The mental health of the French facing the Covid-19 crisis: prevalence, evolution and determinants of anxiety disorders during the first two weeks of lockdown (CoviPrev study, 23-25 March and 30 March-1 April, 2020)

ABSTRACT

Introduction - The growing number of cases and deaths due to Covid-19 has prompted the lockdown of the French population from 17th March 2020. This epidemic crisis and containment conditions are likely to impact the mental health of the population. Sant.. publique France has thus set up a behavioural and psychological surveillance with one of the objectives being to assess the state of the mental health of the population, identify its determinants and monitor its evolution. Methods - Samples of the general population are issued from an access panel of the BVA polling institute. For each wave, an independent sample of 2,000 people aged 18 and over residing in metropolitan France are interviewed via Internet. The data presented here are from the first two waves that took place from March 23 to 25 and March 30 to April 1, 2020. Results - In wave 1, the prevalence of anxiety was 26.7%, i.e. twice the rate observed in the general population (13.5% in 2017). In wave 2, the prevalence of anxiety had significantly decreased to 21.5%. Higher risks for anxiety are associated with 1/Socio-demographic characteristics being a woman, being a parent of children aged 16 years or younger, declaring a difficult financial situation;2/Living conditions related to the epidemic situation working from home and having a friend or relative who has been ill or has had symptoms of Covid-19;3/Knowledge, attitudes and practices about Covid-19 seeing Covid-19 as a serious disease and feeling vulnerable to the disease. Conversely, having a good understanding of the disease transmission route, respecting containment measures, feeling able to adopt protective measures and having confidence in the government action reduce the risk of having anxiety. Moreover, the decrease in anxiety between the two waves has not been observed in people who report a difficult financial situation, in the least advantaged socio-professional categories, or in people living in promiscuity, thus reflecting the widening gap of health inequalities during the lockdown. Conclusions - These first results helped strengthen and adjust the response for mental health promotion and prevent the development of psychological disorders. They also highlight the need to protect and support the most vulnerable households. Finally, they suggest a protective effect of the lockdown on anxiety and question a possible upward trend of anxiety level after the lockdown.