Mental health responses to COVID-19 around the world

Figures & data

Table 1. Differences in demographics and trauma characteristics between participants reporting a COVID-19-related versus other stressful events

	COVID-19(n = 1838)	Other(n = 5196)	t or χ^2	p-value
Age (years)	39.65 (15.15)	38.04 (14.05)	4.12	< .001
Gender (female)	1345 (73.2)	3863 (74.3)	.96	.33
Trauma onset (longer than a year ago)^1	366 (19.9)	3377 (65.0)	1108.22	< .001
Trauma frequency (single)	1334 (72.6)	3342 (64.3)	41.57	< .001
Work-related event	631 (34.3)	1535 (29.5)	14.61	< .001
Physical violence	427 (23.7)	1352 (27.4)	9.58	.002
Sexual violence	303 (16.8)	920 (18.7)	3.09	.08
Emotional abuse	623 (34.5)	2178 (44.2)	50.56	< .001
Serious injury	114 (6.3)	527 (10.7)	29.29	< .001
Life-threatening situations	625 (34.6)	1773 (36.0)	1.00	.32
Sudden death of a loved one	302 (16.5)	1149 (22.9)	32.91	< .001
Causing harm to others	59 (3.2)	154 (3.1)	.11	.75
Meeting DSM-5 criterion A	982 (54.4)	3654 (74.1)	238.56	< .001

Note: Age presented as M (SD) and t statistic; all other variables presented as n (%) and χ² statistic. ¹For some respondents, a COVID-19 event was related to another traumatic event that occurred longer than a year ago.

Table 2. Results of the models with GPS symptom subdomains predicted by type of event (COVID-19 versus other stressful events) controlling for covariates

Subdomains	MCOVID-19 event	MOther event	B	Std error	t or Wald	p	Partial η^2 or odds ratio
PTSD	.51	.46	.05	.01	5.02	< .001	.004
DSO	.42	.39	.02	.01	2.14	.03	.001
Anxiety	.67	.59	.08	.01	6.97	< .001	.007
Depression	.62	.55	.07	.01	5.72	< .001	.005
Dissociation	.26	.21	.06	.01	5.84	< .001	.005
Insomnia	.56	.54	.09	.06	1.97	.16
Self-harm	.06	.07	−.05	.11	.22	.64
Substance abuse	.27	.28	−.08	.07	1.26	.26
Other problems	.55	.51	.17	.06	7.25	.007	1.15

Table 3. Results of linear model with GPS symptom score predicted by demographics, trauma characteristics and risk factors

Variable	b	Std error	t	p	Partial η^2
Intercept	7.28	.05	142.30	< .001
Age	−.03	.00	−8.24	< .001	.01
Gender (female)	.63	.10	6.28	< .001	.006
Trauma onset (longer than year ago)	−.51	.10	−5.26	< .001	.004
Work-relatedness (yes)	−.07	.09	−.70	.482	.000
Trauma frequency (single)	−1.95	.10	−20.23	< .001	.06
Type of event (COVID-19)	.50	.11	4.70	< .001	.003
Stressful events in past month	2.82	.11	25.94	< .001	.09
Lack of social support	2.48	.11	22.88	< .001	.07
Childhood trauma	1.08	.09	11.80	< .001	.02
Psychiatric history	1.99	.10	20.20	< .001	.06
Resilience (lack of)	.65	.11	6.11	< .001	.005
Other events in past month * type of event	−.60	.21	−2.90	.004	.001
Lack of social support * type of event	−.56	.20	−2.73	.006	.001

Figure 1. GPS symptom score (mean and 95% confidence interval) as a function of UN region and type of event after controlling for covariates

Data availability statement

Raw data were generated through the Global Collaboration on Traumatic Stress (GC-TS). Derived data of this study are available on the GC-TS website: www.global-psychotrauma.net.

The data described in this article are also openly available in the Open Science Framework at https://osf.io/untsy/.