Depressive and anxiety symptoms and COVID-19-related factors among men and women in Nigeria

  1. Olakunle Ayokunmi Oginni
  2. Ibidunni Olapeju Oloniniyi
  3. Olanrewaju Ibigbami
  4. Victor Ugo
  5. Ayomipo Amiola
  6. Adedotun Ogunbajo
  7. Oladoyin Esan
  8. Aderopo Adelola
  9. Oluwatosin Daropale
  10. Matthew Ebuka
  11. Boladale Mapayi

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Abstract

Despite the greater adverse economic impacts in low and middle-income (LAMI) compared to high-income countries, fewer studies have investigated the associations between COVID-19-related stressor and mental health in LAMI countries. The objectives of this study were to determine the associations between COVID-19-related stressors and anxiety and depressive symptoms while controlling for known risk and protective factors and to investigate any sex differences. An online survey was carried out to assess sociodemographic, psychosocial (previous mental health conditions, sexual orientation, intimate partner violence and perceived social support) and COVID-19-related variables. Hierarchical linear regression was carried out with anxiety and depressive symptoms as separate outcomes. Of the COVID-19-related factors, testing positive for COVID-19 infection, having COVID-19 symptoms, having other medical conditions, self-isolating due to COVID-19 symptoms, worry about infection, perception of the pandemic as a threat to income and isolation during the lockdown were significantly associated with higher anxiety and depressive symptoms. Of these, worry about infection, isolation during lockdown and disruption due to the pandemic retained independent associations with both outcomes. The variance in anxiety and depressive symptoms explained by COVID-19-related factors was larger in women (11.8%) compared to men (6.1% and 0.8% respectively). COVID-19-related stressors are associated with higher anxiety and depressive symptoms, with these effects being larger in men compared to women. Enhancing social support can be an affordable strategy to mitigate this risk but this needs to be investigated using appropriate designs.

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  1. Version published to 10.1371/journal.pone.0256690
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.06.09.21258609: (What is this?)

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

    Table 1: Rigor

    EthicsConsent: The survey tool consisted of a participant information page explaining the aims and objectives of the study, an informed consent page, and the survey.
    IRB: Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics and Research Committee of the Institute of Public Health, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
    Sex as a biological variablenot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot 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: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Limitations: In interpreting our findings, the following limitations should be considered: the online nature of survey may have limited representativeness of the sample, for example, individuals with higher levels of education were over-represented, as were Yorubas who reside in southwestern Nigeria. Although this may limit the generalizability of our findings, the better socioeconomic indices including higher education and average income in South-Western Nigeria [51] may mean that the associations between COVID-19-related factors and anxiety and depressive are underestimated in our study. The cross-sectional nature of the study also means that our findings cannot be extended to explain causal mechanisms which would need to be investigated using prospective or experimental designs.

    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.

    Results from scite Reference Check: We found no unreliable references.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2021.06.09.21258609v1 on medRxiv