Dataset Information

A Cross-Country Examination on the Fear of COVID-19 and the Sense of Loneliness during the First Wave of COVID-19 Outbreak.

ABSTRACT: The aim of the current study is to examine gender, age. and cross-country differences in fear of COVID-19 and sense of loneliness during the lockdown, by comparing people from those countries with a high rate of infections and deaths (e.g., Spain and Italy) and from countries with a mild spread of infection (e.g., Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina). A total of 3876 participants (63% female) completed an online survey on "Everyday life practices in COVID-19 time" in April 2020, including measures of fear of COVID-19 and loneliness. Males and females of all age groups in countries suffering from the powerful impact of the COVID-19 pandemic reported greater fear of COVID-19 and sense of loneliness. In less endangered countries, females and the elderly reported more symptoms than males and the young; in Spanish and Italian samples, the pattern of differences is considerably more complex. Future research should thoroughly examine different age and gender groups. The analysis of emotional well-being in groups at risk of mental health issues may help to lessen the long term social and economic costs due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

SUBMITTER: Lo Coco G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7967533 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

A Cross-Country Examination on the Fear of COVID-19 and the Sense of Loneliness during the First Wave of COVID-19 Outbreak.

Lo Coco Gianluca G Gentile Ambra A Bosnar Ksenija K Milovanović Ivana I Bianco Antonino A Drid Patrik P Pišot Saša S

International journal of environmental research and public health 20210305 5

The aim of the current study is to examine gender, age. and cross-country differences in fear of COVID-19 and sense of loneliness during the lockdown, by comparing people from those countries with a high rate of infections and deaths (e.g., Spain and Italy) and from countries with a mild spread of infection (e.g., Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina). A total of 3876 participants (63% female) completed an online survey on "Everyday life practices in COVID-19 time" in ...[more]

PMID: 33807549

Similar Datasets

Project description:RationaleDetermining who is particularly vulnerable to mental health deterioration during the COVID-19 pandemic is essential when designing and targeting interventions to mitigate the adverse psychological impacts of the outbreak. Older people have appeared to be less exposed to mental health deterioration compared with younger individuals, but most exposed to the risk of severe illness and death from the virus, as well as less equipped to use technologies for coping with lockdown measures.ObjectiveAmongst the old population, we aim at determining how depressive symptoms have changed during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and identifying individual risk factors associated with changes in reporting depression. We are particularly interested in exploring the role of pre-existing mental health problems and evaluating gender differences.MethodData come from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, in particular from the first COVID-19 survey administered in summer 2020. Logistic models are estimated and Average Marginal Effects computed to take the degree of individual unobserved heterogeneity into account comparing point estimates across samples. Multiple Imputation (implemented through Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equations) is used to replace missing data. Statistical power of the effect sizes is estimated by a simulation approach.ResultsPre-existing mental health problems, a diagnosis of affective/emotional disorders, a recent diagnosis of a major illness, and (only for men) job loss during the first wave of the outbreak are the most important risk factors. Statistical differences between genders emerge, with women experiencing higher levels of depression and greater worsening of mental health than men.ConclusionsTo identify people at greater risk of depression deterioration during an outbreak it is very important to consider their pre-existing mental and general health, distinguishing severity level. On population level, it is also crucial to evaluate depression disorders separately by gender.

Dataset Information

A Cross-Country Examination on the Fear of COVID-19 and the Sense of Loneliness during the First Wave of COVID-19 Outbreak.

Publications

A Cross-Country Examination on the Fear of COVID-19 and the Sense of Loneliness during the First Wave of COVID-19 Outbreak.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets