Mental Health Status of the General Population during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional National Survey in Japan

  1. Michiko Ueda
  2. Andrew Stickley
  3. Hajime Sueki
  4. Tetsuya Matsubayashi

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Abstract

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may have detrimental mental health consequences. However, as yet, there is limited understanding of its impact on the mental health of the general population. The aim of this study is to examine the mental health of the Japanese general population by conducting the first systematic survey during the pandemic (N=1,000), with a particular focus on identifying the most vulnerable groups. Results from logistic regression analyses showed that the mental health of young and middle-aged individuals was significantly worse than that of older individuals during the pandemic. There was also some indication that individuals who were not currently working were significantly more likely to report a high level of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Part-time and temporary contract-based workers were also more likely to suffer from anxiety disorder. Our results highlight that monitoring the mental health of younger and economically vulnerable individuals may be especially important. In addition, they also indicate that population mental health might not only be affected by the direct health consequences of COVID-19, but also by the economic ramifications of the pandemic.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.04.28.20082453: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    NIH rigor criteria are not applicable to paper type.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    The analysis was conducted using STATA/MP (version 16, Stata Corporation, College Station, TX).
    STATA/MP
    suggested: None

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Despite this, our study also has several limitations that should be mentioned. First, our survey was undertaken among respondents from a commercial web panel, and thus did not guarantee that the sample would be perfectly representative of the entire population. Although being able to conduct the survey while using random sampling methodology would have been preferable, it was not appropriate in this particular instance as it would not have allowed us to collect data in a timely manner – which was essential given the urgent need to understand how COVID-19 is affecting population well-being. Second, our study is cross-sectional, and thus cannot establish a causal relationship between the pandemic and mental health conditions. In particular, those who are in an economically weak position are likely to be vulnerable to poorer mental health even during non-crisis times39, and our study could not prove that their mental health was poorer because of any major economic upheaval associated with COVID-19. However, the main purpose of this study was not to establish causality; its focus was rather on identifying the most vulnerable groups during the initial stage of the pandemic in Japan by undertaking the first systematic research on the mental health of the Japanese population during this period. We are planning to conduct a series of similar surveys in the following months that should further elucidate the effects of COVID-19 on the population’s mental health. Third, our analysis did...

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a protocol registration statement.

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  2. Version published to 10.1101/2020.04.28.20082453v3 on medRxiv
  3. Version published to 10.1101/2020.04.28.20082453v2 on medRxiv
  4. Version published to 10.1101/2020.04.28.20082453v1 on medRxiv