Connection between the COVID-19 pandemic, war trauma reminders, perceived stress, loneliness, and PTSD in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In order to gain a better understanding of what happens during the COVID-19 pandemic to those who were previously traumatized, this study investigated perceived stress and severity of PTSD symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in people who experienced the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was also examined how reminders of past trauma and loneliness instigated by the COVID-19 crisis relate to current stress and PTSD symptoms. The sample consisted of 123 participants (74.8% women). Participants responded to assessments of sociodemographic characteristics, exposure to COVID-related information, concerns over disease, severity of exposure to war, frequency and intensity of war trauma reminders, loneliness, stress, and severity of PTSD symptoms. Data was collected as part of [edited out for blind review] Global Survey. Results showed that in a population previously exposed to the effects of war, severity of PTSD symptoms was positively related to perceived stress, and loneliness during the pandemic significantly mediated this relationship. Intensity of exposure to war trauma reminders was associated with higher levels of PTSD symptom severity. Higher severity of PTSD symptoms was related to forced displacement during the war. Moreover, higher stress was related to increased concerns over disease. To conclude, those exposed to war may be more affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic and preventive measures that accompany it, while loneliness mediates the effects of PTSD and perceived stress in this population.

The effects of secondary stressors, social identity, and social support on perceived stress and resilience: Findings from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Primary stressors are direct outcomes of extreme events (e.g., viruses, floodwater) whereas secondary stressors stem from pre-disaster life circumstances and societal arrangements (e.g., illness, problematic pre-disaster policies) or from inefficient responses to the extreme event. Secondary stressors can cause significant long-term damage to people affected but are also tractable and amenable to change. In this study we explored the association between secondary stressors, social identity processes, social support, and perceived stress and resilience. Pre-registered analyses of data from the COVIDiSTRESS Global Survey Round II (N = 14,600; 43 countries) show that secondary stressors are positively associated with perceived stress and negatively associated with resilience, even when controlling for the effects of primary stressors. Being a woman or having lower socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with higher exposure to secondary stressors, higher perceived stress, and lower resilience. Importantly, social identification is positively associated with expected support and with increased resilience and lower perceived stress. However, neither gender, SES, or social identification moderated the relationship between secondary stressors and perceived stress and resilience. In conclusion, systemic reforms and the availability of social support are paramount to reducing the effects of secondary stressors.

How did the Covid-19 pandemic affect individuals with schizophrenia from Turkey?

BACKGROUND: Serious mental illness, including schizophrenia, have been shown to be associated with psychosocial vulnerabilities in the face of adverse events. While individuals with schizophrenia might undergo many psychosocial difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, they might also not be affected, or report increased subjective well-being. This suggests that it is important to understand diverse impacts and further understand the unique experiences. METHODS: To capture how the pandemic affected them and how they handled the challenges if there were any in the initial and more recent phases of the pandemic, 18 individuals with schizophrenia living in Turkey were interviewed. RESULTS: Thematic analysis of interviews resulted in four superordinate themes for both time points. Three themes related to the impact of the pandemic (i.e. burdens of COVID-19, positive impacts of COVID-19, no impact of COVID-19) indicated that they shared a number of challenges with the general population. Themes about the positive impacts and no impact also replicated the previous findings in this clinical population. One last theme named as facilitators of coping implied that the participants tried to deal with the burdens by using available resources, adapt to the changes in their daily living, and benefit from social interaction and support. CONCLUSIONS: To conclude, people with schizophrenia seem to be coping with challenges posed by the pandemic with diverse strategies and they seem to even experience psychological growth alongside with negative impacts. The individualized needs and potential for growth have pivotal implications for the management of the illness during the pandemic.

Correction to: Connection between the COVID-19 pandemic, war trauma reminders, perceived stress, loneliness, and PTSD in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-02407-x.].

Big Five traits predict stress and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence for the role of neuroticism.

The rapid outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has affected citizens' daily lives in an unprecedented way. To curb the spread of the pandemic, governments have taken numerous measures such as social distancing and quarantine, which may be associated with psychological consequences, namely stress and loneliness globally. To understand differential associations of personality traits with psychological consequences of COVID-19, we utilize data from a sample of 99,217 individuals from 41 countries collected as part of the COVIDiSTRESS Global Survey. Data were analyzed using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel regression models. Findings showed that while some of the associations were rather weak, Big Five personality traits were significantly associated with perceived stress and loneliness during the pandemic. Our study illustrates that neuroticism especially can be a vulnerability factor for stress and loneliness in times of crisis and can contribute to detection of at-risk individuals and optimization of psychological treatments during or after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Post-traumatic stress, growth, and depreciation during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from Turkey.

Background: A worldwide health threat, the COVID-19 pandemic, has highlighted the need to focus on its mental health impact. However, literature on mental health effects including post-traumatic consequences of the pandemic is scarce. Objective: The current study examined post-traumatic stress (PTS), growth (PTG), and depreciation (PTD) during the pandemic, and explored factors associated with these mental health outcomes in an adult community sample from Turkey. Method: A total of 685 participants responded to an online survey that gathered data on sociodemographic characteristics, financial loss during the pandemic, time spent at home and frequency of social media use, perception of COVID-related risks, stress, and event-related rumination. Data analysis included correlation and regression analyses. Results: Results showed that PTS, PTG, and PTD were positively correlated with each other. Younger age and being single were associated with higher PTS and PTD, and lower education levels predicted all three outcomes. Experiencing financial loss during the pandemic, more frequent social media use to follow COVID-related news and posts, and longer time spent at home during the pandemic were associated with higher PTS. Anticipating financial risks during the pandemic were associated with all outcomes while anticipating health-related risks due to COVID-19 and perceived stress levels predicted PTS and PTD but not PTG. Both intrusive and deliberate rumination were associated with higher levels of PTS and PTD, and PTG was predicted solely by deliberate rumination. Moreover, provisional PTSD was indicated in 47.9% of the participants. Membership to the provisional PTSD group was predicted by age, level of education, time spent on social media, anticipating COVID-19-related health risks, perceived stress, and event-related rumination. Conclusions: The current study provides empirical evidence for the short-term post-traumatic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and related factors, which can help to guide mental health services during the pandemic.

Antecedentes: La pandemia del COVID-19, una amenaza de salud mundial, ha puesto de relieve la necesidad de centrarse en su impacto en la salud mental. Sin embargo, la literatura relacionada con los efectos en la salud mental, incluidas las consecuencias postraumáticas de la pandemia, es escasa.Objetivo: Este estudio examino el estrés postraumático (PTS por sus siglas en inglés), crecimiento (PTG por sus siglas en inglés) y depreciación (PTD por sus siglas en inglés) durante la pandemia y exploró los factores asociados con estos resultados en salud mental en una muestra de una comunidad adulta de Turquía.Método: Un total de 685 participantes respondieron a una encuesta en línea que reunió características sociodemográficas, pérdidas económicas durante la pandemia, tiempo en el hogar y frecuencia del uso de redes sociales, percepción de riesgos relacionados con COVID-19, estrés y rumiación de eventos relacionados. El análisis de datos incluyó análisis de correlación y regresión.Resultados: Los resultaros mostraron que PTS, PTG y PTD se correlacionaron positivamente entre sí. Menor edad y la soltería se asociaron con más altos PTS y PTD, y menor nivel de educación predijo los tres resultados. Experimentar pérdidas económicas durante la pandemia, un uso de redes sociales más frecuente para seguir las noticias y publicaciones relacionadas con COVID y el pasar más tiempo en el hogar durante la pandemia estuvieron asociados con PTS más altos. La anticipación de los riesgos económicos durante la pandemia estuvo asociada con todos los resultados, mientras que anticiparse a los riesgos relacionados con la salud debido a COVID-19 y los niveles de estrés percibidos predijeron PTS y PTD pero no PTG. Tanto la rumiación deliberada como intrusiva estuvieron asociadas con niveles más altos de PTS y PTD y el PTG se predijo únicamente por rumiación deliberada. Además, TEPT provisorio se indicó en un 47,9% de los participantes. La pertenencia al grupo provisorio de TEPT se predijo por la edad, nivel de educación, tiempo dedicado a las redes sociales, la anticipación de los riesgos en salud relacionados con COVID-19, estrés percibido y rumiación relacionada con esos eventos.Conclusiones: El presente estudio proporciona evidencia empírica para los efectos postraumáticos a corto plazo de la pandemia COVID-19 y sus factores relacionados, que pueden ayudar a orientar los servicios de salud mental durante la pandemia.

Who is the Most Stressed During the COVID-19 Pandemic? Data From 26 Countries and Areas.

BACKGROUND: To limit the rapid spread of COVID-19, countries have asked their citizens to stay at home. As a result, demographic and cultural factors related to home life have become especially relevant to predict population well-being during isolation. This pre-registered worldwide study analyses the relationship between the number of adults and children in a household, marital status, age, gender, education level, COVID-19 severity, individualism-collectivism, and perceived stress. METHODS: We used the COVIDiSTRESS Global Survey data of 53,524 online participants from 26 countries and areas. The data were collected between 30 March and 6 April 2020. RESULTS: Higher levels of stress were associated with younger age, being a woman, lower level of education, being single, staying with more children, and living in a country or area with a more severe COVID-19 situation. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that certain people may be more susceptible to experience elevated levels of stress. Our findings highlight the need for public health to be attentive to both the physical and the psychological well-being of these groups.