Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of Greek adults: a cross-sectional survey

  1. Efthimios Dragotis
  2. Korina Atsopardi
  3. Anastasia Barbouni
  4. Konstantinos Poulas
  5. Konstantinos Farsalinos

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Abstract

Objectives

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and mitigation measures based on social distancing are expected to have serious adverse effects on mental health. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine self-reported changes in the mental health status of Greek adults.

Study design

The current study is a primary research conducted on Greek adults during the first wave of the epidemic (March to April 2020).

Methods

A total of 527 individuals participated in an online survey using a validated questionnaire (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory-STAI and DASS-21).

Results

The respondents had a moderate mental health status based on the following scores: STAI-S, 45.8; STAI-T, 40.7; depression, 4.6; anxiety, 3.1; and stress, 6.1. Women, younger respondents, those from lower income households, and those living in smaller apartments experienced increased depression, anxiety, and stress. Additionally, infection control practices during the COVID-19 pandemic such as the use of masks, gloves, and antiseptic can drastically decrease the prevalence of mental health illnesses.

Conclusions

These findings can be used by the Greek State to reduce the effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of the population and protect socially vulnerable groups.

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  1. Version published to 10.1101/2021.02.20.21252129v2 on medRxiv
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.02.20.21252129: (What is this?)

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

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.

    Table 2: Resources

    No key resources detected.

    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: An explicit section about the limitations of the techniques employed in this study was not found. We encourage authors to address study limitations.

    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.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

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  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.02.20.21252129v1 on medRxiv