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Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety and depression symptoms of young people in the global south: evidence from a four-country cohort study

OBJECTIVE: To provide evidence on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of young people who grew up in poverty in low/middle-income countries (LMICs). DESIGN: A phone survey administered between August and October 2020 to participants of a population-based longitudinal cohort stud...

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Autores principales: Porter, Catherine, Favara, Marta, Hittmeyer, Annina, Scott, Douglas, Sánchez Jiménez, Alan, Ellanki, Revathi, Woldehanna, Tassew, Duc, Le Thuc, Craske, Michelle G, Stein, Alan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8053815/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33858874
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049653
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author Porter, Catherine
Favara, Marta
Hittmeyer, Annina
Scott, Douglas
Sánchez Jiménez, Alan
Ellanki, Revathi
Woldehanna, Tassew
Duc, Le Thuc
Craske, Michelle G
Stein, Alan
author_facet Porter, Catherine
Favara, Marta
Hittmeyer, Annina
Scott, Douglas
Sánchez Jiménez, Alan
Ellanki, Revathi
Woldehanna, Tassew
Duc, Le Thuc
Craske, Michelle G
Stein, Alan
author_sort Porter, Catherine
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: To provide evidence on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of young people who grew up in poverty in low/middle-income countries (LMICs). DESIGN: A phone survey administered between August and October 2020 to participants of a population-based longitudinal cohort study established in 2002 comprising two cohorts born in 1994–1995 and 2001–2002 in Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), Peru and Vietnam. We use logistic regressions to examine associations between mental health and pandemic-related stressors, structural factors (gender, age), and lifelong protective/risk factors (parent and peer relationship, wealth, long-term health problems, past emotional problems, subjective well-being) measured at younger ages. SETTING: A geographically diverse, poverty-focused sample, also reaching those without mobile phones or internet access. PARTICIPANTS: 10 496 individuals were approached; 9730 participated. Overall, 8988 individuals were included in this study; 4610 (51%) men and 4378 (49%) women. Non-inclusion was due to non-location or missing data. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Symptoms consistent with at least mild anxiety or depression were measured by Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (≥5) or Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (≥5). RESULTS: Rates of symptoms of at least mild anxiety (depression) were highest in Peru at 41% (32%) (95% CI 38.63% to 43.12%; (29.49–33.74)), and lowest in Vietnam at 9% (9%) (95% CI 8.16% to 10.58%; (8.33–10.77)), mirroring COVID-19 mortality rates. Women were most affected in all countries except Ethiopia. Pandemic-related stressors such as health risks/expenses, economic adversity, food insecurity, and educational or employment disruption were risk factors for anxiety and depression, though showed varying levels of importance across countries. Prior parent/peer relationships were protective factors, while long-term health or emotional problems were risk factors. CONCLUSION: Pandemic-related health, economic and social stress present significant risks to the mental health of young people in LMICs where mental health support is limited, but urgently needed to prevent long-term consequences.
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spelling pubmed-80538152021-04-20 Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety and depression symptoms of young people in the global south: evidence from a four-country cohort study Porter, Catherine Favara, Marta Hittmeyer, Annina Scott, Douglas Sánchez Jiménez, Alan Ellanki, Revathi Woldehanna, Tassew Duc, Le Thuc Craske, Michelle G Stein, Alan BMJ Open Mental Health OBJECTIVE: To provide evidence on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of young people who grew up in poverty in low/middle-income countries (LMICs). DESIGN: A phone survey administered between August and October 2020 to participants of a population-based longitudinal cohort study established in 2002 comprising two cohorts born in 1994–1995 and 2001–2002 in Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), Peru and Vietnam. We use logistic regressions to examine associations between mental health and pandemic-related stressors, structural factors (gender, age), and lifelong protective/risk factors (parent and peer relationship, wealth, long-term health problems, past emotional problems, subjective well-being) measured at younger ages. SETTING: A geographically diverse, poverty-focused sample, also reaching those without mobile phones or internet access. PARTICIPANTS: 10 496 individuals were approached; 9730 participated. Overall, 8988 individuals were included in this study; 4610 (51%) men and 4378 (49%) women. Non-inclusion was due to non-location or missing data. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Symptoms consistent with at least mild anxiety or depression were measured by Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (≥5) or Patient Health Questionnaire-8 (≥5). RESULTS: Rates of symptoms of at least mild anxiety (depression) were highest in Peru at 41% (32%) (95% CI 38.63% to 43.12%; (29.49–33.74)), and lowest in Vietnam at 9% (9%) (95% CI 8.16% to 10.58%; (8.33–10.77)), mirroring COVID-19 mortality rates. Women were most affected in all countries except Ethiopia. Pandemic-related stressors such as health risks/expenses, economic adversity, food insecurity, and educational or employment disruption were risk factors for anxiety and depression, though showed varying levels of importance across countries. Prior parent/peer relationships were protective factors, while long-term health or emotional problems were risk factors. CONCLUSION: Pandemic-related health, economic and social stress present significant risks to the mental health of young people in LMICs where mental health support is limited, but urgently needed to prevent long-term consequences. BMJ Publishing Group 2021-04-15 /pmc/articles/PMC8053815/ /pubmed/33858874 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049653 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
spellingShingle Mental Health
Porter, Catherine
Favara, Marta
Hittmeyer, Annina
Scott, Douglas
Sánchez Jiménez, Alan
Ellanki, Revathi
Woldehanna, Tassew
Duc, Le Thuc
Craske, Michelle G
Stein, Alan
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety and depression symptoms of young people in the global south: evidence from a four-country cohort study
title Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety and depression symptoms of young people in the global south: evidence from a four-country cohort study
title_full Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety and depression symptoms of young people in the global south: evidence from a four-country cohort study
title_fullStr Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety and depression symptoms of young people in the global south: evidence from a four-country cohort study
title_full_unstemmed Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety and depression symptoms of young people in the global south: evidence from a four-country cohort study
title_short Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety and depression symptoms of young people in the global south: evidence from a four-country cohort study
title_sort impact of the covid-19 pandemic on anxiety and depression symptoms of young people in the global south: evidence from a four-country cohort study
topic Mental Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8053815/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33858874
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049653
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