Stress-related emotional and behavioural impact following the first COVID-19 outbreak peak
Open accessPublished version of a preprint
Abstract
Abstract Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic poses multiple psychologically-stressful challenges and is associated with increased risk for mental illness. Previous studies have mostly focused on the psychopathological symptoms associated with the outbreak peak. Methods We examined the behavioural and mental health impact of the pandemic in Israel using an online survey. We collected 12,125 responses from 4,933 adult respondents during six weeks encompassing the end of the first outbreak and the beginning of the second. We used clinically validated instruments (Brief Symptom Inventory 18 (BSI-18), Perceived stress scale (PSS), Brief COPE inventory) to assess anxiety- and depression-related emotional distress, symptoms, and coping strategies, as well as questions designed to specifically assess COVID-19-related concerns. Results Respondents indicated worrying more about the situation in their country and their close ones contracting the virus, than about their own health and financial situation. The reported distress correlates with the number of new COVID-19 cases and higher emotional burden was associated with being female, younger, unemployed, living in low socioeconomic status localities, encountering more people, and experiencing physiological symptoms. Unexpectedly, older age and having a prior medical condition were associated with reduced emotional distress. Conclusions Our findings show that inequalities in mental-health burden associated with the COVID-19 pandemic are relevant also following the initial outbreak, and highlight the environmental context and its importance in understanding individual ability to cope with the long-term stressful challenges of the pandemic.
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
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?
The challenges related to the pandemic have been associated with a higher risk for mental health problems, including depression and anxiety disorders.
“Research shows that the challenges related to the pandemic have been associated with a higher risk for mental health problems, including depression and anxiety disorders (e.g., Benjamin et al., 2021).”
From Mindfulness Effects on Anxiety: Disentangling the Role of Decentering and Treatment Expectations (2024) · cites this paper as Benjamin 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.
Cites
Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China
Huang, C., Wang, Y., Li, X., Ren, L., Zhao, J., Hu, Y., Zhang, L., Fan, G., Xu, J., Gu, X., et al. (2020) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30183-5 · Cited by 48,884 · see citing works
An Introduction to the Bootstrap
Efron, B., & Tibshirani, R. J. (1994) · doi:10.1201/9780429246593 · Cited by 40,500 · see citing works
A Global Measure of Perceived Stress
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983) · Journal of Health and Social Behavior · doi:10.2307/2136404 · Cited by 32,807 · see citing works
An Introduction to the Bootstrap
Efron, B., & Tibshirani, R. J. (1993) · doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-4541-9 · Cited by 21,230 · see citing works
Conservation of resources: A new attempt at conceptualizing stress
Hobfoll, S. E. (1989) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.44.3.513 · Cited by 18,187 · see citing works
Wang, C., Pan, R., Wan, X., Tan, Y., Xu, L., Ho, C. S., & Ho, R. C. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17051729 · Cited by 9,923 · see citing works
Richardson, S., Hirsch, J. S., Narasimhan, M., Crawford, J. M., McGinn, T., Davidson, K. W., and the Northwell COVID-19 Research Consortium, Barnaby, D. P., Becker, L. B., Chelico, J. D., et al. (2020) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.2020.6775 · Cited by 9,254 · see citing works
You want to measure coping but your protocol’ too long: Consider the brief cope
Carver, C. S. (1997) · International Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1207/s15327558ijbm0401_6 · Cited by 7,361 · see citing works
Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review
Holt-Lunstad, J., Smith, T. B., & Layton, J. B. (2010) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000316 · Cited by 7,272 · see citing works
Positive Events and Social Supports as Buffers of Life Change Stress <sup>1</sup>
Cohen, S., & Hoberman, H. M. (1983) · Journal of Applied Social Psychology · doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.1983.tb02325.x · Cited by 2,675 · see citing works
Bootstrap confidence intervals
DiCiccio, T. J., & Efron, B. (1996) · Statistical Science · doi:10.1214/ss/1032280214 · Cited by 2,286 · see citing works
Psychological and physical well-being during unemployment: a meta-analytic study
McKee-Ryan, F., Song, Z., Wanberg, C. R., & Kinicki, A. J. (2005) · Journal of Applied Psychology · doi:10.1037/0021-9010.90.1.53 · Cited by 2,269 · see citing works
Santini, Z. I., Jose, P. E., York Cornwell, E., Koyanagi, A., Nielsen, L., Hinrichsen, C., Meilstrup, C., Madsen, K. R., & Koushede, V. (2020) · The Lancet Public Health · doi:10.1016/s2468-2667(19)30230-0 · Cited by 1,755 · see citing works
Xiao, H., Zhang, Y., Kong, D., Li, S., & Yang, N. (2020) · Medical Science Monitor · doi:10.12659/msm.923549 · Cited by 1,404 · see citing works
Stanton, R., To, Q. G., Khalesi, S., Williams, S. L., Alley, S. J., Thwaite, T. L., Fenning, A. S., & Vandelanotte, C. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17114065 · Cited by 1,386 · see citing works
González-Sanguino, C., Ausín, B., Castellanos, M. Á., Saiz, J., López-Gómez, A., Ugidos, C., & Muñoz, M. (2020) · Brain, Behavior, and Immunity · doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2020.05.040 · Cited by 1,373 · see citing works
Fancourt, D., Steptoe, A., & Bu, F. (2021) · The Lancet Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/s2215-0366(20)30482-x · Cited by 1,161 · see citing works
The Social Ecology of Resilience
Ungar, M. (2011) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-0586-3 · Cited by 1,033 · see citing works
Li, Z.-Y., Ge, J., Yang, M.-L., Feng, J., Qiao, M., Jiang, R., Bi, J.-J., Zhan, G.-F., Xu, X.-L., Wang, L., et al. (2020) · medRxiv · doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2020.03.007 · Cited by 1,021 · see citing works
Xiao, H., Zhang, Y., Kong, D., Li, S., & Yang, N. (2020) · Medical Science Monitor · doi:10.12659/msm.923921 · Cited by 913 · see citing works
Socioeconomic Status and Chronic Stress: Does Stress Account for SES Effects on Health?
Baum, A., Garofalo, J., & Yali, A. (1999) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1999.tb08111.x · Cited by 887 · see citing works
Zhang, C., Yang, L., Liu, S., Ma, S., Wang, Y., Cai, Z., Du, H., Li, R., Kang, L., Su, M., et al. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00306 · Cited by 788 · see citing works
Derogatis, L. R. (2011) · PsycTESTS Dataset · doi:10.1037/t07502-000 · Cited by 656 · see citing works
Barzilay, R., Moore, T. M., Greenberg, D. M., DiDomenico, G. E., Brown, L. A., White, L. K., Gur, R. C., & Gur, R. E. (2020) · Translational Psychiatry · doi:10.1038/s41398-020-00982-4 · Cited by 634 · see citing works
The Early Food Insecurity Impacts of COVID-19
Niles, M. T., Bertmann, F. M. W., Belarmino, E. H., Wentworth, T., Biehl, E., & Neff, R. (2020) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu12072096 · Cited by 625 · see citing works
Unemployment in the time of COVID-19: A research agenda
Blustein, D. L., Duffy, R. D., Ferreira, J. A., Cohen‐Scali, V., Cinamon, R. G., & Allan, B. A. (2020) · Journal of Vocational Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2020.103436 · Cited by 559 · see citing works
Berkman, L. F. A. K. (2014) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/med/9780195377903.001.0001 · Cited by 485 · see citing works
Acute mental health responses during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
Newby, J. M., O’Moore, K., Tang, S., Christensen, H., & Faasse, K. (2020) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0236562 · Cited by 471 · see citing works
Non-Graphical Solutions for Cattell’s Scree Test
Raîche, G., Walls, T. A., Magis, D., Riopel, M., & Blais, J. (2012) · Methodology · doi:10.1027/1614-2241/a000051 · Cited by 341 · see citing works
Psychological consequences of COVID-19 home confinement: The ECLB-COVID19 multicenter study
Ammar, A., Mueller, P., Trabelsi, K., Chtourou, H., Boukhris, O. F., Masmoudi, L., Bouaziz, B., Brach, M., Schmicker, M., Bentlage, E., et al. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0240204 · Cited by 295 · see citing works
Age-period-cohort analysis on the cancer mortality in rural China: 1990–2010
Wang, P., Xu, C., & Yu, C. (2014) · International Journal for Equity in Health · doi:10.1186/1475-9276-13-1 · Cited by 290 · see citing works
Chen, S., Deng, Z., Xu, Y., Long, Q., Yang, J., & Yuan, J. (2017) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00001 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
Early evidence of the impacts of COVID-19 on minority unemployment
Couch, K. A., Fairlie, R. W., & Xu, H. (2020) · Journal of Public Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104287 · Cited by 282 · see citing works
Depression reported by US adults in 2017–2018 and March and April 2020
Daly, M., Sutin, A. R., & Robinson, E. (2020) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.09.065 · Cited by 271 · see citing works
Varga, T. V., Bu, F., Dissing, A. S., Elsenburg, L. K., Bustamante, J. J. H., Matta, J., van Zon, S. K. R., Brouwer, S., Bültmann, U., Fancourt, D. E., et al. (2021) · The Lancet Regional Health - Europe · doi:10.1016/j.lanepe.2020.100020 · Cited by 264 · see citing works
Ma, C., Gu, J., Hou, P., Zhang, L., Bai, Y., Guo, Z., Wu, H. Y., Zhang, B., Li, P., & Zhao, X. (2020) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2020.03.17.20037572 · Cited by 218 · see citing works
Raifman, J., Bor, J. H., & Venkataramani, A. S. (2021) · JAMA Network Open · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.35884 · Cited by 213 · see citing works
Berkman, L. F. 1., & Kawachi, I. (2000) · Cited by 196 · see citing works
Are Older Adults Less Embodied? A Review of Age Effects through the Lens of Embodied Cognition
Costello, M. C., & Bloesch, E. K. (2017) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00267 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
Coping During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study of Older Adults Across the United States
Finlay, J., Kler, J. S., O’Shea, B. Q., Eastman, M. R., Vinson, Y. R., & Kobayashi, L. C. (2021) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.643807 · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Xu, L., Mao, Y., & Chen, G. (2020) · Aging · doi:10.18632/aging.103383 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Filc, D., Davidovich, N., Novack, L., et al. (2014) · International Journal for Equity in Health · doi:10.1186/s12939-014-0115-1 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Rossman, H., Keshet, A., Shilo, S., Gavrieli, A., Bauman, T., Cohen, O., Shelly, E., Balicer, R. D., Geiger, B., Dor, Y., et al. (2020) · Nature Medicine · doi:10.1038/s41591-020-0857-9 · Cited by 139 · see citing works
Self-citationPositive Events and Social Supports as Buffers of Life Change Stress
Cohen, S., & Hoberman, H. M. (2018) · KiltHub Repository · doi:10.1184/r1/6617633 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Li, D., Chaudhary, H., & Zhang, Z. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17144988 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Fay, M. P., & Malinovsky, Y. (2018) · Statistics in Medicine · doi:10.1002/sim.7890 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Fancourt, D., Steptoe, A., & Bu, F.-F. (2020) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2020.06.03.20120923 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Sensory Processing Difficulties in Youths With Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder
Benarous, X., Bury, V., Lahaye, H., Desrosiers, L., Cohen, D., & Guilé, J. M. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00164 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Dual impacts of coronavirus anxiety on mental health in 35 societies
Chen, S. X., Ng, J. C. K., Hui, B. P. H., Au, A. K. Y., Wu, W. C. H., Lam, B. C. P., Mak, W. W. S., & Liu, J. H.-F. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-87771-1 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Impact of SARS-CoV-2 (Coronavirus) Pandemic on Public Mental Health
Javed, B., Sarwer, A., Soto, E. B., & Mashwani, Z. (2020) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2020.00292 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
Economic stress, emotional contagion and safety outcomes: A cross-country study
Петитта, Л., Probst, T. M., Ghezzi, V., & Barbaranelli, C. (2020) · Work · doi:10.3233/wor-203182 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Machuka, J., Wambua, G. N., Musindo, O., Bukusi, D. E., Okech, V., Muiruri, P. N., Maina, R., Opiyo, N., Ng'ang'a, P., & Kumar, M. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.487648 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
Macro, Meso, and Micro-perspectives of Resilience During and After Exposure to War
Nuttman-Shwartz, O. (2012) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-0586-3_32 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Self-citationDistress Levels among Parents of Active Duty Soldiers during Wartime
Bitton, S., Tuval‐Mashiach, R., & Freedman, S. (2017) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01679 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Keshet, A., Gavrieli, A., Rossman, H., et al. (2020) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2020.04.27.20076000 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Self-citationRegev, I., & Nuttman‐Shwartz, O. (2016) · American Journal of Orthopsychiatry · doi:10.1037/ort0000165 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- [15]Gilbar O Ben-Zur H Adult Israeli community norms for the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) Int J Stress Manag 2002 9 1 10 10.1023/A:1013097816238 · DOI
- [20]WHO. Depression and other common mental disorders. Vol. 48. World Health Organization; 2017.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Mindfulness Effects on Anxiety: Disentangling the Role of Decentering and Treatment Expectations
Bos, D. P. A., Keesman, M., Roggeveen, A., Vase, L., Evers, A. W. M., & Peerdeman, K. J. (2024) · Behavior Therapy · doi:10.1016/j.beth.2024.03.004 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
- Authors
- Benjamin, A., Kuperman, Y., Eren, N., Rotkopf, R., Amitai, M., Rossman, H., Shilo, S., Meir, T., Keshet, A., Nuttman-Shwartz, O., Segal, E., & Chen, A.
- Affiliations
- Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry (DE)
- Weizmann Institute of Science (IL)
- Tel Aviv University (IL)
- Corresponding author
- Chen, Alon
- ORCID
- Venue
- Molecular Psychiatry
- Published
- 2021-08-04
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 6149-6158
- ISSN
- 1359-4184 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-5578
- PMC
- PMC8335462
- OpenAlex
- W3189000913
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 4.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Molecular Psychiatry (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- medRxiv (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Informationszentrum Lebenswissenschaften (ZB MED) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Ministry of Health, State of Israel (3-11389)
- Israel Science Foundation (1916/12, 1565/15)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, psychological stress, anxiety, depression, coping strategies, emotional distress, socioeconomic status, unemployment, gender differences, physiological symptoms, Israel
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Anxiety, Depression, Disease Outbreaks, Female, Humans, Stress, Psychological, Pandemics
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
