Postpartum suicidal ideation in Austria and Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic (preprint)

Introduction: Postpartum suicidal ideation is a significant concern, as it poses a risk for future suicide attempts, particularly in high income countries, where suicide ranks among the leading causes of death for postpartum mothers. The literature indicates a global average prevalence of postpartum suicidal ideation of approximately 7%, but for Austria and Germany there are few studies on this subject. Methods: In a web-based survey for Austrian and German mothers of children born during the COVID-19 pandemic, several measures of mental health (depression, stress), social support and other parenting and pandemic-related questions were assessed in 1964 mothers. Based on the answers for the last item of the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, the suicidality risk and the presence or absence of suicidal ideation were computed. Furthermore, possible risk or protective factors for suicidality were investigated. Results: The prevalence of suicidal ideation was 7.3%, which is in the range of the global prevalence reported in the literature, but two times higher than previous reports on German mothers. The three strongest risk factors for suicidal ideation were (i) high levels of stress (increased risk by 350%), (ii) a lack of perceived social support (increased risk by 265%), and (iii) a perceived negative effect of the pandemic on the relationship with the partner (increased risk by 223%). Not receiving help from family and friends, having a lower income, and feeling negatively impacted by the pandemic also significantly increased the risk of suicidal ideation. Discussion and conclusion: The results indicate a higher prevalence of suicidality than previously reported in German mothers, and confirm the risk factors previously associated with depression and suicidality. These risk and protective factors could be targets of social and public health policies, while the first step should be a general screening program for suicidality in this population group.

Sleep during COVID-19 lockdown: a cross-cultural pilot study (preprint)

Our study aimed to assess the change in the sleep patterns during the Coronavirus lockdown in five regions (Austria/Germany, Ukraine, Greece, Cuba and Brazil), using online surveys, translated in each language. Part of the cohort was collected directly during lockdown, to which retrospective cross-sectional data from and after lockdown (retrospective) questionnaires ware added. We investigated sleep times and sleep quality changes from before to during lockdown and found that, during lockdown, participants had (i) worse perceived sleep quality for those who reported to be worried by COVID-19, (ii) a shift of bedtimes to later hours during workdays, and (iii) a sleep loss on free days (resulting from more overall sleep during workdays), leading to (iv) a marked reduction of social jetlag across all cultures.For further analyses we then split the participants by job (system relevant or not) because it was assumed that the nature of the lockdown’s consequences is dependent upon system relevance. System relevant jobs were found to have earlier wake-up times as well as shorter total sleep times on workdays, leading to a higher social jetlag for people in system relevant jobs.Cultural differences revealed a general effect that participants from Greece and Ukraine had later bedtimes (on both work and free days) and wake-up times (on workdays) than Cuba, Brazil and Austria, irrespective of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.