and adolescents.Because children and adolescents spend a lot of time at school, COVID-19 has had a great impact on school mental health. In this study, we investigated the effect of prolonged COVID-19 on school mental health. @*Methods@#We prepared self-report questionnaires for depression (Children’s Depression Inventory, CDI), anxiety (Korean version of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children; Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, GAD-7), and post-traumatic stress (Primary Care Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, PC-PTSD) for administering to students aged between 7 and 18 years, recruited by a COVID-19 psychological prevention support group in the Gwangmyeong Mental Health Welfare Center for 2 years, in 2020 and 2021. @*Results@#For children aged 7–12 years, there was no significant difference between the years 2020 and 2021 in the assessment of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. Conversely, for adolescents aged 13–18 years, there was a significant increase in the scale scores (CDI, PC-PTSD, and GAD-7). @*Conclusion@#Prolonged COVID-19 might have had a significant impact on the mental health of adolescents who spent a lot of time at school. When comparing the years 2020 and 2021, middle and high school students were more affected by COVID-19 than elementary school students.
ABSTRACT
Background@#This study aimed to evaluate traumatic stress and mental health problems associated with the prolonged coronavirus disease pandemic and to determine the differences across different age groups. @*Methods@#A total of 1,151 individuals who visited Gwangmyeong City Mental Health Welfare Center, South Korea, or accessed the website from September 1 to December 31, 2020, were included in the study. Mental health problems such as traumatic stress (Primary Care Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Screen for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder-5); depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Children's Depression Inventory); anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 and Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children); suicide risk (P4 Screener); and demographic information were evaluated. The participants were divided into three groups based on age group: children and adolescents, adults, and the elderly. @*Results@#The results showed that 24.7%, 20.9%, 16.8%, and 20.5% of the participants were at high-risk for traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and suicide, respectively. The difference in the proportion of high-risk groups by age of all participants was significant for traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and suicide risk. In particular, the percentage of high-risk groups in all areas was the highest in the adult group. Also, in most areas, the ratio of the high-risk groups for children and adolescent group was the lowest, but the suicide risk-related ratio was not (adolescent group: 20.9%, adult group: 25%, elderly group 9.3%). @*Conclusion@#These results suggest that there is a need for continued interest in the mental health of the general population even after the initial period of coronavirus disease.Additionally, this study may be helpful when considering the resilience or risk factors of mental health in a prolonged disaster situation.
ABSTRACT
Objectives@#：The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak is a global medical crisis imposing particular burden on public sector employees. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychiatric distress among public sector workers amid the COVID-19 pandemic. @*Methods@#：We conducted a cross-sectional study with 531 public sector workers in Gwangmyung city who completed Korean versions of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Impact of Event Scale-Revised-Korean (IES-R-K). @*Results@#：The results revealed more than moderate levels of stress (85.2%), depressive symptoms (22.2%), and posttraumatic stress symptoms (38.8%). PSS total score was significantly correlated with PHQ-9, IES-R-K total scores as well as IES-R-K subscale scores. Total scores on the PSS, PHQ-9, and IES-R-K were all inversely correlated with age. @*Conclusions@#：COVID-19-related workers experience considerable stress and depressive symptoms, with self-rated stress correlating significantly with depression scores. Age may serve as a protective factor against oc-cupational stress and burnout. These findings highlight the need for adequate psychiatric screening and interven-tion for public sector workers.