ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 outbreak and related confinement have highly impacted psychological health among children and adolescents. This study aimed to explore the potential risk factors for depression among primary and middle school students and provide advices for psychological interventions during the outbreaks. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among 18 primary and middle school students via quota sampling in Beijing during March 2020. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was used to assess depression. Differences between characteristics and depression were examined by chi-square tests. Multivariate logistic regression was used to reveal the potential risk factors for depression. A total of 7377 participants were included. The proportion of depression was 29.7%. Students in rural areas, with higher school categories, in graduating grades, with poor or excessive sleep duration, and without daily exercise were associated with a higher proportion of depression. Furthermore, students with a higher knowledge performance of COVID-19 showed a lower proportion of depression (odds ratio [OR] = 0.900, 95% confidence intervals [95% CI]: 0.888-0.913). Students who worried about academic performance (OR = 1.919, 95% CI: 1.718-2.144) or COVID-19 infection (OR = 1.450, 95% CI: 1.268-1.658) exhibited a high proportion of depression. The proportion of depression among primary and middle school students was negatively associated with the knowledge score and positively associated with their worry. Our findings suggest that psychological intervention might be more necessary for students with specific characteristics.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The outbreak of COVID-19 poses a challenge to psychological resilience. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of anxiety and identify risk and protective factors associated with the presence of anxiety symptoms in the face of COVID-19 among adults. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in adults from March 2nd to March 16th 2020. The self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) was used to measure the status of anxiety. Unconditional multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify the factors associated with anxiety. RESULTS: Among the 7144 respondents, 9.3% met the criteria for anxiety risk based on the SAS. Symptoms of anxiety were more prevalent among farmer (OR=1.43, 95%CI: 1.03-1.99), respondents lived in urban out of Beijing during the COVID-19 outbreak (OR=1.73, 95%CI: 1.14-2.63), and slept less than six hours per day (OR=2.64, 95%CI: 1.96-3.57). Compared to participants who didn't exercise, a lower risk of anxiety was observed in those exercised 30-60 minutes/day (OR=0.62, 95%CI: 0.41-0.94) and more than 60 minutes/day (OR=0.57, 95%CI: 0.37-0.88). And compared with participants whose knowledge and perceptions of COVID-9 scores in lower quartile, the OR (95%CI) for the second, third and upper quartile were 0.58 (0.46, 0.73), 0.48 (0.37, 0.61) and 0.42(0.33, 0.52), respectively. LIMITATIONS: No diagnostic interview for mental disorders was administered in the original studies limiting analysis of sensitivity and specificity of the Swahili PHQ-9. CONCLUSION: There was a high level of anxiety in the face of COVID-19 among adults. The results point to characteristics of adults in particular need for attention to anxiety and suggest possible targets for intervention such as strengthening of physical activity and knowledge and perceptions of COVID-19.