Anxiety linked to COVID-19: A systematic review comparing anxiety rates in different populations
Open accessAbstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has incited a rise in anxiety, with uncertainty regarding the specific impacts and risk factors across multiple populations. A qualitative systematic review was conducted to investigate the prevalence and associations of anxiety in different sample populations in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Four databases were utilised in the search (Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO). The review period commenced in April 2021 and was finalised on 5 July 2021. A total of 3537 studies were identified of which 87 were included in the review (sample size: 755,180). Healthcare workers had the highest prevalence of anxiety (36%), followed by university students (34.7%), the general population (34%), teachers (27.2%), parents (23.3%), pregnant women (19.5%), and police (8.79%). Risk factors such as being female, having pre-existing mental conditions, lower socioeconomic status, increased exposure to infection, and being younger all contributed to worsened anxiety. The review included studies published before July 2021; due to the ongoing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, this may have excluded relevant papers. Restriction to only English papers and a sample size > 1000 may have also limited the range of papers included. These findings identify groups who are most vulnerable to developing anxiety in a pandemic and what specific risk factors are most common across multiple populations.
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The outbreak of COVID-19 was a catalyst for anxiety and stress, including worry about the self, others, and the economy.
“For many, the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was a catalyst for anxiety and stress, including worry about the self, others, and the economy (Saeed et al., 2022; Taylor et al., 2020; Vinkers et al., 2020).”
From Mindfulness Effects on Anxiety: Disentangling the Role of Decentering and Treatment Expectations (2024) · cites this paper as Saeed et al., 2022
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BackgroundInfluentialMental health of college students during the COVID-19 epidemic in China
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“6% [71] of participants reporting COVID-19 related anxiety.”
BackgroundInfluentialCOVID-19 and mental health in Brazil: Psychiatric symptoms in the general population
Goularte, J. F., Serafim, S. D., Colombo, R., Hogg, B., Caldieraro, M. A., & Rosa, A. R. (2020) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.09.021 · Cited by 257 · see citing works
Mental Health During COVID-19 Lockdown in the United Kingdom
Pieh, C., Budimir, S., Delgadillo, J., Barkham, M., Fontaine, J. R. J., & Probst, T. (2021) · Psychosomatic Medicine · doi:10.1097/psy.0000000000000871 · Cited by 252 · cited 2× · see citing works
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InfluentialCai, Q., Feng, H., Huang, J., Wang, M., Wang, Q., Lu, X., Xie, Y., Wang, X., Liu, Z., Hou, B., et al. (2020) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.06.031 · Cited by 248 · cited 3× · see citing works
“A greater prevalence of anxiety was found in frontline healthcare responders compared to second-line or non-COVID-19 healthcare workers, and this was highlighted in twelve papers [29,30,34,43,48,51,53,69,74,76,109,113].”
BackgroundResultOzamiz-Etxebarria, N., Idoiaga Mondragon, N., Dosil Santamaría, M., & Picaza Gorrotxategi, M. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01491 · Cited by 246 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Quarantine and lockdown orders proved detrimental to mental health, as demonstrated in ten studies [27,37,42,45,82,85,86,99,101], with increased loneliness and isolation being the cause of significant increases in anxiety.”
BackgroundInfluentialPsychological responses during the COVID-19 outbreak among university students in Bangladesh
Islam, M. S., Sujan, M. S. H., Tasnim, R., Sikder, M. T., Potenza, M. N., & van Os, J. (2020) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0245083 · Cited by 245 · cited 7× · see citing works
“Two studies found that postgraduate students aged in their mid-to-late 20s had higher levels of anxiety when compared to undergraduates [47,60].”
BackgroundResultInfluentialDaly, M., Sutin, A. R., & Robinson, E. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/qd5z7 · Cited by 242 · see citing works
Arrebola, I. A., Ruiz, G. R., Vera, J. G., & Mingorance-Estrada, Á. C. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.570017 · Cited by 234 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The transition to online schooling has caused distress in many students who have issues with self-learning, which has caused an upsurge in anxiety related to academics and isolation, and a lowered perception of academic self-efficacy [145].”
BackgroundQian, M., Wu, Q., Wu, P., Hou, Z., Liang, Y., Cowling, B. J., & Yu, H. (2020) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-040910 · Cited by 225 · cited 1× · see citing works
“However, these findings can be explained by the limited sample size in some of these studies, which did not include a wide range of socioeconomic diversity and a had a degree of heterogeneity in the data [119].”
BackgroundMales and Mental Health Stigma
Chatmon, B. N. (2020) · American Journal of Men s Health · doi:10.1177/1557988320949322 · Cited by 221 · cited 1× · see citing works
“This can be attributed to the decreased likelihood of males to seek mental health assistance due to perceived stigma [131].”
BackgroundSun, S., Goldberg, S. B., Lin, D., Qiao, S., & Operario, D. (2021) · Globalization and Health · doi:10.1186/s12992-021-00663-x · Cited by 221 · cited 10× · see citing works
“Although restrictive orders caused some populations to experience more anxiety, another study showed that self-efficacy as a result of isolation decreased anxiety [98].”
BackgroundInfluentialCOVID-19 related depression and anxiety among quarantined respondents
Tang, F., Liang, J., Hai, Z., Kelifa, M. O., He, Q., & Wang, P. (2020) · Psychology and Health · doi:10.1080/08870446.2020.1782410 · Cited by 219 · cited 5× · see citing works
“The majority of papers in the present systematic review found that the prevalence of anxiety was higher in 2020 when compared to the rates of previous years (2019) [34,37,99].”
BackgroundResultInfluentialZhou, Y., Wang, W., Sun, Y., Qian, W., Liu, Z., Wang, R., Qi, L., Yang, J., Song, X., Zhou, X., et al. (2020) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.08.059 · Cited by 214 · cited 3× · see citing works
“, 2020 [111] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers China 1705 SAS 45.”
BackgroundInfluentialHalperin, S. J., Henderson, M. N., Prenner, S., & Grauer, J. N. (2021) · Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development · doi:10.1177/2382120521991150 · Cited by 213 · cited 10× · see citing works
“Age was yet another factor linked to heightened anxiety levels, with the majority of included papers identifying younger age groups as more at risk for anxiety [11,35,39,45,54,68].”
BackgroundResultInfluentialJuric, L. C., Andrés, M. L., del Valle, M. V., López‐Morales, H., Poó, F. M., Galli, J. I., Avincetto, M. M. Y., & Urquijo, S. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.565688 · Cited by 207 · cited 6× · see citing works
“Geographical locations that were identified as COVID-19 epicentres had higher instances of anxiety compared to non-epicentre areas [27,28,35,42,72,81,110].”
BackgroundInfluentialAnxiety, pandemic‐related stress and resilience among physicians during the COVID‐19 pandemic
Mosheva, M., Hertz‐Palmor, N., Dorman-Ilan, S., Matalon, N., Pessach, I. M., Afek, A. B., Ziv, A., Kreiss, Y., Gross, R., & Gothelf, D. (2020) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.23085 · Cited by 206 · cited 3× · see citing works
“Five studies found that the prevalence of anxiety was higher in healthcare workers than in other professions, and this included clinical, non-clinical, and administrative healthcare workers [30,40,78,80,111].”
BackgroundInfluentialChen, R., Chou, K.-R., Huang, Y.-J., Wang, T.-S., Liu, S.-Y., & Ho, L.-Y. (2006) · International Journal of Nursing Studies · doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2005.03.006 · Cited by 202 · see citing works
Ausín, B., González-Sanguino, C., Castellanos, M. A., & Muñoz, M. (2020) · Journal of Gender Studies · doi:10.1080/09589236.2020.1799768 · Cited by 201 · cited 2× · see citing works
“, 2020 [31] longitudinal General population Spain 1041 GAD-2 N/A”
BackgroundKorkmaz, S., Kılıçaslan, A. K., Cekic, S., Tartar, A. S., Balcı, H. N., & Atmaca, M. (2020) · Journal of Clinical Neuroscience · doi:10.1016/j.jocn.2020.07.073 · Cited by 199 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The degree of anxiety varied, as groups such as healthcare workers, females, and younger populations were more vulnerable than others [121,122].”
Backgroundvan der Velden, P. G., Contino, C., Das, M., van Loon, P., & Bosmans, M. W. G. (2020) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.08.026 · Cited by 193 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Alternatively, some studies indicate that lockdown and quarantine orders have a small or no impact on mental health [100].”
BackgroundInfluentialThe psychological impact of COVID-19 and restrictive measures in the world
Passavanti, M., Argentieri, A., Barbieri, D. M., Lou, B., Wijayaratna, K. P., Mirhosseini, A. F., Wang, F., Naseri, S., Qamhia, I. I. A., Tangerås, M., et al. (2021) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.01.020 · Cited by 190 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Those with increased contact with COVID-19 infected individuals exhibited stronger associations with anxiety [45,87,94], especially if the individual was exposed to COVID-19 in a working environment such as healthcare [56,67].”
BackgroundInfluentialLongitudinal evaluation of the psychological impact of the COVID-19 crisis in Spain
Planchuelo‐Gómez, Á., Odriozola-González, P., Muñiz, M. J. I., & de Luis-Garcı́a, R. (2020) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.09.018 · Cited by 187 · cited 5× · see citing works
“Contrastingly, four studies identified an opposite trend, with elderly and older populations experiencing more anxiety than younger groups [46,79,82,90].”
BackgroundResultInfluentialAlshekaili, M., Hassan, W., Said, N. A., Al‐Sulaimani, F., Jayapal, S. K., Al‐Mawali, A., Chan, M. F., Mahadevan, S. K., & Al‐Adawi, S. (2020) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042030 · Cited by 180 · cited 3× · see citing works
“A greater prevalence of anxiety was found in frontline healthcare responders compared to second-line or non-COVID-19 healthcare workers, and this was highlighted in twelve papers [29,30,34,43,48,51,53,69,74,76,109,113].”
BackgroundInfluentialAnxiety and depression symptoms of medical staff under COVID-19 epidemic in China
Liu, Y., Chen, H., Zhang, N., Wang, X., Fan, Q., Zhang, Y., Huang, L., Hu, B., & Li, M. (2020) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.09.004 · Cited by 178 · cited 6× · see citing works
“Five papers reported that younger healthcare workers such as trainees experienced more anxiety than older workers [48,51,69,73,113], but others reported that older healthcare workers were the more affected group [57,58,109].”
InfluentialAnxiety and Resilience of Healthcare Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic in Indonesia
Setiawati, Y., Wahyuhadi, J., Joestandari, F., Maramis, M. M., & Atika, A. (2021) · Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare · doi:10.2147/jmdh.s276655 · Cited by 174 · cited 2× · see citing works
“An Indonesian study found a more similar prevalence of 33% [140].”
BackgroundCollege Mental Health Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results From a Nationwide Survey
Kim, H., Rackoff, G. N., Fitzsimmons‐Craft, E. E., Shin, K. E., Zainal, N. H., Schwob, J. T., Eisenberg, D., Wilfley, D. E., Taylor, C. B., & Newman, M. G. (2021) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-021-10241-5 · Cited by 173 · cited 7× · see citing works
“Age was yet another factor linked to heightened anxiety levels, with the majority of included papers identifying younger age groups as more at risk for anxiety [11,35,39,45,54,68].”
BackgroundInfluentialHennein, R., Mew, E. J., & Lowe, S. R. (2021) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0246602 · Cited by 167 · cited 8× · see citing works
“…Healthcare workers and general population Iran 2045 HADS 65.6% He et al., 2021 [57] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers China 1971 GAD-7 29.3% Hennein et al., 2021 [58] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers US 1092 GAD-7 15.6% Huang et al., 2021 [59] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers Singapore…”
BackgroundInfluentialCOVID-19: anxiety among hospital staff and associated factors
Mattila, E., Peltokoski, J., Neva, M. H., Kaunonen, M., Helminen, M., & Parkkila, A. (2020) · Annals of Medicine · doi:10.1080/07853890.2020.1862905 · Cited by 160 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Mattila et al., 2020 [78] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers Finland 1995 GAD-7 30% mild anxiety, 10% moderate and 5%severe anxiety.”
BackgroundKan, F. P., Raoofi, S., Rafiei, S., Khani, S., Hosseinifard, H., Tajik, F., Raoofi, N., Ahmadi, S., Aghalou, S., Torabi, F., et al. (2021) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.06.073 · Cited by 160 · cited 1× · see citing works
“These findings are supported within the current literature, as the implication of quarantine and restriction has disrupted the routines of daily life many individuals rely on to uphold their mental health [134,135].”
BackgroundChew, N. W. S., Ngiam, J. N., Tan, B. Y.-Q., Tham, S.-M., Tan, C. Y.-S., Jing, M., Sagayanathan, R., Chen, J. T., Wong, L. Y. H., Ahmad, A., et al. (2020) · BJPsych Open · doi:10.1192/bjo.2020.98 · Cited by 159 · cited 5× · see citing works
“Some studies in the present review found that non-clinical healthcare workers presented with higher anxiety levels than clinical staff [38,51,58]; this was attributed to limited training in regard to infectious disease and crisis management [58].”
BackgroundInfluentialGender differences in emotional response to the COVID‐19 outbreak in Spain
Fernandez, L. G., Romero‐Ferreiro, V., Padilla, S., López‐Roldán, P. D., Monzó‐García, M., & Rodríguez–Jiménez, R. (2020) · Brain and Behavior · doi:10.1002/brb3.1934 · Cited by 156 · cited 4× · see citing works
“However, two studies found that males were more anxious when living with dependents under 18 [50,61] and that younger males had higher instances of anxiety [56].”
BackgroundInfluentialBendau, A., Plag, J., Kunas, S. L., Wyka, S., Ströhle, A., & Petzold, M. B. (2020) · Brain and Behavior · doi:10.1002/brb3.1964 · Cited by 153 · cited 6× · see citing works
“Age was yet another factor linked to heightened anxiety levels, with the majority of included papers identifying younger age groups as more at risk for anxiety [11,35,39,45,54,68].”
BackgroundInfluentialMental Health in Elderly Spanish People in Times of COVID-19 Outbreak
Fernandez, L. G., Romero‐Ferreiro, V., López‐Roldán, P. D., Padilla, S., & Rodríguez–Jiménez, R. (2020) · American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jagp.2020.06.027 · Cited by 148 · cited 8× · see citing works
“This was contrasted in a study by Garcia-Fernandez and colleagues (2020) [49], which found no differences in anxiety based on age.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialPsychological distress associated with the COVID-19 lockdown: A two-wave network analysis
Di Blasi, M., Gullo, S., Mancinelli, E., Freda, M. F., Esposito, G., Gelo, O. C. G., Lagetto, G., Giordano, C., Mazzeschi, C., Pazzagli, C., et al. (2021) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.02.016 · Cited by 143 · cited 2× · see citing works
“…Australia 1296 GAD-7, PHQ-9,WHO-5 N/A Denning et al., 2021 [40] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers UK, Poland andSingapore 3537 HADS 20% Di Blasi et al., 2021 [41] longitudinal General population Italy 1129 DASS-21 N/A Di Giuseppe et al., 2020 [42] Cross-sectional General population Italy…”
BackgroundHassannia, L., Taghizadeh, F., Moosazadeh, M., Zarghami, M., Taghizadeh, H., Dooki, A. F., Fathi, M., Alizadeh‐Navaei, R., Hedayatizadeh‐Omran, A., & Dehghan, N. (2020) · Neuropsychopharmacology Reports · doi:10.1002/npr2.12153 · Cited by 133 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Those with increased contact with COVID-19 infected individuals exhibited stronger associations with anxiety [45,87,94], especially if the individual was exposed to COVID-19 in a working environment such as healthcare [56,67].”
BackgroundInfluentialCheng, C., & Cheung, M. W. L. (2005) · Journal of Personality · doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2004.00310.x · Cited by 130 · cited 1× · see citing works
“This has, in turn, drastically affected mental health, with reports of heightened anxiety found in frontline healthcare staff across many countries [18,141].”
BackgroundPost-lockdown depression and anxiety in the USA during the COVID-19 pandemic
Khubchandani, J., SHARMA, S. K., Webb, F. J., Wiblishauser, M. J., & Bowman, S. L. (2020) · Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdaa250 · Cited by 125 · cited 5× · see citing works
“…population US 1005 GAD-7 52.1% mild, 26.8% anxiety disorder Karaivazoglou et al., 2021 [66] Cross-sectional General population Greece 1443 HADS 20% Khubchandani et al. 2021 [67] Cross-sectional General population US 1978 GAD-2, PHQ-4 42% Kim et al., 2021 [68] longitudinal University Students US…”
BackgroundResultInfluentialBatterham, P. J., Calear, A. L., McCallum, S. M., Morse, A. R., Banfield, M., Farrer, L. M., Gulliver, A., Cherbuin, N., Harris, R. M. R., Shou, Y., et al. (2021) · The Medical Journal of Australia · doi:10.5694/mja2.51043 · Cited by 124 · cited 5× · see citing works
“Ausin et al., 2020 [31] longitudinal General population Spain 1041 GAD-2 N/A Batterham et al., 2021 [32] longitudinal General population Australia 1296 GAD-7, PHQ-9 77% Bendau et al., 2020 [11] Longitudinal General population Germany 2376 GAD-2, PHQ-4 N/A Budimir et al., 2021 [33] Cross-sectional General population Au…”
BackgroundInfluentialPandey, D., Bansal, S., Goyal, S., Garg, A., Sethi, N., Pothiyill, D. I., Sreelakshmi, E. S., Sayyad, M., & Sethi, R. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0240501 · Cited by 123 · cited 5× · see citing works
“…DASS-21 49.5% (8.1% extreme severe and 7.6% severe) Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2020 [85] longitudinal General population Spain 1933 DASS-21 26.9% Pandey et al., 2020 [86] Cross-sectional General population India 1395 DASS-21 Anxiety prevalence was 22.4% in the second week and 26.6% in the third…”
BackgroundResultInfluentialJohns, G., Samuel, V. M., Freemantle, L., Lewis, J., & Waddington, L. (2021) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.11.026 · Cited by 118 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The majority of these studies however, focus on specific sample populations [114].”
BackgroundDrazen, J. M., Kanapathipillai, R., Campion, E. W., Rubin, E. J., Hammer, S. M., Morrissey, S., & Baden, L. R. (2014) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejme1413139 · Cited by 112 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Social isolation was common during previous episodes of infectious disease outbreaks such as the quarantining of populations during the SARS and Ebola outbreaks, although this was mostly restricted to those infected or in contact with the disease [115,116].”
BackgroundAre Lockdown Measures Effective Against COVID-19?
Kharroubi, S. A., & Saleh, F. (2020) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2020.549692 · Cited by 112 · see citing works
Arslan, G., Yıldırım, M., & Aytaç, M. (2020) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481187.2020.1824204 · Cited by 108 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Literature also supports the finding that the increased loneliness experienced by students living on campus is determinative of higher anxiety psychometric scores [144].”
ResultExploratory study on the psychological impact of COVID-19 on the general Brazilian population
Serafim, A. D. P., Durães, R. S. S., Rocca, C. C. D. A., Gonçalves, P. D., Saffi, F., Cappellozza, A., Paulino, M., Dumas-Diniz, R., Brissos, S., Brites, R., et al. (2021) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0245868 · Cited by 108 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Those with increased contact with COVID-19 infected individuals exhibited stronger associations with anxiety [45,87,94], especially if the individual was exposed to COVID-19 in a working environment such as healthcare [56,67].”
BackgroundInfluentialRossi, R., Socci, V., Pacitti, F., Mensi, S., Marco, A. D., Siracusano, A., & Lorenzo, G. D. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.608986 · Cited by 107 · cited 4× · see citing works
“, 2020 [92] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers and general population Italy 24,050 GAD-7 21.”
BackgroundInfluentialAnxiety and depressive symptoms and medical illness among adults with anxiety disorders
Niles, A. N., Dour, H. J., Stanton, A. L., Roy‐Byrne, P., Stein, M. B., Sullivan, G., Sherbourne, C. D., Rose, R. D., & Craske, M. G. (2014) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2014.11.018 · Cited by 105 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Anxiety has been linked to increased ulcers, back issues, migraines, and asthma [2].”
BackgroundChinese College Students' Stress and Anxiety Levels Under COVID-19
Zhan, H., Zheng, C., Zhang, X., Yang, M., Zhang, L., & Jia, X. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.615390 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Nagasu, M., Muto, K., & Yamamoto, I. (2021) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0247705 · Cited by 95 · cited 1× · see citing works
“A multitude of studies found that job loss as a result of COVID-19 was a major contributor to significant surges in anxiety and attributed financial instability as a leading cause of a myriad of other severe mental health issues [132,133].”
BackgroundEstimating the basic reproduction number for COVID-19 in Western Europe
Locatelli, I., Trächsel, B., & Rousson, V. (2021) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0248731 · Cited by 95 · cited 1× · see citing works
“from a single primary infection, with any number over one causing exponential infection growth [5].”
BackgroundWanigasooriya, K., Palimar, P., Naumann, D. N., Ismail, K., Fellows, J. L., Logan, P., Thompson, C. V., Bermingham, H., Beggs, A. D., & Ismail, T. (2020) · BJPsych Open · doi:10.1192/bjo.2020.150 · Cited by 92 · cited 4× · see citing works
“, 2021 [104] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers UK 2638 PHQ-4 34.”
BackgroundInfluentialThe COVID‐19 pandemic and death anxiety in the elderly
Khademi, F., Moayedi, S., Golitaleb, M., & karbalaie, N. (2020) · International Journal of Mental Health Nursing · doi:10.1111/inm.12824 · Cited by 90 · cited 1× · see citing works
“However, four studies identified higher anxiety levels in older groups [47,79,82,90], which can be explained by older groups being more likely to suffer from more extreme effects of COVID-19 [138].”
BackgroundWarren, A. M., Zolfaghari, K., Fresnedo, M., Bennett, M., Pogue, J. R., Waddimba, A. C., Zvolensky, M. J., Carlbring, P., & Powers, M. B. (2021) · Cognitive Behaviour Therapy · doi:10.1080/16506073.2021.1874505 · Cited by 89 · cited 2× · see citing works
“…General, covid andhealth China 49,015 DASS-21 10.02% Wanigasooriya et al., 2021 [104] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers UK 2638 PHQ-4 34.31% Warren et al., 2021 [105] Cross-sectional General population United States 5023 PHQ-4 14.4% Wathelet et al., 2020 [106] Cross-sectional University…”
InfluentialZhao, H., He, X., Fan, G., Li, L., Huang, Q., Qiu, Q.-M., Kang, Z., Du, T., Han, L., Ding, L., et al. (2020) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.07.085 · Cited by 88 · cited 15× · see citing works
“Spain 2530 DASS-21, IES 21.34% Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2021 [84] Cross-sectional Teachers Spain 1633 DASS-21 49.5% (8.1% extreme severe and 7.6% severe) Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2020 [85] longitudinal General population Spain 1933 DASS-21 26.9% Pandey et al., 2020 [86] Cross-sectional General population India 1395…”
InfluentialGiardino, D. L., Huck‐Iriart, C., Riddick, M., & Garay, A. D. C. (2020) · Sleep Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2020.09.022 · Cited by 83 · cited 10× · see citing works
“Some studies in the present review found that non-clinical healthcare workers presented with higher anxiety levels than clinical staff [38,51,58]; this was attributed to limited training in regard to infectious disease and crisis management [58].”
BackgroundInfluentialPsychological Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Among Italians During the First Week of Lockdown
Giuseppe, M. D., Zilcha‐Mano, S., Prout, T. A., Perry, J. C., Orrù, G., & Conversano, C. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.576597 · Cited by 82 · cited 5× · see citing works
“, 2020 [42] Cross-sectional General population Italy 5683 SCL-90 51.”
BackgroundInfluentialRuengorn, C., Awiphan, R., Wongpakaran, N., Wongpakaran, T., & Nochaiwong, S. (2021) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.23155 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Nkire, N., Mrklas, K., Hrabok, M., Gusnowski, A., Vuong, W., Surood, S., Abba‐Aji, A., Urichuk, L., Cao, B., Greenshaw, A. J., et al. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.553468 · Cited by 80 · cited 6× · see citing works
“Contrastingly, four studies identified an opposite trend, with elderly and older populations experiencing more anxiety than younger groups [46,79,82,90].”
BackgroundResultInfluentialWakui, N., Shin'ichiro, A., Shirozu, S., Yamamoto, Y., Yamamura, M., Abe, Y., Murata, S., Ozawa, M., Igarashi, T., Yanagiya, T., et al. (2021) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11130-y · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Kantor, B. N., & Kantor, J. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.569083 · Cited by 74 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Kantor and Kantor, 2020 [65] Cross-sectional General population US 1005 GAD-7 52.1% mild, 26.8% anxiety disorder Karaivazoglou et al., 2021 [66] Cross-sectional General population Greece 1443 HADS 20% Khubchandani et al. 2021 [67] Cross-sectional General population US 1978 GAD-2, PHQ-4 42% Kim et…”
InfluentialZhao, Y.-J., Jin, Y., Rao, W., Li, W., Zhao, N., Cheung, T. C. C., Ng, C. H., Wang, Y. Y., Zhang, Q., & Xiang, Y. (2021) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2021.03.016 · Cited by 69 · cited 1× · see citing works
“These findings are supported within the current literature, as the implication of quarantine and restriction has disrupted the routines of daily life many individuals rely on to uphold their mental health [134,135].”
BackgroundMental health of medical personnel during the COVID‐19 pandemic
Antonijević, J., Binić, I., Žikić, O., Manojlovic, S., Tosic‐Golubovic, S., & Popović, N. (2020) · Brain and Behavior · doi:10.1002/brb3.1881 · Cited by 64 · cited 1× · see citing works
“…Arabia 3017 GAD-7 80% (mild), 11.4% (moderate), 8.2% (severe) Alshekaili et al., 2020 [29] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers Oman 1139 DASS-21 34.1% Antonijevic et al., 2020 [30] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers Serbia 1678 GAD-7 43.31% (minimal), 30.9% (mild), 12.99%(moderate),12.8% (severe).”
InfluentialPsychological responses during the COVID-19 outbreak among university students in BangladeshPreprint
Islam, M. S., Sujan, M. S. H., Tasnim, R., Sikder, M. T., Potenza, M. N., & van Os, J. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/cndz7 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Wang, C., Song, W., Hu, X., Yan, S., Zhang, X., Wang, X., & Chen, W. (2021) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-021-03108-2 · Cited by 55 · cited 8× · see citing works
“…population China 1389 GAD-7 70.78% Van der Velden et al., 2020 [100] Longitudinal General population Holland 3983 GAD-7 No significant anxiety found Wang et al., 2021a [101] Case-control General population China 1674 ADS 27% in quarantined, 11.2% in generalpopulation Wang et al., 2021b [102]…”
BackgroundResultInfluentialLehmann, M., Bruenahl, C. A., Addo, M. M., Becker, S., Schmiedel, S., Lohse, A. W., Schramm, C., & Löwe, B. (2015) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2015.09.002 · Cited by 50 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Past infectious disease outbreaks, such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), swine flu (H1N1), and Ebola, have, in each case, demonstrated an increased prevalence of anxiety [9,10].”
BackgroundHammarberg, K., Tran, T., Kirkman, M., & Fisher, J. (2020) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-042696 · Cited by 50 · cited 2× · see citing works
“…Healthcare,non-healthcare Turkey 2156 STAI 89.5% Halperin et al., 2021 [54] Cross-sectional University students US 1428 GAD-7, PHQ-9 30.6% Hammarberg et al., 2020 [55] Cross-sectional General population Australia 13,762 GAD-7 21.8% females, 14.2% males Hassannia et al., 2021 [56]…”
InfluentialChen, L., Zhao, H., Razin, D., Song, T., Wu, Y., Ma, X., HuerxidaAji, Wang, G., Wang, M., & Yan, L. (2021) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2020.12.067 · Cited by 48 · cited 7× · see citing works
“, 2021 [37] Cross-sectional General population (quarantined) China 1837 STAI 16.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialZilver, S. J. M., Broekman, B. F. P., Hendrix, Y. M. G. A., de Leeuw, R. A., Mentzel, S. V., van Pampus, M. G., & de Groot, C. J. M. (2021) · Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology · doi:10.1080/0167482x.2021.1907338 · Cited by 48 · cited 6× · see citing works
“5% of pregnant women, although this was not significant from pre-pandemic rates [112].”
BackgroundResultInfluentialJohnson, M. S., Skjerdingstad, N., Ebrahimi, O. V., Hoffart, A., & Johnson, S. U. (2021) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0253087 · Cited by 47 · cited 9× · see citing works
“3% having anxiety induced by lockdowns [64].”
BackgroundResultInfluentialWu, M., Han, H., Lin, T.-K., Min, C., Wu, J., Su, G., Su, G., Wu, D., Chen, F., Zhang, Q., et al. (2020) · Brain and Behavior · doi:10.1002/brb3.1818 · Cited by 46 · cited 4× · see citing works
“One study reported that males had higher rates of anxiety than females overall [107].”
BackgroundInfluentialDuong, K. N. C., Tien, N. L. B., Nguyen, P. T. L., Thanh, V. V., Phung, T. L., Pham, A. G., Anuratpanich, L., & Van, B. V. (2020) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/24776 · Cited by 43 · cited 3× · see citing works
“Geographical locations that were identified as COVID-19 epicentres had higher instances of anxiety compared to non-epicentre areas [27,28,35,42,72,81,110].”
BackgroundInfluentialWilliams, N. R. (2014) · Occupational Medicine · doi:10.1093/occmed/kqu092 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Aharon, A. A., Dubovi, I., & Ruban, A. (2021) · Quality of Life Research · doi:10.1007/s11136-020-02746-5 · Cited by 42 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Quarantine and lockdown orders proved detrimental to mental health, as demonstrated in ten studies [27,37,42,45,82,85,86,99,101], with increased loneliness and isolation being the cause of significant increases in anxiety.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialZhang, X.-R., Huang, Q., Wang, X.-M., Cheng, X., Li, Z., Wang, Z.-H., Zhong, W.-F., Liu, D., Shen, D., Chen, P., et al. (2020) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2020.08.041 · Cited by 41 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Geographical locations that were identified as COVID-19 epicentres had higher instances of anxiety compared to non-epicentre areas [27,28,35,42,72,81,110].”
BackgroundInfluentialYuan, L., Zhu, L., Chen, F., Cheng, Q., Yang, Q., Zhou, Z., Zhu, Y., Wu, Y., Zhou, Y., & Zha, X. (2020) · Risk Management and Healthcare Policy · doi:10.2147/rmhp.s269886 · Cited by 41 · cited 6× · see citing works
“Yuan and colleagues (2020) investigated the psychological impact of COVID-19 on police officers in a sample size of n = 3517, with n = 557 females and n = 2960 males [108].”
BackgroundInfluentialThe psychological states of people after Wuhan eased the lockdown
Lu, P., Li, X., Lu, L. J., & Yue, Z. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0241173 · Cited by 39 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Three studies concluded that anxiety levels in populations decreased when rules were eased or when participants were exempted from participating in quarantines [11,35,75].”
BackgroundInfluentialMental Health Status of Paediatric Medical Workers in China During the COVID-19 Outbreak
Liu, Y., Wang, L., Chen, L., Zhang, X., Bao, L., & Shi, Y. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00702 · Cited by 35 · cited 5× · see citing works
“The increased demand in working hours exposed healthcare workers, both clinical and non-clinical, to be more at risk [74,113].”
BackgroundResultInfluentialPsychological distress in the Greek general population during the first COVID-19 lockdown
Karaivazoglou, K., Κωνσταντοπούλου, Γ., Καλογεροπούλου, Μ., Iliou, T., Vorvolakos, T., Assimakopoulos, K., Gourzis, P., & Alexopoulos, P. (2021) · BJPsych Open · doi:10.1192/bjo.2021.17 · Cited by 35 · cited 3× · see citing works
“Six studies identified having a higher education being associated with worse anxiety [33,37,47,66,67,101], while two studies identified that lower education equated to increased anxiety [86,97].”
BackgroundResultInfluentialAnxiety Levels Amid the COVID-19 Lockdown in Saudi Arabia
Albagmi, F. M., AlNujaidi, H. Y., & Shawan, D. A. (2021) · International Journal of General Medicine · doi:10.2147/ijgm.s312465 · Cited by 35 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Younger age groups displayed more anxiety than older age groups in sixteen studies [28,32,37,39,42,45, 61,62,85,86,89,94,97,101,102].”
BackgroundInfluentialPublic behavior change, perceptions, depression, and anxiety in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak
Huang, J., Liu, F., Teng, Z., Chen, J., Zhao, J., Wang, X., Wu, Y. H., Xiao, J., Wang, Y., & Wu, R. (2020) · Open Forum Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1093/ofid/ofaa273 · Cited by 34 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Although proven as effective measures to reduce transmission and COVID-19 case numbers, they have brought about great mental turmoil globally [59].”
BackgroundInfluentialMental health status of Chinese residents during the COVID-19 epidemic
Jiang, W., Liu, X., Zhang, J., Wang, J., & Feng, Z. (2020) · BMC Psychiatry · doi:10.1186/s12888-020-02966-6 · Cited by 34 · cited 3× · see citing works
“Prior mental illness was also a contributing factor for worse mental health after COVID-19 [39,44,63,65,97].”
BackgroundInfluentialBohlken, J., Kostev, K., Riedel-Heller, S. G., Hoffmann, W. U., & Michalowsky, B. (2021) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.08.016 · Cited by 34 · cited 2× · see citing works
“This has, in turn, drastically affected mental health, with reports of heightened anxiety found in frontline healthcare staff across many countries [18,141].”
BackgroundGainer, D. M., Nahhas, R. W., Bhatt, N. V., Merrill, A., & McCormack, J. (2020) · Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine · doi:10.1097/jom.0000000000002086 · Cited by 32 · cited 6× · see citing works
“, 2021 [48] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers US 1724 GAD-7, PHQ-9 36.”
BackgroundInfluentialHuang, H. L., Chen, R. C., Teo, I., Chaudhry, I., Heng, A. L., Zhuang, K. D., Tan, H. K., & Tan, B. S. (2021) · Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology · doi:10.1111/1754-9485.13152 · Cited by 30 · cited 7× · see citing works
“…2021 [57] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers China 1971 GAD-7 29.3% Hennein et al., 2021 [58] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers US 1092 GAD-7 15.6% Huang et al., 2021 [59] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers Singapore 1638 GAD-7 12.5% Islaml et al., 2020 [60] Cross-sectional University students…”
BackgroundInfluentialSevere Mental Health Symptoms during COVID-19: A Comparison of the United Kingdom and Austria
Budimir, S., Pieh, C., Dale, R., & Probst, T. (2021) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare9020191 · Cited by 29 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Ausin et al., 2020 [31] longitudinal General population Spain 1041 GAD-2 N/A Batterham et al., 2021 [32] longitudinal General population Australia 1296 GAD-7, PHQ-9 77% Bendau et al., 2020 [11] Longitudinal General population Germany 2376 GAD-2, PHQ-4 N/A Budimir et al., 2021 [33] Cross-sectional General population Au…”
InfluentialGündoğmuş, İ., Ünsal, C., Bolu, A., Takmaz, T., Ökten, S. B., Aydın, M. B., Uçar, H., Gündüz, A., & Kul, A. T. (2021) · Psychiatry Research · doi:10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113976 · Cited by 29 · cited 3× · see citing works
“, 2021 [52] longitudinal Healthcare Workers Turkey 2460 DASS-21 29.”
BackgroundInfluentialSinawi, H. A., Al‐Balushi, N., Al-Mahrouqi, T., Ghailani, A. A., McCall, R. K., Sultan, A., Al-Sabti, H. A., Maniri, A. A., Panchatcharam, S. M., & Al‐Alawi, M. (2020) · Psychology Health & Medicine · doi:10.1080/13548506.2020.1842473 · Cited by 27 · cited 1× · see citing works
“, 2021 [96] Cross-sectional General Population Oman 1538 GAD-7 22%”
Mattei, V. E. D., Perego, G., Milano, F., Mazzetti, M., Taranto, P., Pierro, R. D., Panfilis, C. D., Madeddu, F., & Preti, E. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18105267 · Cited by 25 · cited 3× · see citing works
“…longitudinal General population Italy 1129 DASS-21 N/A Di Giuseppe et al., 2020 [42] Cross-sectional General population Italy 5683 SCL-90 51.1% Di Mattei et al., 2021 [43] Baseline assessment Healthcare workers Italy 1055 DASS-21 69.4% Fiorillo et al., 2020 [44] longitudinal General population…”
BackgroundInfluentialSharma, K., Joseph, S., Kumar, R., & Raju, A. (2020) · Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics · doi:10.22270/jddt.v10i3.4103 · Cited by 20 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Sharma and colleagues (2020) found that 50% of participants displayed anxiety symptoms after being subjected to quarantine [118].”
BackgroundLi, W., Li, Y.-H., Yu, H.-Z., Miller, D. J., Rouen, C., & Yang, F. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.633452 · Cited by 19 · cited 3× · see citing works
“, 2021 [72] Cross-sectional General population China 1201 DASS-21 34.”
BackgroundInfluentialInvestigation of anxiety levels of 1637 healthcare workers during the epidemic of COVID-19
Shen, M.-P., Xu, H.-Z., Fu, J.-F., Wang, T.-L., Fu, Z., Zhao, X., Zhou, G.-D., Jin, Q., & Tong, G. (2020) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0243890 · Cited by 18 · cited 5× · see citing works
“…Cross-sectional General population Thailand 2303 GAD-7 56.9% Serafim et al., 2021 [94] Cross-sectional General population Brazil 3000 DASS-21 39.7% Shen et al., 2020 [95] Cross-sectional Healthcare Workers China 1637 SAS 10.02% Sinawi et al., 2021 [96] Cross-sectional General Population Oman 1538…”
BackgroundInfluentialWang, X., Tao, J., Zhu, Q., Wu, X., Li, T., Zhao, C., Wang, X., Wang, X., Zhang, J., & Guan, N. (2021) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046350 · Cited by 17 · cited 5× · see citing works
“…population China 1389 GAD-7 70.78% Van der Velden et al., 2020 [100] Longitudinal General population Holland 3983 GAD-7 No significant anxiety found Wang et al., 2021a [101] Case-control General population China 1674 ADS 27% in quarantined, 11.2% in generalpopulation Wang et al., 2021b [102]…”
BackgroundInfluentialHe, Q., Ren, J., Wang, G., Zhang, J., Xiang, J., & He, D. (2021) · International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction · doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102188 · Cited by 15 · cited 6× · see citing works
“…13,762 GAD-7 21.8% females, 14.2% males Hassannia et al., 2021 [56] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers and general population Iran 2045 HADS 65.6% He et al., 2021 [57] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers China 1971 GAD-7 29.3% Hennein et al., 2021 [58] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers US 1092…”
BackgroundInfluentialMeesala, N., Harsha, G. V. D., Kandikatla, P., Karteekvarma, P., Nadakuditi, S. R., & Kakaraparthi, S. (2020) · Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care · doi:10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1244_20 · Cited by 12 · cited 3× · see citing works
“, 2021 [79] Cross-sectional General population India 1346 CAS-7 N/A”
BackgroundResultThe mental health of Chinese healthcare staff in non-epicenter of COVID-19: a cross-sectional study
Zhang, L., Wang, S., Shen, J., Wang, Y., Huang, X., Wu, F. Q., Zheng, X., Zeng, P., & Qiu, D. (2020) · Annals of Palliative Medicine · doi:10.21037/apm-20-2041 · Cited by 12 · cited 9× · see citing works
“, 2020a [109] Cross-sectional Healthcare workers China 2143 GAD-7 14.”
BackgroundInfluential
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Smartphone overuse, depression & anxiety in medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic
Santander-Hernández, F. M., Peralta, C. I., Guevara-Morales, M. A., Díaz-Vélez, C., & Valladares-Garrido, M. J. (2022) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0273575 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
Freibott, C. E., Stein, M. D., & Lipson, S. K. (2022) · Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports · doi:10.1016/j.dadr.2022.100060 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“( Jones, Mitra, and Bhuiyan 2021 ; Roberts et al. 2021 ; Saeed et al. 2022 ; Wu et al. 2021 ) In June 2020, the CDC reported that 13% of Americans indicated initiating or increasing substance use as a coping mechanism for stressors related to COVID-19 ( Czeisler 2020 , 24).”
Kirby, L. A. J., Zolkoski, S. M., O'Brien, K. H., Mathew, J., Kennedy, B., & Sass, S. M. (2022) · Journal of Happiness and Health · doi:10.47602/johah.v3i1.31 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“Higher rates of anxiety, stress, and depression symptoms were reported at different time points (e.g., Coiro et al., 2021; Saeed et al., 2022; Vahratian et al., 2021), with April-August 2021 rates of pastweek anxiety and depression symptoms four-fold higher than January-December 2019 among U.S.…”
Pretorius, T. B., & Padmanabhanunni, A. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20095697 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
The burdens of poverty during the COVID-19 pandemic
Petersen, J., Hettich, N., Baumkötter, R., Wild, P. S., Pfeiffer, N., Münzel, T. F., König, J., Lackner, K. J., & Beutel, M. E. (2022) · Frontiers in Sociology · doi:10.3389/fsoc.2022.995318 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“Some studies identified lower socioeconomic status, unemployment, being female, pre-existing mental conditions, chronic diseases, increased exposure to infection, and being younger as risk factors for poor mental health (Daly et al., 2020; Peters et al., 2020; Santabárbara et al., 2020; Breslau et al., 2021; Fancourt…”
BackgroundA systematic review and meta-analysis of neuroticism and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic
Regzedmaa, E., Ganbat, M., Sambuunyam, M., Tsogoo, S., Radnaa, O., Lkhagvasuren, N., & Zuunnast, K. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1281268 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Dong, Y., Chen, M., Wu, Z., & Zhang, Z. (2024) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-024-01610-2 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a notable increase in anxiety, with uncertainties surrounding its specific impact and risk factors across various populations [24, 25].”
BackgroundOksanen, A., Oksa, R., Celuch, M., Cvetkovic, A., & Savolainen, I. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20010680 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Ding, T., Zhu, C., Jing, L., & Gu, S. (2022) · Medicine · doi:10.1097/md.0000000000032068 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“Understanding the anxiety of college students after returning to school and its influencing factors plays an important role in college students’ emotional management and mental health.[19,20] Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the anxiety status of college students after returning to school during the COVID-19 ep…”
BackgroundLuo, L., Yuan, J., Bi, S., Wang, Y., Cao, Y., Wen, S., Ding, L., & Tang, K. (2024) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-024-05615-3 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“The prevalence rate of anxiety risk among college students is even higher, and the incidence rate appears to be increasing (Saeed et al., 2022).”
Krygsman, A., Farrell, A. H., Brittain, H. L., & Vaillancourt, T. (2023) · Journal of Anxiety Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2023.102769 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
An overview of maritime psychology through bibliometric analysis: Present state and future prospects
Ay, C., Seyhan, A., & Beşikçi, E. B. (2023) · Ocean Engineering · doi:10.1016/j.oceaneng.2023.116401 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Interventions for generalized anxiety disorder
Byrne, G. J. (2022) · Current Opinion in Psychiatry · doi:10.1097/yco.0000000000000840 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“participants [4], reported the following prevalence estimates: healthcare workers 36%, university students 34.”
BackgroundPetelin, D. S., Sorokina, O. Y., Troshina, D. V., Siginevich, Y. A., Efimochkina, S. M., & Volel, B. A. (2023) · Meditsinskiy sovet = Medical Council · doi:10.21518/ms2023-053 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Ciesluk, B., Erridge, S., Sodergren, M. H., & Troup, L. J. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1279123 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Parental burnout during COVID‐19: The moderating role of anxiety and family functioning
Pereira, M. G., Fraga, J., Santos, M., Ferraz, A., & Vilaça, M. (2024) · Stress and Health · doi:10.1002/smi.3411 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Mitchell, B. J., Gawlik, E. A., Baugher, B. J., George, R. L., MUAKKASSA, F. F., Mallat, A. F., Gunstad, J., Delahanty, D. L., & Coifman, K. G. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1061621 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
“Indeed, there is evidence of increased reports of anxiety around opportunities for exposure in social contacts (Etilé and Geoffard, 2022; Saeed et al., 2022), therefore social interactions may have fueled more anxiety compared to pre-COVID-19 interactions.”
BackgroundWang, X., Wu, Y., Chen, Y., Gao, Q., Liu, W., Xu, J., & Zang, S. (2024) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2024.04.032 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Kowall, B., Kostev, K., Landgraf, R., Hauner, H., Bierwirth, R., & Rathmann, W. (2022) · Diabetic Medicine · doi:10.1111/dme.14852 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Kabir, S., Newnham, E. A., Dewan, A. M., Islam, M. M., & Hamamura, T. (2024) · Communications Earth & Environment · doi:10.1038/s43247-024-01862-1 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“Thiscontrasts withearlierstudiesindicatingthatindividualslivinginunstableconditions withoutadequatesocialsupportweremorelikelytoexperienceCOVID-19-relatedanxietydisorders 52 – 54 .”
Lai, L., Tong, J., Xiang, Y., Zhang, L., & Ren, Z. (2022) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2022.11.065 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
“Considerable research has reported that anxiety was the most prevalent mental problem during the COVID-19 pandemic (Saeed et al., 2022).”
Longitudinal exploration of biopsychosocial profiles in individuals with anorexia nervosa
Halls, D., Batchelor, R., Holetic, V., Leppänen, J., Williams, S., & Tchanturia, K. (2023) · Journal of Psychiatric Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.09.001 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Theadom, A., Jones, K., Starkey, N., Barker-Collo, S., Ameratunga, S., Faulkner, J., Ao, B. T., & Feigin, V. (2024) · Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation · doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2023.07.016 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Chemis, I. M., Köchli, L., Marino, S., Russell, B. R., Stephan, K. E., & Harrison, O. K. (2025) · Cognitive Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience · doi:10.3758/s13415-025-01328-7 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Patel, M., Mantri, N. M., Joshi, N. K., Jain, Y. K., Goel, A. D., Gupta, M. K., Srinivasan, S., Yadav, V., Joshi, V., Singh, K., et al. (2024) · Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care · doi:10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1664_23 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
“[50] If this is not addressed, a slew of problems will occur, as a good mental condition is critical to society’s success.”
BackgroundWeinberg, M., Altshuler, A., & Soffer, M. (2023) · Psychology Health & Medicine · doi:10.1080/13548506.2023.2190989 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Influence of self-efficiency beliefs on the health and well-being of university students in COVID-19
Alves, D. D. M., Pompeo, D. A., Sacardo, Y., Eid, L. P., Lourenção, L. G., & André, J. C. (2024) · Revista gaúcha de enfermagem · doi:10.1590/1983-1447.2024.20230117.en · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Song, Z., Zhang, Z., Lyu, F., Bishop, M. P., Liu, J., & Chi, Z. (2024) · Sustainability · doi:10.3390/su16125036 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
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
Plackett, R., & Ferris, E. (2024) · PLOS mental health. · doi:10.1371/journal.pmen.0000120 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“The observed gender-specific differences in HA that we found strongly aligns with the emerging body of pandemic research, which consistently reports heightened anxiety levels, particularly among females [17–19, 56, 57].”
Fear of COVID-19, Perceived Stress, and PTSD: The Serial Mediating Role of Sense of Coherence
Padmanabhanunni, A., & Pretorius, T. B. (2023) · European Journal of Investigation in Health Psychology and Education · doi:10.3390/ejihpe13110169 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Smithers‐Sheedy, H., Waight, E., Swinburn, K., Given, F., Hooke, K., Webb, A., McIntyre, S. J., Henry, G., & Honan, I. (2023) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm13010001 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“Levels of anxiety were higher during the pandemic in the general population, with people suffering from pre-existing mental health issues at increased risk [42].”
BackgroundMidilli, T. S., Kalkim, A., & Uslu, B. (2024) · Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness · doi:10.1017/dmp.2024.71 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“Previous studies have examined the relationship between resilience and anxiety in general populations, 2,53 health personnel, 19,38,54 and university students 14,37 in different countries.”
BackgroundInfluentialCharacterising subgroups of people with severe COVID anxiety by latent profile analysis
King, J. D., McQuaid, A., Leeson, V. C., Tella, O., & Crawford, M. (2023) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2023.10.033 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Jung, S., Brook, C. A., & Schmidt, L. A. (2025) · Scandinavian Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1111/sjop.70052 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
The Study of Myo-Inositol’s Anxiolytic Activity on Zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Derkaczew, M., Kędziora, B., Potoczna, M., Podlasz, P., Wa̧sowicz, K., Jóźwik, M., & Wojtkiewicz, J. (2024) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu16131997 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“The exact impact of the pandemic on the human mental condition needs to be determined by further longitudinal study [8].”
BackgroundAli, H. Z., Jahan, S., Ilahi, L., Siraj, S., Zakria, M., Ullah, N., Ikram, M. A., Khan, A. U., Khan, M., Shah, F. A., et al. (2025) · Molecular Neurobiology · doi:10.1007/s12035-025-05530-z · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Mullen, D. K., Peng, T., Stewart, L., Mallik, A., & Russo, F. (2026) · PLOS mental health. · doi:10.1371/journal.pmen.0000355 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“More recently, there was a significant increase in reported anxiety disorders around the world during and after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic [2].”
Usluer, H. B., Ay, C., & Babaoğlu, B. (2022) · International Maritime Health · doi:10.5603/imh.2022.0036 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Basheti, I. A., Barqawi, H. J., Nassar, R. I., Thiab, S. H., Atatreh, N., & Abu‐Gharbieh, E. (2023) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare11040467 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Srinivasan, V., Abathsagayam, K., Suganthirababu, P., Alagesan, J., Vishnuram, S., & Vasanthi, R. K. (2023) · Work · doi:10.3233/wor-230144 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Recent studies states that diverse array of variables might influence anxiety levels among this group, including workload, personal protective equipment availability, and exposure to COVID-19 patients [12, 13].”
Psychological Well-Being in Adults Across the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study
Ehrler, M., Vogt, A. J., Eichelberger, D. A., Greutmann, M., Hagmann, C. F., Jenni, O. G., Kretschmar, O., Landolt, M. A., Latal, B., & Wehrle, F. M. (2025) · International Journal of Public Health · doi:10.3389/ijph.2025.1608347 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“The fi nding that older individuals were less likely to report low psychological well-being is in line with recent menta-analyses [38, 42 – 44] and illustrates a certain degree of resilience in the older population during the pandemic.”
Albarado, K. V. P., Lauer-Leite, I. D., Carvalho, D. C. D. O., & Vieira, T. A. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph19127148 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Bourion-Bédès, S., Rousseau, H., Batt, M., Tarquinio, P., Lebreuilly, R., Sorsana, C., Legrand, K., Machane, R., Tarquinio, C., & Baumann, C. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph191710999 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Risk factors such as being female, having pre-existing mental conditions, having a low socioeconomic status, having increased exposure to infection and being young all contributed to worsened anxiety [20].”
BackgroundLu, C.-H., Kuo, Y.-S., Tang, J., & Lin, C. (2025) · The American Journal of Emergency Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.ajem.2025.01.058 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Urban density and depression during COVID-19 in Seoul: Moderating effects of social participation
Park, J., Koo, J.-H., & Kang, S. (2026) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0339040 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Despite these efforts, anxiety about infection, feelings of isolation, and depressive symptoms emerged as significant social challenges that threaten individuals worldwide [6].”
Mordeno, I. G., Leyson, B. L., & Baroquillo, L. D. A. (2026) · Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health · doi:10.1080/15555240.2026.2653650 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Anxiety during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Prevalence, Effects and Predisposing Factors
Şebnem, A. K. A. N. (2023) · Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar - Current Approaches in Psychiatry · doi:10.18863/pgy.1263730 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Influência das crenças de autoeficácia na saúde e bem-estar de estudantes universitários na COVID-19
Alves, D. D. M., Pompeo, D. A., Sacardo, Y., Eid, L. P., Lourenção, L. G., & André, J. C. (2024) · Revista gaúcha de enfermagem · doi:10.1590/1983-1447.2024.20230117.pt · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Mental Health Status of New Police Trainees before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Kim, J.-S., Yoon, J., Kim, I., & Min, J. (2024) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare12060645 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“These results align with an Australian study indicating that women, youth, and low income contribute to increased anxiety [42].”
ResultExploring the relationship between social demographic factors and anxiety in college students
Ogunrinde, J. O., Dang, P., Martins, L., Niazi-Galindo, N., Adepoju, O. E., & Mitchell, L. Y. (2025) · Journal of Affective Disorders Reports · doi:10.1016/j.jadr.2025.100896 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Huang, Y., Xu, S., Zhao, X., Wang, L., Lv, Q., Wu, S., Wu, Q., & Zhang, X. (2025) · Frontiers in Pharmacology · doi:10.3389/fphar.2025.1524068 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Music therapy for anxiety disorders in adolescents and young adults: A systematic review
Ishak, M. W., Naqvi, A., Azatian, A., & Jeffrey, J. K. (2022) · International Journal of Frontiers in Life Science Research · doi:10.53294/ijflsr.2022.3.2.0067
Richez, B., Cantarel, C., Durrieu, F., Soubeyran, I., Blanchi, J., Pernot, S., Chakiba, C., Roubaud, G., Cousin, S., Étienne, G., et al. (2023) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph20115949
“A systematic review reported that health workers had the highest prevalence of anxiety linked to COVID-19 [18].”
BackgroundYıldırım, Y. E. (2023) · Dusunen Adam The Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences · doi:10.14744/dajpns.2023.00208 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“The fear of infection and disease associated with COVID-19, uncertainty about the course of the pandemic, losing jobs and financial problems, isolation, and the loneliness in quarantine conditions can be the reasons of increase in anxiety levels (31).”
Impact of COVID-19 outbreak on the mental health in sport and among society
Kędra, K., MICHALIK, I., Zarańska, J., Aab, A., & Bielak, M. (2023) · Journal of Education Health and Sport · doi:10.12775/jehs.2023.35.01.010 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“[51] Saeed H, Eslami A, Nassif NT, Simpson AM, Lal S.”
BackgroundPingsuthiwong, P., & Subbalekha, K. (2022) · doi:10.58837/chula.the.2022.268
“In addition, the study found that the sex factor, especially concerns level in female, was significantly higher than males in all respects, which is consistent with many studies.(44) Females are more likely than males to look after dependent family members because they feel like the primary caretaker and since the pan…”
ResultNegative Emotions Present in the Classroom After Pandemic Covid-19
Zepeda, S., & Nuñez, A. (2023) · The Proceedings of the International Conference on Applied Research in Education. · doi:10.33422/5th.areconf.2023.10.105
Estudo da conectividade funcional entre cérebros de pessoas em cooperação
Bazán, P. R. (2023) · Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (Universidade de São Paulo) · doi:10.11606/t.5.2023.tde-18122023-125751
Carr, D. C., Schmidt, B., Schubert, F. T., & Sachs‐Ericsson, N. (2024) · Aging & Mental Health · doi:10.1080/13607863.2023.2297049
“…lower rates of anxiety compared to younger adults (Martin, 2003), studies have shown that anxiety symptoms increased during COVID-19 for both young and older adults (Saeed et al., 2022); in some studies, the increase in anxiety was found to be higher in older adults (Pashazadeh Kan et al., 2021).”
ResultFactors Contributing to Heightened Anxiety in Airline Pilots During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Hontz, M., & Osborne, J. (2023) · Journal of Student Research · doi:10.47611/jsrhs.v12i3.4729
Huỳnh, A. Đ., Đặng, Đ. D. K., Lưu, L. K. N., Hồ, H. M. T., Lương, T. M. L., & Trần, H. D. (2024) · Tạp chí Y Dược học Cần Thơ · doi:10.58490/ctump.2024i70.2113
Ołdakowska, I., & Oniszczenko, W. (2024) · Journal of Forensic Psychiatry and Psychology · doi:10.1080/14789949.2024.2385965
Kim, M., Kim, J., Kwak, S. H., Lee, E. H., Park, J. Y., & Lee, D. (2024) · 신경정신의학 · doi:10.4306/jknpa.2024.63.3.167
Anxiety-inducing factors among educators in the Capricorn district of Limpopo, South Africa
Maaga, K. C., & Mokwena, K. E. (2024) · International Journal of Innovative Research and Scientific Studies · doi:10.53894/ijirss.v7i4.3444
“Higher rates of anxiety have been observed among female teachers [26] which suggests the gendered aspect of anxiety [27], may be explained by expected household-related duties for females, which leads to work-family imbalance and resultant increased anxiety symptoms [23].”
BackgroundNahidi, M., Bordbar, M. R. F., Mohammadi, H., Morovatdar, N., Emadzadeh, M., & Mirshafiei, H. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1466026
Coming Back to Campus: Factors Contributing Post-COVID-19 Adjustment of University Students
Yavuz-Şala, F. C., Toker, S. N., Berber, K., Taşkın, E. E., Habeş, E. Ç., & Artar, M. (2024) · Gazi Üniversitesi Gazi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi · doi:10.17152/gefad.1491688
Lee, J., Ko, D.-W., & Choi, H.-Y. (2025) · BMC Psychology · doi:10.1186/s40359-025-02523-4 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Especially during and after COVID-19, there was a rise in anxiety due to the uncertainty associated with life circumstances across countries [17], and the trend is ongoing with the uncertainty associated with rapid changes in society post-COVID-19.”
Borges, S. A. M., Roncete, G. P., Amendola, F. C., Zanetti, M. V., Miguel, E. C., Busatto, G. F., Forlenza, O. V., Damiano, R. F., & HCFMUSP COVID-19 Study Group (2025) · American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine · doi:10.1177/15598276251328022
Patient Perspective on Dental Care Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic: A Survey During Omicron Stage
Pingsuthiwong, P., Wiriyakijja, P., Pisarnturakit, P. P., & Subbalekha, K. (2025) · Journal of Patient Experience · doi:10.1177/23743735251342125
Hoti, A. (2025) · European journal of economics, law and social sciences · doi:10.2478/ejels-2025-0015
Gökdemir, Ö., Açıkgöz, A., Akın, Ç., & Koca, B. (2025) · Celal Bayar Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Enstitüsü Dergisi · doi:10.34087/cbusbed.1537441
Otto, L., & Eloff, I. (2026) · Pastoral Care in Education · doi:10.1080/02643944.2026.2620595
Berdida, D. J. E., Fernandez, A. J., Albacea, L. J. A., Borja, L. M. C., Funtanares, C. I. J., Grecia, M. C. V., Torion, J. J. S., & Ramirez, S. H. (2026) · Nurse Education Today · doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2026.107061
Mottonen, A.-L., DeRoche, C., Reed, T., Kharazmi, O. A., Gulia, N., Sanderson, E., & Jones, K. (2026) · COVID · doi:10.3390/covid6090157
Work-related anxiety: age differences among European workers under job and technological demands
Campos‐García, I., Barahona, E. P., & De-la-Calle-Durán, M.-C. (2026) · Employee Relations · doi:10.1108/er-09-2025-0749
- Authors
- Saeed, H., Eslami, A., Nassif, N. T., Simpson, A. M., & Lal, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Technology Sydney (AU)
- Neuroscience Research Unit, School of Life Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia
- Venue
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-02-15
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 2189
- ISSN
- 1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8871867
- OpenAlex
- W4213366330
- Cited by
- 76
- References
- 154
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 15
- FWCI
- 2.88
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- OPUS - Open Publications of UTS Scholars (University of Technology Sydney) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- University of Technology Sydney
- 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 › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety, anxiety prevalence, risk factors for anxiety, healthcare workers, university students, pregnant women, teachers, parents, socioeconomic status, gender differences, pre-existing mental health conditions, infection exposure, vulnerable populations
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Anxiety, Depression, Female, Humans, Mental Health, Pregnancy, Pandemics
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