ABSTRACT
Background: The development of depression and anxiety symptoms during long COVID may partly result from the biopsychosocial effects of COVID-19 that impact mental health, rather than from the infection alone. Aim: The present study examined the association of anxiety, depression, stress, and psychological distress levels with sociodemographic factors and symptom severity during and three months after the acute phase of COVID-19. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 119 participants with a positive SARS-CoV-2 qPCR test. Three months after the acute phase of infection, participants completed an online survey to collect clinical information and sociodemographic data, followed by completion of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scales. Results: During and after infection, fatigue was the most frequently reported symptom. After the acute phase of COVID-19, substantial numbers of participants presented moderate to severe psychological distress (28.5%), severe to extremely severe depression (26.05%), and severe to extremely severe stress (31.09%). Female patients presented higher stress scores than males, while individuals who reported having lost a loved one presented high psychological distress, anxiety, and depression. The presence of physical symptoms after COVID-19 and other factors such as being a woman, being married, having children, or living with someone who suffers from a disease increased vulnerability to depression, stress, and anxiety. Conclusions: There are psychological consequences for survivors of COVID-19 associated with sociodemographic factors. Clinical strategies are needed to provide mental health care for individuals with long COVID symptoms. © 2022 IACFS/ME.
ABSTRACT
Background: The development of depression and anxiety symptoms during long COVID may partly result from the biopsychosocial effects of COVID-19 that impact mental health, rather than from the infection alone. Aim(s): The present study examined the association of anxiety, depression, stress, and psychological distress levels with sociodemographic factors and symptom severity during and three months after the acute phase of COVID-19. Method(s): This cross-sectional study included 119 participants with a positive SARS-CoV-2 qPCR test. Three months after the acute phase of infection, participants completed an online survey to collect clinical information and sociodemographic data, followed by completion of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scales. Result(s): During and after infection, fatigue was the most frequently reported symptom. After the acute phase of COVID-19, substantial numbers of participants presented moderate to severe psychological distress (28.5%), severe to extremely severe depression (26.05%), and severe to extremely severe stress (31.09%). Female patients presented higher stress scores than males, while individuals who reported having lost a loved one presented high psychological distress, anxiety, and depression. The presence of physical symptoms after COVID-19 and other factors such as being a woman, being married, having children, or living with someone who suffers from a disease increased vulnerability to depression, stress, and anxiety. Conclusion(s): There are psychological consequences for survivors of COVID-19 associated with sociodemographic factors. Clinical strategies are needed to provide mental health care for individuals with long COVID symptoms. Copyright © 2022 IACFS/ME.
ABSTRACT
We analyze short-term media trust changes during the COVID-19 pandemic, their ideological drivers and consequences based on panel data in German-speaking Switzerland. We thereby differentiate trust in political information from different types of traditional and non-traditional media. COVID-19 serves as a natural experiment, in which citizens’ media trust at the outbreak of the crisis is compared with the same variables after the severe lockdown measures were lifted. Our data reveal that (1) media trust is consequential as it is associated with people’s willingness to follow Covid-19 regulations;(2) media trust changes during the pandemic, with trust levels for most media decreasing, with the exception of public service broadcasting;(3) trust losses are hardly connected to ideological divides in Switzerland. Our findings highlight that public service broadcasting plays an exceptional role in the fight against a pandemic and that contrary to the US, no partisan trust divide occurs.
ABSTRACT
??? In this work, we investigate the incorporation of evidence in a line of argument. We start from the SARS-CoV-2 socio-scientific issue, based on a news story about the creation of the virus in a laboratory. The goal was to describe the evolution of the line of argument undergone by four teachers during a biology class at a professionalizing master???s degree in Education in Biology. We analyzed the written arguments derived from a questionnaire at two different times. We used a six-level epistemic model that considers incorporation of data and theories into the conclusion about the veracity of the news. The results show that teachers did not incorporate data at the epistemic level associated with the virus primary structure at any time. Nevertheless, we found changes at the epistemic level associated with the tertiary and quaternary structure of the virus.