COVID-19 related depression and anxiety among quarantined respondents

Abstract

Objective

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) poses an unprecedented threat to public health. Current measures to control the spread include social distancing and quarantine, which may trigger mental health problems.

Design and Main Outcome Measures

The sample (N = 1160) constituted three groups: people quarantined in an affected area, unaffected areas, and people not in quarantine. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D-20) and the Goldberg Depression and Anxiety Scale (GAD-7) were administered as measures of depression and anxiety, respectively. The multi-variant logistic and multiple linear regression identified factors associated with depression and anxiety.

Results

Probable depression and anxiety were reported by 26.47% and 70.78% of all respondents, respectively. After adjusting for demographic and community variables, quarantined respondents reported a higher likelihood to exhibit symptoms of depression and anxiety than those not quarantined. Respondents living in communities where screening for COVID-19 was required were less likely to report depression and anxiety symptoms.

Conclusion

The incidence of depression and anxiety among quarantined respondents was significantly higher than that of respondents not quarantined, and twice as common among quarantined respondents in unaffected areas as those in affected areas. Appropriate community screening may reduce the risk of depression and anxiety during an epidemic.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• depression
• anxiety
• quarantine
• China

Acknowledgements

The authors thank http://www.survey.163.com for providing technical support and all the respondents.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. No conflict of interest exits in the submission of this manuscript, and manuscript is approved by all authors for publication. This work was original research that has not been published previously, and not under consideration for publication elsewhere. The authors listed have approved the manuscript that is enclosed.

Data sharing

Data obtained for the study will not be made available to others.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.

Notes on contributors

Qiqiang He

TF and LJ conceived and designed the study. TF, LJ, and ZH collected the data. LJ, TF interpreted the data. TF and LJ wrote the first draft of the manuscript. LJ, TF and MMK modified the manuscript, WPG, HQQ reviewed the manuscript. All authors critically revised the manuscript and approved the final version.