International Prevalence and Correlates of Psychological Stress during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This study reports perceived stress and associated sociodemographic factors from an international sample of adults, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10) along with socio-demographic questions were conducted between 8 April 2020 and 11 May 2020. The survey was translated from English into five languages. Recruitment was conducted worldwide using social media. A total of 1685 survey responses were collected across 57 countries with eleven countries (≥30 responses/country) included in the sub-analyses. Overall, the mean PSS-10 score was 19.08 (SD = 7.17), reflecting moderate stress compared to previously reported norms. Female gender was associated with a higher PSS score (3.03, p < 0.05) as well as four-year degree holders (3.29, p < 0.05), while adults over 75 years (−7.46, p < 0.05) had lower PSS scores. Personal care composite score (including hours of sleep, exercise, and meditation) was associated with lower PSS scores (−0.39, p < 0.01). Increases in personal care and changes in work expectations were associated with lower PSS scores (−1.30 (p < 0.05) and −0.38 (p < 0.01), respectively). Lower total PSS scores were reported in Germany (−4.82, p < 0.01) compared to the global response sample mean. This information, collected during the initial period of global mitigation orders, provides insight into potential mental health risks and protective factors during crises.

Precautionary Behavior and Depression in Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Online Cross-Sectional Study in Hubei, China

“…These findings are consistent with previous studies, where older adults with these characteristics may experience greater fear of being infected or dying themselves, leading to higher depression levels [32,37,38]. In line with previous evidence in Chinese adolescents and adults, the findings showed that older adults who had higher education levels and higher household income might be less influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, indicating a comparative lower depression level [5,22]. The discrepancy with previous evi-dence occurred in the indicator of occupational status [23,24], where no significant difference was found in the current study.…”

“…Additionally, the demographic and behavioral factors identified in the present study only explained 15% of the variance of depression levels, so other factors need to be investigated in future studies. In addition, the depression levels did not significantly differ in gender, whereas other studies have found a prominent role for the gender variable in the psychological responses towards the pandemic [21,22]. This point deserves further investigation.…”

“…First, given the urgency of the research needed on the COVID-19 pandemic and the limited resources available, we have to apply an online cross-sectional approach using snowball sampling, so the participants may vary in relation to the actual patterns of the general elderly population (e.g., in the illiterate or semiilliterate samples). Moreover, all the variables were measured by self-reported scales, which might lead to recall bias, self-perception bias, and social desirability effects [22,40]. However, the bias has been found to be lower in anonymous online surveys than in telephone or face-to-face paper surveys [15,41].…”

“…Socioeconomic status (SES) indicators, including education level, employment status, and household income, have been shown to be important predictors for precautionary behaviors and depression levels in the general population, respectively [17][18][19][20][21][22]. For instance, evidence has indicated a significantly positive association of education level and household income with the engagement of COVID-19 precautionary behaviors [15,19].…”

The Concept of Advanced Multi-Sensor Monitoring of Human Stress

“…The downside is that it tends to get worse and no one is completely resistant to stress. An increasing number of people exposed to stress and the contraindications associated with stress show us that there is a need for equipment and methodology that would help detect stress and fluctuations in mental health and help reduce them [ 19 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. The stress is affecting also the economy, and U.S. employers are spending health care and working days at $300 billion a year.…”