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Associations Between Change in Outside Time Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Public Health Restrictions and Mental Health: Brief Research Report

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and associated pandemic has resulted in systemic changes to much of life, affecting both physical and mental health. Time spent outside is associated with positive mental health; however, opportunities to be outside were likely affected by the COVID-19 p...

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Autores principales: Cindrich, Sydney L., Lansing, Jeni E., Brower, Cassandra S., McDowell, Cillian P., Herring, Matthew P., Meyer, Jacob D.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7874172/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33585393
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.619129
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author Cindrich, Sydney L.
Lansing, Jeni E.
Brower, Cassandra S.
McDowell, Cillian P.
Herring, Matthew P.
Meyer, Jacob D.
author_facet Cindrich, Sydney L.
Lansing, Jeni E.
Brower, Cassandra S.
McDowell, Cillian P.
Herring, Matthew P.
Meyer, Jacob D.
author_sort Cindrich, Sydney L.
collection PubMed
description The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and associated pandemic has resulted in systemic changes to much of life, affecting both physical and mental health. Time spent outside is associated with positive mental health; however, opportunities to be outside were likely affected by the COVID-19 public health restrictions that encouraged people not to leave their homes unless it was required. This study investigated the impact of acute COVID-19 public health restrictions on outside time in April 2020, and quantified the association between outside time and both stress and positive mental health, using secondary analyses of cross-sectional data from the COVID and Well-being Study. Participants (n = 3,291) reported demographics, health behaviors, amount of time they spent outside pre/post COVID-19 public health restrictions (categorized as increased, maintained, or decreased), current stress (Perceived Stress Scale-4), and positive mental health (Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale). Outside time was lower following COVID-19 restrictions (p < 0.001; Cohen's d = −0.19). Participants who increased or maintained outside time following COVID-19 restrictions reported lower stress (p < 0.001, 5.93 [5.74–6.12], Hedges' g = −0.18; p < 0.001, mean = 5.85 [5.67–6.02], Hedges' g = −0.21; respectively) and higher positive mental health (p < 0.001, 24.49 [24.20–24.77], Hedges' g = 0.21; p < 0.001, 24.78 [24.52–25.03], Hedges' g = 0.28) compared to those who decreased outside time. These findings indicate that there are likely to be negative stress and mental health implications if strategies are not implemented to encourage and maintain safe time outside during large-scale workplace and societal changes (e.g., during a pandemic).
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spelling pubmed-78741722021-02-11 Associations Between Change in Outside Time Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Public Health Restrictions and Mental Health: Brief Research Report Cindrich, Sydney L. Lansing, Jeni E. Brower, Cassandra S. McDowell, Cillian P. Herring, Matthew P. Meyer, Jacob D. Front Public Health Public Health The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and associated pandemic has resulted in systemic changes to much of life, affecting both physical and mental health. Time spent outside is associated with positive mental health; however, opportunities to be outside were likely affected by the COVID-19 public health restrictions that encouraged people not to leave their homes unless it was required. This study investigated the impact of acute COVID-19 public health restrictions on outside time in April 2020, and quantified the association between outside time and both stress and positive mental health, using secondary analyses of cross-sectional data from the COVID and Well-being Study. Participants (n = 3,291) reported demographics, health behaviors, amount of time they spent outside pre/post COVID-19 public health restrictions (categorized as increased, maintained, or decreased), current stress (Perceived Stress Scale-4), and positive mental health (Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale). Outside time was lower following COVID-19 restrictions (p < 0.001; Cohen's d = −0.19). Participants who increased or maintained outside time following COVID-19 restrictions reported lower stress (p < 0.001, 5.93 [5.74–6.12], Hedges' g = −0.18; p < 0.001, mean = 5.85 [5.67–6.02], Hedges' g = −0.21; respectively) and higher positive mental health (p < 0.001, 24.49 [24.20–24.77], Hedges' g = 0.21; p < 0.001, 24.78 [24.52–25.03], Hedges' g = 0.28) compared to those who decreased outside time. These findings indicate that there are likely to be negative stress and mental health implications if strategies are not implemented to encourage and maintain safe time outside during large-scale workplace and societal changes (e.g., during a pandemic). Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-01-26 /pmc/articles/PMC7874172/ /pubmed/33585393 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.619129 Text en Copyright © 2021 Cindrich, Lansing, Brower, McDowell, Herring and Meyer. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Cindrich, Sydney L.
Lansing, Jeni E.
Brower, Cassandra S.
McDowell, Cillian P.
Herring, Matthew P.
Meyer, Jacob D.
Associations Between Change in Outside Time Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Public Health Restrictions and Mental Health: Brief Research Report
title Associations Between Change in Outside Time Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Public Health Restrictions and Mental Health: Brief Research Report
title_full Associations Between Change in Outside Time Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Public Health Restrictions and Mental Health: Brief Research Report
title_fullStr Associations Between Change in Outside Time Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Public Health Restrictions and Mental Health: Brief Research Report
title_full_unstemmed Associations Between Change in Outside Time Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Public Health Restrictions and Mental Health: Brief Research Report
title_short Associations Between Change in Outside Time Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Public Health Restrictions and Mental Health: Brief Research Report
title_sort associations between change in outside time pre- and post-covid-19 public health restrictions and mental health: brief research report
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7874172/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33585393
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.619129
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