Mental health status and risk factors during Covid-19 pandemic in the Croatia’s adult population

Abstract

Background : The Covid-19 pandemic is associated with adverse mental health outcomes for people worldwide. Objective : The study aimed to assess mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic and the key risk factors from the human ecology perspective in Croatia’s adult population. Method : An online panel survey with 1,201 adult participants (50.1% women) was done with a nationally representative sample in terms of gender, age, and country region four months after the nation lockdown began and two months after most of the restrictions were lifted. Indicators of mental health included symptoms of adjustment disorder (ADNM-8); depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS-21); symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PC-PTSD-5); and well-being (WHO-5). Results : In the entire sample, 9.8% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.9%, 14.0%) of the participants were at risk of adjustment disorder, 7.7% (95% CI: 6.7%, 11.9%) were at risk of depression disorder, and 7.8% (95% CI: 5.3%, 10.3%) were at risk of anxiety disorder. In addition, 7.2% (95% CI: 5.3%, 10.2%) were experiencing high levels of stress. The average well-being score was 56.5 ( SD = 21.91) on a scale from 0 to 100. Among the participants who have lifetime traumatic experience ( n = 429), 14% (95% CI: 10.6%, 17.2%) were at risk for PTSD. Key risk factors for specific mental health outcomes differed, but the common ones included: current health status, previous mental health diagnosis, and psychological resilience. Being younger, having a below-average income, and excessively following news about Covid-19 were predictive for some of the mental health problems. Conclusions : Together, the key risk factors identified in this study indicate the need for public health interventions addressing the general population’s mental health, but also for specific risk groups. Lower rates of mental health symptoms assessed soon after lifting quarantine measures that have been found in other studies may indicate human resilience capacity.

We Are (Not) in the Same Boat. Sociodemographic Differences in Mental and Social Health during the First Year of Coronavirus Pandemic

“…Moreover, indicators such as life satisfaction and loneliness remained generally stable during the first year of the pandemic. Similar results were obtained on Croatia's general adult population (Ajduković et al, 2021) during a fairly relaxed period in July 2020. Depression, anxiety, stress, and adjustment disorder were lower than those reported in previous studies conducted earlier in the pandemic with a non-representative sample (Jokić Begić et al, 2020).…”

“…Our analyses have shown that sociodemographic features were indeed relevant for the most mental health and socio-psychological outcomes. Regarding mental health, it seems that women are more vulnerable than men; they obviously have experienced more emotional difficulties and pandemic-related stress than men, as corroborated by other studies in Croatia (Ajduković et al, 2021;Jokić-Begić et al, 2021) and elsewhere (e. g. Lotzin et al, 2021). Further, more stress was also experienced by young adults (18-29 years), and more stress and emotional difficulties among those who estimated their standard of living below the average, those less educated and unemployed (either being unemployed because of the coronavirus or for some other reason).…”

Stress coping strategies used by nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Quick transmission of the virus resulting from globalization and people’s mobility has caused global traumatic stress ( Heitzman, 2020 ). The sense of instability and uncertainty connected with the pandemic, the need to change our plans, potential job loss and financial insecurity combined with social isolation have generated the feeling of losing control of our lives ( Ajduković et al, 2021 ; Giorgi et al, 2020 ).…”

Is there Anything Good about the COVID-19 Pandemic? Perceptions of the Positive Consequences at the Beginning of the Pandemic

“…At the beginning of July 2020, a longitudinal study "Psychological adaptation and coping during the coronavirus pandemic" was launched by a team gathered around the Croatian Society for Traumatic Stress, which was conducted over 18 months at four time points (Ajduković et al, 2021b). In this online probability survey (N = 1,201) the sample included an equal share of men and women (50%), and their educational structure and regional affiliation were representative of Croatia.…”

“…The first time point of the study showed that people with an earlier mental health diagnosis, people who assessed their health condition as at risk, people with below-average income and who followed the news for more than two hours a day were at higher risk. At the same time, psychological resilience was shown to be a protective factor (Ajduković et al, 2021a). Although younger people (18 to 25 years old) showed more psychological difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they also showed more flexibility in adapting to new conditions (Bakić, 2021).…”