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Sociodemographic and Psychological Risk Factors for Anxiety and Depression: Findings from the Covid-19 Health and Adherence Research in Scotland on Mental Health (CHARIS-MH) Cross-sectional Survey
- Source :
- International Journal of Behavioral Medicine
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Background Investigations about mental health report prevalence rates with fewer studies investigating psychological and social factors influencing mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic. Study aims: (1) identify sociodemographic groups of the adult population at risk of anxiety and depression and (2) determine if the following social and psychological risk factors for poor mental health moderated these direct sociodemographic effects: loneliness, social support, threat perception, illness representations. Methods Cross-sectional nationally representative telephone survey in Scotland in June 2020. If available, validated instruments were used, for example, Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4) to measure anxiety and depression. Simple linear regressions followed by examination of moderation effect. Results A total of 1006 participants; median age 53 years, 61.4% female, from all levels of area deprivation (i.e., 3.8% in the most deprived decile and 15.6% in the most affluent decile). Analyses show associations of anxiety and depression with sociodemographic (age, gender, deprivation), social (social support, loneliness) and psychological factors (perceived threat and illness representations). Mental health was poorer in younger adults, women and people living in the most deprived areas. Age effects were exacerbated by loneliness and illness representations, gender effects by loneliness and illness representations and deprivation effects by loneliness, social support, illness representations and perceived threat. In each case, the moderating variables amplified the detrimental effects of the sociodemographic factors. Conclusions These findings confirm the results of pre-Covid-19 pandemic studies about associations between sociodemographics and mental health. Loneliness, lack of social support and thoughts about Covid-19 exacerbated these effects and offer pointers for pre-emptive action.
- Subjects :
- Adult
Male
Illness representations
Cross-sectional study
Public mental health
Anxiety
Full Length Manuscript
Social support
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Risk Factors
Surveys and Questionnaires
medicine
Humans
030212 general & internal medicine
Pandemics
Applied Psychology
Depression (differential diagnoses)
Depression
SARS-CoV-2
Loneliness
COVID-19
Threat perception
Middle Aged
Mental health
030227 psychiatry
Coronavirus
Patient Health Questionnaire
Health psychology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Mental Health
Scotland
Female
medicine.symptom
Psychology
Clinical psychology
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 15327558 and 10705503
- Volume :
- 28
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- International Journal of Behavioral Medicine
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....e4f29f210f3a3f57b897b00ce0fdc9d8