Evaluation of psychological stress in scientific researchers during the 2019–2020 COVID-19 outbreak in China

BACKGROUND: Beginning in December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused an outbreak of infectious pneumonia. The Chinese government introduced a series of grounding measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The living and working patterns of many scientific researchers also underwent significant changes during this period. METHODS: An opportunity sample (n = 251) was obtained in China using a questionnaire with 42 questions on scientific research progress and psychological stress during the COVID-19 epidemic. RESULTS: Of the 251 participants, 76.9% indicated that their research was affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, and participants who were affected by the outbreak had higher stress levels than those who were not affected. Participants who conducted COVID-19 research and indicated concern that they would fail to finish the research on time were more likely to indicate high levels of stress. Respondents indicated that extending deadlines (64.1%), receiving support from superiors for research (51.8%), and increasing benefits for researchers (51.0%) would likely relieve outbreak-related stress. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 outbreak had a major impact on the experiments of researchers in the life sciences, especially in basic and clinical medicine. It has also caused high levels of psychological stress in these populations. Measures should be taken to relieve psychological pressure on basic medical researchers and students who will soon complete their degrees (e.g., Master’s and PhD candidates in graduation years).