The Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic, A Meta-Analysis and General Population Study

This study assessed the impact of the financial, social and health disruptions due to the pandemic on increased rates of depression, anxiety, obsessiveness and substance abuse tendencies. In the meta-analysis portion of the study, a systematic search was performed and resulted in twenty studies which met the appropriate relevance and quality. The degree of symptoms was assessed in comparison to certain variables such as sex, age and income. Given the diversity of countries in which these studies were sourced, a varying severity of pandemic and subsequent restrictions were observed which allowed for a more expansive comprehension of the correlation to mental health risks. The complementary aspect of the meta-analysis was a general population study performed in the later months of 2020, which surveyed New York City residents. The provided questionnaire included sociodemographic background, previous mental health issues as well as associated factors such as social isolation, financial burdens and health concerns. The investigated levels of depression, anxiety and traumatic stress exposed positive correlations between younger age and mental health symptoms, a greater impact on one’s mental health due to social isolation than health exposure, a significance of news exposure, a fluctuation in various issues of anxiety, depression and stress when assessing participants who had been infected, and a difference in time from change in lifestyle to expressed mental health symptoms.