The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with generalized anxiety disorder: assessing COVID-19 media source exposure and behaviour changes

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic that has resulted in social distancing, lockdowns, and increase in media posts has taken a toll on the mental health of many people especially those living with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The main objective of this study is to understand whether the source of information people use to receive information about COVID-19 and increase or decrease in personal weekly habits during the pandemic were associated with severity of GAD. METHODS: This study was a cross sectional design and was based on data from Canada. The Canadian Perspective Survey Series (CPSS) 4, 2020: Information Sourced Consulted During the Pandemic was used for the study. The outcome variable was severity of GAD. Multivariate logistic regression was carried out using STATA IC 13. RESULTS: Severity of GAD was significantly associated with being a female, the type of information source used to find out about COVID-19 and change in weekly habits (consuming alcohol, consuming cannabis spending time on the internet and eating junk foods or sweets). CONCLUSION: The results indicate that getting information from credible sources about the pandemic, staying connected with family and friends, seeking virtual mental health services, and learning positive coping strategies can help reduce the severity of GAD.