The Association between Lifestyle Changes and Psychological Distress during COVID-19 Lockdown: The Moderating Role of COVID-Related Stressors

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying circumstances (lockdown and social distancing) have been found to cause lifestyle habit changes. While negative changes (adopting risky behaviors) are known to be associated with high psychological distress, the effect of positive changes (adopting health-enhancing behaviors) has yet to be investigated. This study examined the association between the nature of changes and psychological distress, in addition to the moderating effect of “COVID-related stressors”. Online questionnaires, completed by 1969 participants, assessed the following: lifestyle changes due to COVID-19 with regard to cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, sleep quality, and eating habits; COVID-related stressors; Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale. Positive and negative changes were associated with higher psychological distress compared to no lifestyle change, and there was a moderating effect of COVID-related stressors in the association between COVID-related lifestyle changes and distress. In conclusion, to reduce psychological distress in overwhelming circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic, people should carefully consider whether to make changes in their lifestyle habits before doing so, even if these changes are perceived as positive and health-enhancing. Furthermore, efforts should be focused on reducing the perception of stress from COVID-19 by working on personal and mental perceptions of the situation.

Preschool Teachers’ Psychological Distress and Work Engagement During COVID -19 Outbreak: The Protective Role of Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation

“…This finding is consistent with other studies that have found that fear of infection is one of the most significant causes of anxiety among teachers, a fear that probably stems from the close interaction that teachers have with children daily [7,60]. Moreover, the stress, anxiety, and depression symptomatology rates of preschool teachers in the current study are somewhat high in comparison with those reported in other studies conducted during that time among the general population in Israel [61][62]. That is, while the mean total score on the DASS among teacher is 12.7, in other studies conducted among the general population in Israel the mean total score range between 10.72 to 12.03.…”

Preschool Teachers’ Psychological Distress and Work Engagement during COVID-19 Outbreak: The Protective Role of Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation

“…This finding is consistent with other studies that have found that fear of infection is one of the most significant causes of anxiety among teachers, which probably stems from teachers' close interaction with children daily [7,63]. The stress, anxiety, and depression symptomatology rates of preschool teachers in the current study were somewhat high in comparison to those reported in other studies conducted during that time in the general population in Israel [64,65]. Specifically, whereas the mean total score on the DASS among teachers was 12.7, in other studies the mean total score ranged from 10.72 to 12.03 in the general population.…”

A global portrait of expressed mental health signals towards COVID-19 in social media space

“…It may be explained by the fact that most developed countries (e.g., U.S., U.K., and European countries) have more negative tweets posted against COVID-19, and such negative emotions are less obvious in small countries which may have fewer Twitter users. It could also be possible that people in developed countries do not often face negative lifestyle changes (e.g., mobility and travel restrictions) and thus may be more sensitive to these restrictions, which were reported to be associated with high psychological distress( Alon-Tirosh et al, 2021 ). It was in contrast with what was reported by the World Happiness Report that wealthier countries tended to be happier and more positive(John F. Helliwell, 2021 ).…”