The DOI matches its Crossref record; 144 of the 147 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
COVID-19 mental health impact and responses in low-income and middle-income countries: reimagining global mental health
Open accessAbstract
Most of the global population live in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), which have historically received a small fraction of global resources for mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic has spread rapidly in many of these countries. This Review examines the mental health implications of the COVID-19 pandemic in LMICs in four parts. First, we review the emerging literature on the impact of the pandemic on mental health, which shows high rates of psychological distress and early warning signs of an increase in mental health disorders. Second, we assess the responses in different countries, noting the swift and diverse responses to address mental health in some countries, particularly through the development of national COVID-19 response plans for mental health services, implementation of WHO guidance, and deployment of digital platforms, signifying a welcome recognition of the salience of mental health. Third, we consider the opportunity that the pandemic presents to reimagine global mental health, especially through shifting the balance of power from high-income countries to LMICs and from narrow biomedical approaches to community-oriented psychosocial perspectives, in setting priorities for interventions and research. Finally, we present a vision for the concept of building back better the mental health systems in LMICs with a focus on key strategies; notably, fully integrating mental health in plans for universal health coverage, enhancing access to psychosocial interventions through task sharing, leveraging digital technologies for various mental health tasks, eliminating coercion in mental health care, and addressing the needs of neglected populations, such as children and people with substance use disorders. Our recommendations are relevant for the mental health of populations and functioning of health systems in not only LMICs but also high-income countries impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with wide disparities in quality of and access to mental health care.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“and the pressure of the pandemic on health-care systems in the future.”
From Strengthening public mental health during and after the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic (2022) · cites this paper as [5]
In the citing paper
“It has been the focus of recent calls for a paradigm change in the field of global mental health (106–108), particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (109).”
From Recovery from Severe Mental Health Problems: A Systematic Review of Service User and Informal Caregiver Perspectives (2021) · cites this paper as [109]
In the citing paper
“Digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been proposed as potential solutions to these challenges [Rudd and Beidas, 2020, Taylor et al., 2020, Kola et al., 2021].”
From Closing the accessibility gap to mental health treatment with a personalized self-referral chatbot (2024) · cites this paper as Kola et al., 2021
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
The Psychological Impact of Quarantine and How to Reduce It: Rapid Review of the Evidence
Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., & Rubin, G. J. (2020) · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3532534 · Cited by 16,394
The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: Rapid review of the evidence
Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., & Rubin, G. J. (2020) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30460-8 · Cited by 16,378
Holmes, E. A., O'Connor, R. C., Perry, V. H., Tracey, I., Wessely, S., Arseneault, L., Ballard, C., Christensen, H., Cohen Silver, R., Everall, I., et al. (2020) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(20)30168-1 · Cited by 5,715
Our future: a Lancet commission on adolescent health and wellbeing
Patton, G. C., Sawyer, S. M., Santelli, J. S., Ross, D. A., Afifi, R., Allen, N. B., Arora, M., Azzopardi, P., Baldwin, W., Bonell, C., et al. (2016) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(16)00579-1 · Cited by 3,785
Self-citationThe Lancet Commission on global mental health and sustainable development
Patel, V., Saxena, S., Lund, C., Thornicroft, G., Baingana, F., Bolton, P., Chisholm, D., Collins, P. Y., Cooper, J. L., Eaton, J., et al. (2018) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(18)31612-x · Cited by 3,692
Self-citationCOVID-19 and mental health: A review of the existing literature
Rajkumar, R. P. (2020) · Asian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102066 · Cited by 3,574
Rising morbidity and mortality in midlife among white non-Hispanic Americans in the 21st century
Case, A., & Deaton, A. (2015) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.1518393112 · Cited by 2,759
2019-nCoV epidemic: Address mental health care to empower society
Bao, Y., Sun, Y., Meng, S., Shi, J., & Lu, L. (2020) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30309-3 · Cited by 2,038
How mental health care should change as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic
Moreno, C., Wykes, T., Galderisi, S., Nordentoft, M., Crossley, N., Jones, N., Cannon, M., Correll, C. U., Byrne, L., Carr, S., et al. (2020) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(20)30307-2 · Cited by 1,840
Five Essential Elements of Immediate and Mid–Term Mass Trauma Intervention: Empirical Evidence
Hobfoll, S. E., Watson, P., Bell, C. C., Bryant, R. A., Brymer, M. J., Friedman, M. J., Friedman, M., Gersons, B. P. R., de Jong, J. T. V. M., Layne, C. M., et al. (2007) · Psychiatry · doi:10.1521/psyc.2007.70.4.283 · Cited by 1,751
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Castro-de-Araujo, 2020, Impacto do COVID-19 na saúde mental em um país de baixa e média renda, Cien Saude Colet, 25, 2457, 10.1590/1413-81232020256.1.10932020 · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 301–400 of 836
Jordans, M. J. D., Bakolis, I., Arnous, M., Koppenol‐Gonzalez, G. V., Tossyeh, F., Chen, A., & Miller, K. E. (2023) · Child Abuse & Neglect · doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106335 · Cited by 9
Chau, L. W., Murphy, J., Nguyen, V. C., Xie, H. W., Lam, R. W. M., Minas, H., Zheng, Y., Krebs, E., Hayashi, K., Anh, S. D., et al. (2023) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0290328 · Cited by 9
Psychological distress among South African healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic
Ramlagan, S., Sewpaul, R., Shean, Y., Schmidt, T., North, A., & Reddy, S. P. (2024) · Curationis · doi:10.4102/curationis.v47i1.2477 · Cited by 10
“(Kola et al. 2021; Kohrt 2021).”
Moss, S. J., Stelfox, M., McArthur, E., Sriskandarajah, C., Ahmed, S. B., Birnie, K. A., Halperin, B. A., Halperin, S. A., Harley, M., Hu, J., et al. (2024) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-024-18087-8 · Cited by 8
“Research on impacts among low-and middle-income countries has showed comparably elevated prevalence of worsened mental health symptoms, augmented by social, economic and cultural factors, particularly poor access to mental health support [78].”
BackgroundBrătucu, G., Tudor, A. I. M., Litră, A. V., Nichifor, E., Chițu, I. B., & Bratucu, T.-O. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph19137868 · Cited by 8
“Additionally, they should include a wide variety of experiences and actions included by these diseases, determined by the social context [59,60].”
BackgroundCharles, I., Salinger, A. P., Sweeney, R., Batagol, B., Barker, F., Nasir, S., Taruc, R. R., Francis, N., Clasen, T., & Sinharoy, S. S. (2023) · Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.01.010 · Cited by 12
Alharbi, T. A. F., AlQurashi, A., Mahmud, I., Alharbi, R. J., Islam, S. M. S., Almustanyir, S., Maklad, A. E., AlSarraj, A., Mughaiss, L. N., Al‐Tawfiq, J. A., et al. (2023) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare11081184 · Cited by 11
“Countries were forced to adopt extreme measures such as quarantine or self-isolation of the infected and their close contacts, preventing public gatherings, closing schools and universities, banning travel, closing territorial and international borders and in some cases, forcing complete lockdown of cities [2].”
BackgroundSeyffert, M., Wu, C., & Özkan‐Seely, G. F. (2024) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph21040484 · Cited by 11
Psychosocial Occupational Health—A Priority for Middle-Income Countries?
Siegrist, J. (2023) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare11222988 · Cited by 7
“Moreover, lockdown measures, job loss, and lack of financial and social support from national policies exacerbated human suffering and triggered a mental health crisis [12,13].”
BackgroundPublic Mental Health and Access to Mental Health Services in South Asia
Kabir, R., Isigi, S. S., & Candussi, C. J. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-981-99-9153-2_11 · Cited by 9
Economic uncertainty and mental health: Global evidence, 1991 to 2019
Sarı, E., Karakuş, B. Ş., & Demir, E. (2024) · SSM - Population Health · doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2024.101691 · Cited by 11
“The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified this struggle, intertwining with the climate emergency, escalating humanitarian issues, fluctuating economic policies, and ongoing regional conflicts (Kola, 2020; Kola et al., 2021).”
BackgroundMensa‐Kwao, A., Neelakantan, L., Velloza, J., Bampton, E., Ranganathan, S., Sibisi, R., Bowes, J., Buonasorte, L., Juma, D. O., Veluvali, M., et al. (2024) · Health Expectations · doi:10.1111/hex.14172 · Cited by 7
“The COVID ‐ 19 pandemic accelerated Internet ‐ based research [25] and highlighted the demand to engage diverse youth in mental health research [26].”
BackgroundPark, C., Patricia, A., & Trisnadi, A. I. (2024) · Social Sciences & Humanities Open · doi:10.1016/j.ssaho.2024.101229 · Cited by 7
“The closure of many campus resources such as gyms, libraries, and social spaces has limited students ’ opportunities to connect with peers and engage in activities that support their mental health (Kola et al., 2021; Lee et al., 2021; Park et al., 2023).”
Abramowitz, S. A., Backe, E. L., Gwaikolo, W., Nkengasong, S., Banerjee, D., & Murray, S. M. (2024) · SSM - Mental Health · doi:10.1016/j.ssmmh.2024.100375 · Cited by 11
Heliades, G. P., Gkintoni, E., Panas, G., Halkiopoulos, C., & Boutsinas, B. (2025) · Springer proceedings in business and economics · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-78471-2_38 · Cited by 8
Watkins, D., Danforth, K., Ahmed, S., Chisholm, D., Cieza, A., Iunes, R. F., Kumar, A., Kutzin, J., Luong, J., Meessen, B., et al. (2025) · The Lancet Global Health · doi:10.1016/s2214-109x(25)00347-x · Cited by 7
Tarasenko, A., Guazzotti, S., Minot, T., Oganesyan, M., & Vysokov, N. V. (2022) · Bioelectricity · doi:10.1089/bioe.2021.0033 · Cited by 6
“At the time of writing this article, the global pandemic and the changes imposed by related restrictions are having a profound effect on the mental health and well-being of people around the world.(4) This created an unprecedented demand to develop effective tools for measuring and controlling stress to prevent stress…”
BackgroundPalfreyman, A., Riyaz, S., Rizwan, Z., Vijayaraj, K., Chathuranga, I. P. R., Daluwatte, R., Devindi, W. A. T., Eranda, B. S., Jayalath, V., Junaid, A., et al. (2022) · PLOS Global Public Health · doi:10.1371/journal.pgph.0000899 · Cited by 7
“High quality research on violence and mental health remains deficient but essential to advance evidence and action for low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) harboring the greatest burden, yet fewest resources to respond [1].”
BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic and mental health in Kazakhstan
Mergenova, G., Rosenthal, S. L., Myrkassymova, A., Bukharbayeva, A., Iskakova, B., Izekenova, A., Izekenova, A., Alekesheva, L., Yerdenova, M., Karibayev, K., et al. (2023) · Cambridge Prisms Global Mental Health · doi:10.1017/gmh.2023.46 · Cited by 9
“…of efforts to contain the pandemic, including lockdown, closure of schools and reallocation of health resources can be especially long-lasting and devastating to poor and vulnerable people in countries with weak social protection systems and insufficient economic resources (Kola et al., 2021).”
BackgroundInfluentialPastrana, N. A., Agudelo-Londoño, S., Franco-Suárez, O., Machuca, J. O., Guzmán-Tordecilla, D. N., Sánchez, M. C. L., Rodríguez-Patarroyo, M., Rivera-Sánchez, C. A., Castro-Barbudo, D., Trujillo, A. J., et al. (2023) · Global Health Action · doi:10.1080/16549716.2023.2242670 · Cited by 7
Mayo‐Puchoc, N., Bejarano-Carranza, J., Paredes-Ángeles, R., Vilela-Estrada, A. L., García-Serna, J., Cusihuaman-Lope, N., Villarreal‐Zegarra, D., Cavero, V., & Ardila-Gómez, S. E. (2023) · Health Policy and Planning · doi:10.1093/heapol/czad055 · Cited by 7
Elbejjani, M., Mansour, S., Hammoud, R. A., Ziade, C., Assi, B., Assi, A., Sayed, S. E., Hachem, R. E., & Kerbage, H. (2024) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0297670 · Cited by 7
“These data are particularly needed in low-resource and multiple-crisis settings, where the pandemic imposed further strains on limited economic and healthcare resources and higher increase in depression and anxiety prevalence [17].”
Sunde, T. (2024) · Journal of Poverty · doi:10.1080/10875549.2024.2379770 · Cited by 11
“Additionally, the mental health effects of poverty are significant, as chronic stress and the struggle to meet basic needs can lead to conditions such as anxiety and depression (Kola et al., 2021).”
COVID-19 and mental health consequences: moving forward
Milani, S. A., Kuo, Y., & Raji, M. A. (2024) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(24)00276-1 · Cited by 7
Parker, A. G., Dash, S. R., Bourke, M., Patten, R. K., Craike, M. J., Baldwin, P. A., Hosking, W., Levinger, I., Apostolopoulos, V., de Courten, M., et al. (2022) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/35776 · Cited by 7
“Indeed, the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are apparent, with reported increases in the experience of psychological distress, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and incidence of mental disorders [37-39], and highlight the need for effective mental health supports during this time of crisis.”
BackgroundMental disorders and COVID-19: Towards a precision public mental health approach
Stein, D. J., & Wessely, S. C. (2022) · European Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2022.02.008 · Cited by 7
Gil, J. D. C., Aguiar, P. M. V., Lopes, S. A., Soares, P., Moura, H. S. D., Arcêncio, R. A., Goes, A. R., Gama, A. F., Pedro, A. R., Nunes, C., et al. (2022) · Portuguese Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1159/000525248 · Cited by 9
“Low-, middle-, and high-income countries have the challenge of restructuring their mental health care systems and using the demands of the pandemic to reimagine global mental health [53].”
BackgroundPsychiatrization in mental health care: The emergency department
Beeker, T. (2022) · Frontiers in Sociology · doi:10.3389/fsoc.2022.793836 · Cited by 9
van Rensburg, A. J., Petersen, I., Awotiwon, A., Bachmann, M. O., Curran, R., Murdoch, J., Ras, C., & Fairall, L. R. (2022) · BMJ Global Health · doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2022-009567 · Cited by 7
Matsuo, M., Sesoko, S., Kosa, A., Noda, S., Koura, S., Miyabara, H., & Higuchi, T. (2022) · Medicine · doi:10.1097/md.0000000000031897 · Cited by 7
“health, poor sleep quality, higher perceived stress load, less family support, and unsteady family income are associated with decreasing mental health.[16,19,20] Additionally, some studies suggested that remote learning also affects students’ mental health.”
BackgroundMeller, F. D. O., Santos, L. P., Vargas, B. L., Quadra, M. R., Martins, C. D., & Schäfer, A. A. (2023) · Cadernos de Saúde Pública · doi:10.1590/0102-311xen285121 · Cited by 10
“Especially in low and middle-income countries, uncertainties of transmission and containment of the coronavirus along with economic problems may favor increases in mental health disorders, such as stress 33 .”
BackgroundOkunogbe, A., Meekins, M., Saalim, K., Conti‐Lopez, M. A., Benabaye, R. M., Mendoza, O. M., Julio, R., Stan, L., & Bisson, C. (2023) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-023-15102-2 · Cited by 7
“We found an increased prominence of mental health needs among adolescents during the pandemic and thus recommend inclusion of increased screening and support for mental health care among adolescents as part of preparedness and response plans during shocks [31, 38, 49, 50].”
BackgroundSteege, R., Mwaniki, H., Ogueji, I. A., Baraka, J., Salimu, S. N., Kumar, M. B., Kawaza, K., Odedere, O., Shamba, D. D., Bokea, H., et al. (2023) · BMC Pediatrics · doi:10.1186/s12887-023-04358-7 · Cited by 7
“Health systems have a duty of care to health workers [34]; holistic support for health workers may include counselling, mentoring, and supportive supervision.”
Clausen, J., Barrantes, N., Caballero, E., & Guillén, H. (2023) · Applied Research in Quality of Life · doi:10.1007/s11482-023-10262-0 · Cited by 7
“In turn, the COVID-19 pandemic has fostered a renewed interest in mental health (Kola et al., 2021) as it seems to have contributed to an increase in the prevalence of depression and other “common mental disorders” (CMDs) (Burger & Veenhoven, 2023; WHO, 2022).”
Psychotraumatology and Artificial Intelligence: A Public Health Approach
Cogan, N. A. (2024) · Public Health Open Access · doi:10.23880/phoa-16000284 · Cited by 7
The South African Response to COVID-19
Fourie, P. P., & Lamb, G. (2023) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781003294931 · Cited by 7
Estacio, R. D., Subida, M. D., Bagaforo, M. V., Abuyuan, M. C., Dionisio, N. Y., & Letso, S. C. (2023) · Asia Pacific Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy · doi:10.1080/21507686.2023.2281430 · Cited by 6
“The rapid spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in these nations has exacerbated the situation (Kola et al., 2021).”
BackgroundGrishina, M., Rooney, R. M., Millar, L., Mann, R., & Mancini, V. O. (2023) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1078268 · Cited by 6
Tomczyk, S., Marlinghaus, L., Schmidt, S., & Bartha, S. (2023) · The Journal of Positive Psychology · doi:10.1080/17439760.2023.2297213 · Cited by 6
“Perceived risk of COVID-19 infection, anxiety, and social isolation during lockdowns were among the most important risk factors for the development of illness, particularly among socially disadvantaged populations, and in low-and middle-income countries (Al Dhaheri et al., 2021; Kola et al., 2021).”
Wang, Z., Cao, Z., Min, J., Duan, T., & Xu, C. (2024) · BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine · doi:10.1136/bmjebm-2024-112933 · Cited by 8
Huang, L.-Y., Fan, J., LeMoult, J., Chi, P.-L., Zhao, Y., & Chi, X.-L. (2024) · Research on social work practice · doi:10.1177/10497315241267248 · Cited by 6
“Many people worldwide fall into low or lower-middle income brackets and get only a small share of mental health resources (Kola et al., 2021).”
BackgroundHumayun, A., & Najmussaqib, A. (2025) · BJPsych International · doi:10.1192/bji.2025.10059 · Cited by 6
Kalyanasundaram, S., Hemchand, L., & Sivakumar, T. (2022) · Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Mental Health · doi:10.1007/s40737-021-00256-2 · Cited by 6
Thomas, L. E., Emich, A., Weiss, E. R., Zisman, C. R., Foray, K., Roberts, D. M., Page, E., & Ernst, M. (2022) · Perspectives on Psychological Science · doi:10.1177/17456916221078310 · Cited by 6
“Last, LMICs have experienced higher distress during the pandemic (Kola et al., 2021).”
BackgroundPark, S., Cubillos, L., Martínez‐Camblor, P., Bartels, S. M., Torrey, W. C., John, D. T., Cepeda, M., Bell, K. R., Castro, S., Suárez‐Obando, F., et al. (2023) · Psychiatric Services · doi:10.1176/appi.ps.20220267 · Cited by 6
Cooper, K. J., & Gibson, R. B. (2023) · Challenges · doi:10.3390/challe14020026 · Cited by 10
Veronese, G., Cavazzoni, F., & Pepe, A. (2023) · Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1007/s10389-023-01913-5 · Cited by 6
“…related to the pandemic outbreak – and the adopted measures to contain it – that have affected the quality of life and psychological well-being of the populations around the world (Jones et al. 2021; Kola et al. 2021; Liu et al. 2022; O'Connor et al. 2021; Robinson et al. 2022; among others).”
Adverse sequelae of the COVID -19 pandemic on mental health services in Chile
Toro, O., Araya, C. S., Soto-Brandt, G., Sepúlveda-Queipul, C., Pino, P., Loyola, F., Irarrázaval, M., Thornicroft, G., Hanlon, C., & Rubén Alvarado, M. (2023) · Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública · doi:10.26633/rpsp.2023.87 · Cited by 6
“As a core component of a build back better approach (21), stigma reduction in mental health should be vigorously and strategically adopted to ensure equal protection and access to health services, especially during a health crisis.”
Self-citationMassazza, A., Roberts, B., Fuhr, D. C., Woodward, A., Park, A., Sondorp, E., & McDaid, D. (2023) · SSM - Mental Health · doi:10.1016/j.ssmmh.2023.100251 · Cited by 7
Altamirano, J., Odero, I. A., Omollo, M., Awuonda, E., Ondenge, K., Kang, J. L., Behl, R., Ndivo, R., Baiocchi, M., Barsosio, H. C., et al. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20206922 · Cited by 7
“The pandemic-related stress and mobility restrictions, mostly implemented in 2020–2021, exacerbated the known risk factors for poor adherence, including poor mental health, poverty, violence, and substance abuse [8–10].”
BackgroundMoreno‐Serra, R., León-Giraldo, S., Jater-Maldonado, N., Casas, G., & Bernal, O. A. (2024) · International Journal of Mental Health Systems · doi:10.1186/s13033-024-00621-1 · Cited by 6
“Contrary to our hypothesis and the findings of other studies suggesting an increase in mental health disorders during the pandemic [7, 22], our results indicate that the trend of mental health improvement in Meta, observed after the peace agreement, persisted after the local onset of the COVID-19…”
BackgroundResultCOVID-19 and global mental health
Ardila-Gómez, S. E., Díaz, A. V., Vargas, E., Arboleda-Trujillo, M. A., Ortega, E. J. C., & Agrest, M. (2021) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(21)00150-4 · Cited by 6
COVID-19 and global mental health
Aranda, Z., & Rodríguez-Cuevas, F. G. (2021) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(21)00124-3 · Cited by 6
Nigg, C., Petersen, E., & Macintyre, T. E. (2021) · PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/a9unf · Cited by 7
Bella-Awusah, T. T., Abdurahman, H., Omobowale, O. C., Aturu, O., Afolayan, A., Ogunmola, O. A., Fasoranti, B., Olusanmi, M., Tamambang, R. F., Bamidele, O., et al. (2023) · Community Mental Health Journal · doi:10.1007/s10597-023-01128-8 · Cited by 6
“…social isolation resulting from the pandemic, the changes to the delivery of therapeutic services, and almost complete loss of all structured activities (school, work and training), and peer support networks put persons with psychosis at a higher risk of disadvantage (Kola et al., 2021; WHO, 2010).”
BackgroundSelf-citationBrahmbhatt, A., Rathod, D., Joshi, U., Khan, A., Teja, G. S., Desai, S., Chauhan, A., Shah, S., Bhatt, D., Venkatraman, S., et al. (2024) · PLOS Global Public Health · doi:10.1371/journal.pgph.0003967 · Cited by 5
Self-citationHu, S., Mueller, I., Yao, H., Wang, Y., Pan, L., Cao, X., Ye, P., Jin, W., & Lin, Q. (2025) · PLOS mental health. · doi:10.1371/journal.pmen.0000146 · Cited by 5
“The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of 2019 has further complicated the mental health landscape, raising significant concerns about its psychological impact as well as the long-term economic and social consequences [4].”
An overview of the integration and development trends between arts and psychotherapy
Xie, Y., & Sun, X. (2025) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1617700 · Cited by 5
“Notably, the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed profound impacts on the global population’s mental health, while the aging of the world’s population exacerbates the mental health burden on older adults (Kola et al., 2021; Reynolds et al., 2022).”
Barriers to Mental Health Care for Low-Income Clients As Perceived By Counsellors
Keast, R., Lengyell, M., Finnigan, C., Brown, J., & Jay, M. (2025) · Journal for Social Action in Counseling & Psychology · doi:10.33043/r23873x5 · Cited by 3
A severe and chronic socio-economic crisis, how much can Lebanese workers take?
Saade, S., Parent‐Lamarche, A., & Feghali, L. (2025) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-025-03471-9 · Cited by 7
“Examining the repercussions of the pandemic in low-income countries is important, given that this accounts for 83% of the global population [8].”
Finding a Secure Place in the Home during the First COVID-19 Lockdown: A Pattern-Oriented Analysis
Martos, T., Sallay, V., & Donato, S. (2022) · Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.3390/bs13010009 · Cited by 5
“If we look at broader ecological aspects, negative mental health impact was more severe under poorer housing conditions [8] and, generally, in low and middle-income countries [9].”
BackgroundDans Çalışmalarında Covid 19 Üzerine Bibliometrik Bir Analiz
ÖDEMİŞ, M., & Çobanoğlu, H. O. (2023) · Akdeniz Spor Bilimleri Dergisi · doi:10.38021/asbid.1345273 · Cited by 5
Maistrello, G., Phillips, W., Lee, D., & Romanelli, R. J. (2024) · Digital Health · doi:10.1177/20552076241277180 · Cited by 5
“6 18 A systematic review and meta-analysis of fi ve RCTs found that telehealth was as effective as face-to-face therapy in treating anxiety and related conditions.”
BackgroundTrends in depression in the European population aged 50 years and older by geographic region
Núñez‐Cortés, R., Calatayud, J., Andersen, L. L., Villafañe, J. H., Suso‐Martí, L., & López‐Bueno, R. (2025) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/kwaf027 · Cited by 5
Wang, S., Zhang, Y., Ding, W., Meng, Y., Hu, H., Guan, Y., Zeng, X., Liu, Z., Meng, F., Wang, M., et al. (2025) · Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences · doi:10.1017/s2045796025100243 · Cited by 5
“This implication has been of global concern, as growing evidence has revealed an increased mental health burden (COVID-19 Mental Disorders Collaborators, 2021; Kola et al. , 2021; Prime et al. , 2020).”
The social determinants of depressive disorders in China
Wáng, Q. (2021) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(21)00389-8 · Cited by 5
Descripción de un Programa de Telesalud Mental en el Marco de la Pandemia de COVID-19 en Colombia
Ospina, J. P. Z., Lujan, K. G. –., López-Puerta, A., Ospina, L. C., Gutiérrez-Londoño, P. A., Aristizábal, A., Gómez, M., & Valencia, J. G. (2022) · Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatría · doi:10.1016/j.rcp.2022.04.003 · Cited by 5
Sethi, Y., Kaiwan, O., Bassiony, M., Vora, V., Agarwal, P., Gajwani, N., Garg, K., Sai, B. S., Prakash, A., Gohel, S., et al. (2022) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.29267 · Cited by 6
“On the other hand, due to a large proportion of the population being socially and economically vulnerable, a high burden of pre-existing undiagnosed mental illnesses, and limited mental health services, the stress, anxiety, and sleep disturbances in the setting of COVID-19 in India are more challenging to deal with [1…”
BackgroundHelter, T., Łaszewska, A., & Simon, J. (2022) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-022-20977-z · Cited by 5
Patel, M., & Uthman, O. A. (2023) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-023-16135-3 · Cited by 6
Karadzhov, D., Wilson, G., Shields, S., Lux, E. J., & Davidson, J. C. (2023) · Journal of Children s Services · doi:10.1108/jcs-10-2022-0028 · Cited by 5
Luo, H., Luo, D., Tang, Q., Niu, Z., Xu, J., & Li, J. (2023) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2023.1298693 · Cited by 5
Kim, A. W. (2024) · American Journal of Human Biology · doi:10.1002/ajhb.24038 · Cited by 5
“…burden of the pandemic has raised major concerns for societies with high prevalence rates of mental disorders, elevated levels of mental illness stigma, and limited mental healthcare infrastructure, conditions that disproportionately affect communities in the Global South (Kola et al., 2021).”
BackgroundJin, J., Yuan, G. F., An, Y., & Li, X. S. (2024) · Child Psychiatry & Human Development · doi:10.1007/s10578-023-01650-6 · Cited by 6
“There are an increasing number of studies that have explored the mental health consequences of COVID-19 focusing on revealing risk factors [42, 62, 63].”
Ncheka, J. M., Menon, J. A., Davies, E. B., Paul, R., Mwaba, S. O. C., Mudenda, J., Wharrad, H. J., Tak, H., & Glazebrook, C. (2024) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-024-05542-4 · Cited by 5
“Although the published mortality figures for COVID-19 suggest that Zambia was less affected than many higher income countries, it has been argued that death rates were substantially under-reported in lower income countries [2].”
BackgroundResultInfluentialLuo, Y., Bei, X., Zhang, Y., Sun, X., Zhao, Y., Chen, F., Pan, R., Chang, Q., He, Q., Liu, X., et al. (2025) · Foods · doi:10.3390/foods14010135 · Cited by 5
Colozza, D., Guo, I., Padmita, A. C., Arihandayani, Y., Firna, E., & Avendano, M. (2025) · International Journal of Obesity · doi:10.1038/s41366-025-01757-x · Cited by 5
“Awareness and prioritisation of mental health issues are still low in many low and middle-income countries, re fl ecting in a very low availability of screening, referral, and treatment services [40 – 44].”
Housing, co-residence pattern, and mental health during COVID-19: Evidence from Shanghai
Liu, Z., & Cheng, H. (2025) · Habitat International · doi:10.1016/j.habitatint.2025.103608 · Cited by 5
Early career psychiatrists advocate reorientation not redeployment for COVID-19 care
Alkasaby, M. A., Philip, S., Agrawal, A., Jakhar, J. K., Ojeahere, M. I., Őri, D., Ransing, R. S., Saeed, F., Shalbafan, M., Shoib, S., et al. (2021) · International Journal of Social Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/00207640211057734 · Cited by 5
“Emerging research on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health has primarily documented increased mental distress and related symptoms (Kola et al., 2021).”
BackgroundPsychological Wellbeing and Psychological Distress in the Elderly during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Herdian, H., Suwarti, S., & Estria, S. R. (2022) · Consortium Psychiatricum · doi:10.17816/cp176 · Cited by 9
Almeda, N., Díaz-Milanés, D., Gutiérrez-Colosía, M. R., & GARCÍA-ALONSO, C. R. (2022) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-022-04257-8 · Cited by 5
“The pandemic has pushed the adoption of an online MH care provision system to prevent the spread of the virus [6, 25, 64, 65].”
BackgroundStöckl, H., Mosha, N. R., Dartnall, E., Ayieko, P., Mtolela, G. J., & Mshana, G. H. (2023) · PLOS Global Public Health · doi:10.1371/journal.pgph.0001781 · Cited by 6
Humayun, A., Muneeb, N. U. A., Najmussaqib, A., Haq, I. U., & Asif, M. (2025) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2025.05.21.25327990 · Cited by 5
“…observed earlier, bringing PCPs and CPs together in a single training cohort not only strengthened the learning experience but also facilitated a shift from a bio-medical to bio-psychosocial approach, and hence improved access to psychosocial interventions through task sharing (Kola et al., 2021).”
Burton‐Jones, A., & Stein, M. (2021) · MIS Quarterly · doi:10.25300/misq/2021/453e1 · Cited by 4
Alamirew, B., Darge, B. D., Dora, B. T., & Gebremeskel, F. (2025) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/s12913-025-12400-w · Cited by 4
Rahman, M., Biswas, S., Kabir, N. H., Lee, K. Y., & Hasan, M. K. (2025) · Discover Mental Health · doi:10.1007/s44192-025-00185-7 · Cited by 4
“So COVID-19 has certainly revealed the gap in mental health awareness among the LMICs and emphasized the need to address it [26].”
Adam, M., Klapow, M. C., Greuel, M., Seeff, M., Rohr, J. K., Gordon, A., Amsalem, D., & Bärnighausen, T. (2025) · JMIR Research Protocols · doi:10.2196/73382 · Cited by 4
“Recent research suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic dramatically exacerbated these problems, particularly in low-and middle-income countries [5].”
Montoya, M. I., Kogan, C. S., Khoury, B. A., García‐Pacheco, J. Á., Robles, R., Rebello, T. J., Kulygina, M. A., & Reed, G. M. (2026) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/75905 · Cited by 4
“Governments and systems launched digital platforms [6,7] and eased regulatory, policy, and billing restrictions [8], while professional bodies produced guidelines to assist clinicians [9,10].”
Montenegro, C., Abarca-Brown, G., Flores, E. C., Susser, E., Rivera-Segarra, E., Paniagua-Ávila, A., Florence, A. C., & Mascayano, F. (2024) · BMJ Global Health · doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2024-015923 · Cited by 4
“The concept of ‘milieu’ offers an alternative metaphor to understand the symbiosis between agency and the boundaries of GMH. Originating from the work of Canguilhem 48 and re-elaborated by Rose 49 and Béhague, 50 milieu describes a dynamic ecosystem where organisms and environments continually interact and shape each…”
InfluentialKitano, T., Salmon, D. A., Dudley, M. Z., Saldanha, I. J., Thompson, D. A., & Engineer, L. D. (2025) · Value in Health · doi:10.1016/j.jval.2025.02.007 · Cited by 4
Giri, P., Lamb, M. M., Fuentes, V. C., Thapa, A., Bhattarai, S., Dukpa, C., Shrestha, C. C., Ekhteraei, S., Vanderburg, J. L., Windsor, B., et al. (2025) · Discover Mental Health · doi:10.1007/s44192-025-00217-2 · Cited by 8
Cheng, J., Liu, Z., Zhu, R., Liu, Q., Han, H., Liu, N., Shi, J., Han, S., & Ma, N. (2025) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2025.119734 · Cited by 4
Empowering older adults and their communities to cope with depression in resource-limited settings
Aliberti, M. J. R., & Suemoto, C. K. (2022) · The Lancet Healthy Longevity · doi:10.1016/s2666-7568(22)00216-1 · Cited by 4
Balice‐Bourgois, C., Bonetti, L., Tolotti, A., Liptrott, S. J., Villa, M., Luca, C. E., Steiner, L. M., Biegger, A., Goncalves, S., Moser, L., et al. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph191912838 · Cited by 4
Serafim, S. D., Goularte, J. F., Caldieraro, M. A., Lima, F. M., Dalpiaz, G., Rabelo‐da‐Ponte, F. D., Torrent, C., Solé, B., Vieta, E., & Rosa, A. R. (2022) · Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health · doi:10.2174/17450179-v18-e2210121 · Cited by 4
MentorOn: A peer mentoring program developed for COVID‐19 times
Patel, K. N., Lincoln, B., Gomez, L. A. M., Cepeda-Lopez, A. C., Ting, T., Lund, T. J., & Liang, B. (2023) · Journal of Community Psychology · doi:10.1002/jcop.23030 · Cited by 6
Simbeza, S., Mutale, J., Mulabe, M., Jere, L., Bukankala, C., Sikombe, K., Sikazwe, I. T., Bolton‐Moore, C., Mody, A., Geng, E. H., et al. (2023) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069257 · Cited by 5
Cost-Effective Modular Biosensor for SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A Detection
Murray, A., Ojeda, J., Merhebi, O. E., Calvo‐Marzal, P., Gerasimova, Y. V., & Chumbimuni‐Torres, K. Y. (2023) · Biosensors · doi:10.3390/bios13090874 · Cited by 4
“Additionally, their high cost renders RT-qPCR assays unavailable in many low-and middle-income countries, which have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic [3–5].”
Torun, Ş. E., Kızılkan, M. P., Derman, O., & Akgül, S. (2023) · Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/13591045231210171 · Cited by 4
“Additionally, there has been a signi fi cant decrease in the utilization of healthcare services which may all explain our results (Kola et al., 2021).”
Smith, K., Ostinelli, E. G., Ede, R., Allard, L., Thomson, M., Hewitt, K., Brown, P., Zangani, C., Jenkins, M., Hinze, V., et al. (2023) · JMIR Mental Health · doi:10.2196/52901 · Cited by 4
Metadata
- Authors
- Kola, L., Kohrt, B. A., Hanlon, C., Naslund, J. A., Sikander, S., Balaji, M., Benjet, C., Cheung, E. Y. L., Eaton, J., Gonsalves, P., Hailemariam, M., Luitel, N. P., Machado, D. B., Misganaw, E., Omigbodun, O., Roberts, T., Salisbury, T. T., Shidhaye, R., Sunkel, C., Ugo, V., van Rensburg, A. J., Gureje, O., Pathare, S., Saxena, S., Thornicroft, G., & Patel, V.
- Affiliations
- University of Ibadan (NG)
- George Washington University (US)
- King's College London (GB)
- Harvard University (US)
- University of Liverpool (GB)
- Sangath (IN)
- Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz (MX)
- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (CH)
- University of Sussex (GB)
- Michigan State University (US)
- Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences (IN)
- Corresponding author
- Kola, Lola
- ORCID
- Kola, Lola
- Kohrt, Brandon A
- Hanlon, Charlotte
- Naslund, John A
- Sikander, Siham
- Balaji, Madhumitha
- Benjet, Corina
- Cheung, Eliza Yee Lai
- Eaton, Julian
- Gonsalves, Pattie
- Hailemariam, Maji
- Luitel, Nagendra P
- Machado, Daiane B
- Misganaw, Eleni
- Omigbodun, Olayinka
- Roberts, Tessa
- Salisbury, Tatiana Taylor
- Shidhaye, Rahul
- Sunkel, Charlene
- Ugo, Victor
- Gureje, Oye
- Pathare, Soumitra
- Saxena, Shekhar
- Thornicroft, Graham
- Patel, Vikram
- Venue
- The Lancet Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-06
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 535-550
- ISSN
- 2215-0366 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9764935
- OpenAlex
- W3129779558
- Cited by
- 835
- References
- 147
- Citations by year
- 2026: 71 · 2025: 108 · 2024: 148 · 2023: 199 · 2022: 207 · 2021: 99
- FWCI
- 21.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- erratum (2021-05-01)
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- The Lancet Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Arca - Repositório Institucional da Fiocruz (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Queen Mary Research Online (Queen Mary University of London) (submittedVersion)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- National Institutes of Health (5u19mh113211-05)
- Economic and Social Research Council (ES/T007125/1)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH120649, U19 MH-113211, R01MH100470, R01MH127767)
- Fogarty International Center (K43TW011046)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Migration, Health and Trauma
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, mental health, low- and middle-income countries, psychological distress, mental health services, global mental health, universal health coverage, task sharing, digital mental health, coercion in mental health care, child mental health, substance use disorders, psychosocial interventions, mental health system strengthening
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, Developing Countries, Health Promotion, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Mental Health, Mental Health Services, Socioeconomic Factors, Global Health, Telemedicine, Social Determinants of Health
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
