Explaining the rise and fall of psychological distress during the COVID-19 crisis in the United States: Longitudinal evidence from the Understanding America Study
Explaining the rise and fall of psychological distress during the COVID-19 crisis in the United States: Longitudinal evidence from the Understanding America Study
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DOI：
10.1111/bjhp.12493
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发表时间：
2020-12-05
影响因子：
7.9
通讯作者：
Daly, Michael
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Robinson, Eric;Daly, Michael
研究显示，心理困扰在COVID-19大流行出现时迅速上升，然后随着美国放宽社会封锁限制而恢复至危机前水平。当前研究的目的是调查可能解释COVID-19危机最初几个月期间痛苦上升和下降的心理社会和行为因素。设计本研究分析了2020年3月至6月期间收集的六波全国代表性纵向数据，这些数据来自了解美国研究（UAS）。（N = 7，138，观察值= 34，125）。方法采用中介分析来确定COVID-19大流行期间的痛苦变化（PHQ-4）是否可由以下因素解释：感知的感染风险和死亡风险，感知的财务风险，因病毒而导致的生活方式改变，感知的与病毒有关的歧视，结果所有中介因素在解释抑郁变化方面发挥了作用，并共同解释了2020年3月10日至18日和4月1日至14日期间抑郁增加的70%和4月1日至14日至6月初期间抑郁下降的46.4%。健康风险感知的变化是最重要的，其次是生活方式的变化和与COVID-19相关的财务风险感知。结论本研究提供了基于人群的纵向证据，详细说明了COVID-19危机期间解释痛苦变化的中介因素。与病毒相关的健康风险可能在解释COVID-19大流行期间心理困扰水平的上升和下降方面发挥关键作用。
Objectives It has been shown that psychological distress rose rapidly as the COVID-19 pandemic emerged and then recovered to pre-crisis levels as social lockdown restrictions were eased in the United States. The aim of the current study was to investigate psychosocial and behavioural factors that may explain the rise and fall of distress during the initial months of the COVID-19 crisis.Design This study examined six waves of longitudinal nationally representative data from the Understanding America Study (UAS) collected between March and June 2020 (N = 7,138, observations = 34,125).Methods Mediation analysis was used to identify whether changes in distress (PHQ-4) during the COVID-19 pandemic were explained by the following factors: perceived infection risk and risk of death, perceived financial risks, lifestyle changes resulting from the virus, perceived discrimination related to the virus, and changes in substance use and employment status.Results All mediating factors played a role in explaining changes in distress and together accounted for 70% of the increase in distress between 10-18 March and 1-14 April and 46.4% of the decline in distress between 1-14 April and early June 2020. Changes in perceived health risks were most important in explaining changes in distress followed by changes in lifestyle and the perceived financial risks associated with COVID-19.Conclusions This study provides longitudinal population-based evidence detailing the mediating factors explaining changes in distress during the COVID-19 crisis. Perceived health risks associated with the virus may play a key role in explaining rising and falling levels of psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic.