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Who is seeking help for psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic? Characterization of risk factors in 1269 participants accessing low-threshold psychological help

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying restrictions are associated with substantial psychological distress. However, it is unclear how this increased strain translates into help-seeking behavior. Here, we aim to characterize those individuals who seek help for COVID-19 related psychologi...

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Autores principales: Hilbert, Kevin, Boeken, Ole, Asbrand, Julia, Seemann, Sophia, Langhammer, Till, Praxl, Berit, Horváth, Leonore, Ertle, Andrea, Lueken, Ulrike
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9292095/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35849591
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271468
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author Hilbert, Kevin
Boeken, Ole
Asbrand, Julia
Seemann, Sophia
Langhammer, Till
Praxl, Berit
Horváth, Leonore
Ertle, Andrea
Lueken, Ulrike
author_facet Hilbert, Kevin
Boeken, Ole
Asbrand, Julia
Seemann, Sophia
Langhammer, Till
Praxl, Berit
Horváth, Leonore
Ertle, Andrea
Lueken, Ulrike
author_sort Hilbert, Kevin
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying restrictions are associated with substantial psychological distress. However, it is unclear how this increased strain translates into help-seeking behavior. Here, we aim to characterize those individuals who seek help for COVID-19 related psychological distress, and examine which factors are associated with their levels of distress in order to better characterize vulnerable groups. METHODS: We report data from 1269 help-seeking participants subscribing to a stepped-care program targeted at mental health problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sample characteristics were compared to population data, and linear regression analyses were used to examine which risk factors and stressors were associated with current symptom levels. RESULTS: Seeking for help for COVID-19 related psychological distress was characterized by female gender, younger age, and better education compared to the general population. The majority reported mental health problems already before the pandemic. 74.5% of this help-seeking sample also exceeded clinical thresholds for depression, anxiety, or somatization. Higher individual symptom levels were associated with higher overall levels of pandemic stress, younger age, and pre-existing mental health problems, but were buffered by functional emotion regulation strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest a considerable increase in demand for mental-healthcare in the pandemic aftermath. Comparisons with the general population indicate diverging patterns in help-seeking behavior: while some individuals seek help themselves, others should be addressed directly. Individuals that are young, have pre-existing mental health problems and experience a high level of pandemic stress are particularly at-risk for considerable symptom load. Mental-healthcare providers should use these results to prepare for the significant increase in demand during the broader aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as allocate limited resources more effectively.
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spelling pubmed-92920952022-07-19 Who is seeking help for psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic? Characterization of risk factors in 1269 participants accessing low-threshold psychological help Hilbert, Kevin Boeken, Ole Asbrand, Julia Seemann, Sophia Langhammer, Till Praxl, Berit Horváth, Leonore Ertle, Andrea Lueken, Ulrike PLoS One Research Article BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying restrictions are associated with substantial psychological distress. However, it is unclear how this increased strain translates into help-seeking behavior. Here, we aim to characterize those individuals who seek help for COVID-19 related psychological distress, and examine which factors are associated with their levels of distress in order to better characterize vulnerable groups. METHODS: We report data from 1269 help-seeking participants subscribing to a stepped-care program targeted at mental health problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sample characteristics were compared to population data, and linear regression analyses were used to examine which risk factors and stressors were associated with current symptom levels. RESULTS: Seeking for help for COVID-19 related psychological distress was characterized by female gender, younger age, and better education compared to the general population. The majority reported mental health problems already before the pandemic. 74.5% of this help-seeking sample also exceeded clinical thresholds for depression, anxiety, or somatization. Higher individual symptom levels were associated with higher overall levels of pandemic stress, younger age, and pre-existing mental health problems, but were buffered by functional emotion regulation strategies. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest a considerable increase in demand for mental-healthcare in the pandemic aftermath. Comparisons with the general population indicate diverging patterns in help-seeking behavior: while some individuals seek help themselves, others should be addressed directly. Individuals that are young, have pre-existing mental health problems and experience a high level of pandemic stress are particularly at-risk for considerable symptom load. Mental-healthcare providers should use these results to prepare for the significant increase in demand during the broader aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as allocate limited resources more effectively. Public Library of Science 2022-07-18 /pmc/articles/PMC9292095/ /pubmed/35849591 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271468 Text en © 2022 Hilbert et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Hilbert, Kevin
Boeken, Ole
Asbrand, Julia
Seemann, Sophia
Langhammer, Till
Praxl, Berit
Horváth, Leonore
Ertle, Andrea
Lueken, Ulrike
Who is seeking help for psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic? Characterization of risk factors in 1269 participants accessing low-threshold psychological help
title Who is seeking help for psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic? Characterization of risk factors in 1269 participants accessing low-threshold psychological help
title_full Who is seeking help for psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic? Characterization of risk factors in 1269 participants accessing low-threshold psychological help
title_fullStr Who is seeking help for psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic? Characterization of risk factors in 1269 participants accessing low-threshold psychological help
title_full_unstemmed Who is seeking help for psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic? Characterization of risk factors in 1269 participants accessing low-threshold psychological help
title_short Who is seeking help for psychological distress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic? Characterization of risk factors in 1269 participants accessing low-threshold psychological help
title_sort who is seeking help for psychological distress associated with the covid-19 pandemic? characterization of risk factors in 1269 participants accessing low-threshold psychological help
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9292095/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35849591
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271468
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