Highlights sociodemographic and COVID-19 related predictors were related to immediate mental health consequences in Germany. greater reduction of social contacts and perceived changes in everyday life were related to psychopathological symptoms. Subjectively perceived, but not officially announced stay-at-home orders are associated with mental health impairments. results do not support that public health measures per se are associated with mental health problems.

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Background The role of maternal personality and perceived social support for peripartum changes in psychopathological symptoms remains unresolved. Methods In a regional-epidemiological sample of 306 women, depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms were assessed three times during pregnancy and three times after delivery with the 21-item version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. In pregnancy, the Big Five personality traits and perceived social support were assessed with the short version of the Big Five Inventory and the Social Support Questionnaire. Results Multilevel analyses revealed that depressive (b =-0.055) and stress (b =-0.047) symptoms decreased from early to late pregnancy. After delivery, anxiety symptoms were lower (two months postpartum: b =-0.193; four/ 16 months postpartum: b =-0.274), but stress symptoms were higher (two months postpartum: b = 0.468; four/ 16 months postpartum: b = 0.320) than during pregnancy. Across the peripartum period, more conscientious and more extraverted women experienced lower depressive and stress symptoms (b =-0.147 to-0.177), and more emotionally stable women experienced lower depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms (b =-0.294 to-0.415). More emotionally stable women more strongly increased in anxiety during pregnancy (b = 0.019), and more extraverted women less strongly increased in depression after delivery (b =-0.010). Moreover, peripartum depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms were lower in women with higher perceived social support (b =-0.225 to-0.308).

We examined how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of 6,957 students from Germany, assessed between March 16 and April 21, 2020, when COVID-19 became a serious health concern in Germany, varied by personality. The Big Five personality traits—openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and emotional stability—were assessed with the International Personality Item Pool. Students were asked whether they kept up with the COVID-19 news, followed specific governmental rules and recommendations (washing hands more, using public transport less, avoiding larger crowds, and restricting meetings with family/friends), hoarded supplies, felt less secure in public places, or expected financial losses due to the crisis. Logistic regressions adjusted for sociodemographic factors and cognitive abilities revealed that more conscientious (odds ratio (OR) = 1.133) and more agreeable (OR = 1.285) students kept up with the news more. More agreeable students were also more likely to wash their hands more often/intensively (OR = 1.262), use public transport less (OR = 1.182), avoid crowds (OR = 1.320), and restrict meetings with family/friends (OR = 1.410). Other Big Five traits were not associated with these behaviors, except that less emotionally stable individuals tended to use public transport less often (OR = 1.162). Additionally, less emotionally stable students, in particular, more often bought more supplies than usual (OR = 1.322), felt insecure in public spaces (OR = 1.597), and expected financial losses (OR = 1.270). Moreover, less open (OR = 0.876) and more conscientious (OR = 1.235) students more often felt insecure in public spaces, and more extraverted individuals more often expected financial losses (OR = 1.180). Taken together, our findings suggest that more agreeable individuals, in particular, tend to comply with governmental rules and recommendations to fight COVID-19, whereas less emotionally stable individuals, in particular, tend to hoard supplies, feel insecure, and fear financial losses due to the crisis.