Increased psychological distress, loneliness, and unemployment in the spread of COVID-19 over 6 months in Germany.
Open accessAbstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic poses a challenge to global mental health. Loneliness and isolation may put people at higher risk for increased psychological distress. However, there is a lack of research investigating the development of COVID-19-related distress over time. Materials and Methods: We undertook an online survey among general population (N = 1903) in Germany throughout 6 months from the peak transmission period in April to the off-peak period by September 2020. Results: We found that the average prevalence of psychological distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic significantly rose from 24% to 66% between the peak and off-peak transmission period, respectively. Unemployment rate and loneliness increased negative mental health outcomes, although the number of active COVID-19 cases decreased from April to September. Psychological distress scores increased mostly in female, young, and lonely people. Conclusions: Our results underline the importance of considering innovative alternatives to facilitate employment opportunities, distant contacts, and self-help over the course of the pandemic. Our study highlights the urgent need to pay attention to mental health services specifically targeting female, young, unemployed, and lonely people.
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The previously described reduced wellbeing and quality of life in the general population during the pandemic did presumably apply also to the participants in this study.
“The previously described reduced wellbeing and quality of life in the general population during the pandemic did presumably apply also to the participants in this study.”
From Acceptance and commitment therapy in a psychiatric day hospital—A longitudinal naturalistic effectiveness trial (2023) · cites this paper as [28]
The Results (§3.2; page unavailable) report increased psychological distress among German respondents during the pandemic, and the Introduction describes challenges to well-being in general populations. The paper does not report a quality-of-life measure or a pre-pandemic comparison, so it does not establish reduced quality of life relative to before the pandemic. Whether this also applied to the citing study’s participants is the citing authors’ stated presumption, not a finding of this source. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe average mental wellbeing and subjective quality of life decreased significantly in Germany during the COVID pandemic.
“This is remarkable, considering that in the same time, due to the COVID pandemic and associated restrictions, the average mental wellbeing as well as subjective quality of life decreased significantly in Germany (26–28).”
From Acceptance and commitment therapy in a psychiatric day hospital—A longitudinal naturalistic effectiveness trial (2023) · cites this paper as [28]
Results §3.2 reports a significant increase in psychological distress among respondents in Germany from April to September 2020, supporting a decline in mental wellbeing during the pandemic. The paper does not report a significant decrease in subjective quality of life, and Limitations §4.2 says it lacks a comparable pre-pandemic baseline and cannot establish the effects of restrictions on mental health. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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References 54 · Cited by 81
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [15]Zhang S.X. Wang Y. Jahanshahi A.A. Schmitt V.G.H. Mental distress of adults in Brazil during the COVID-19 crisis medRxiv 2020 10.1101/2020.04.18.20070896 · DOI
- Authors
- Liu, S., Heinzel, S., Haucke, M. N., & Heinz, A.
- Affiliations
- Stiftung Charité (DE)
- Freie Universität Berlin (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Liu, Shuyan
- Venue
- Medicina
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2021-01-09
- Volume
- 57
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 53
- ISSN
- 1010-660X (ISSN-L)
- 1648-9144
- PMC
- PMC7827929
- OpenAlex
- W2461460371
- Cited by
- 81
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 21
- FWCI
- 12.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Medicina (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Refubium (Universitätsbibliothek der Freien Universität Berlin) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Universitätsbibliothek der FU Berlin Hochschulschriftenstelle u. Dokumentenserver (cc-by)
- Funders
- Berlin University Alliance as part of the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments (grant to S.L. and S.H.)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Project-ID 402170461 – TRR 265 to A.H.)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Employment and Welfare Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, psychological distress, loneliness, unemployment, mental health, gender differences, young adults, social isolation
- MeSH terms
- Psychological Distress, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Educational Status, Female, Germany, Humans, Loneliness, Male, Middle Aged, Sex Factors, Stress, Psychological, Unemployment, Prevalence, Young Adult
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