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Gabarrell-Pascuet A, García-Mieres H, Giné-Vázquez I, Moneta MV, Koyanagi A, Haro JM, Domènech-Abella J. The Association of Social Support and Loneliness with Symptoms of Depression, Anxiety, and Posttraumatic Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Meta-Analysis. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2023; 20:2765. [PMID: 36833463 PMCID: PMC9957328 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20042765] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Research suggests that changes in social support and loneliness have affected mental disorder symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are a lack of studies comparing the robustness of these associations. AIMS The aims were to estimate the strength of the associations of loneliness and social support with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2022) in the general population. METHOD The method entailed a systematic review and random-effects meta-analysis of quantitative studies. RESULTS Seventy-three studies were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled correlations of the effect size of the association of loneliness with symptoms of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress were 0.49, 0.40, and 0.38, respectively. The corresponding figures for social support were 0.29, 0.19, and 0.18, respectively. Subgroup analyses revealed that the strength of some associations could be influenced by the sociodemographic characteristics of the study samples, such as age, gender, region, and COVID-19 stringency index, and by methodological moderators, such as sample size, collection date, methodological quality, and the measurement scales. CONCLUSIONS Social support had a weak association with mental disorder symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic while the association with loneliness was moderate. Strategies to address loneliness could be highly effective in reducing the impact of the pandemic on social relationships and mental health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aina Gabarrell-Pascuet
- Epidemiology of Mental Health Disorders and Ageing Research Group, Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
- Research, Teaching, and Innovation Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, 08830 Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Department of Medicine, Universitat de Barcelona, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Helena García-Mieres
- Health Services Research Unit, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Iago Giné-Vázquez
- Epidemiology of Mental Health Disorders and Ageing Research Group, Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
- Research, Teaching, and Innovation Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, 08830 Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Maria Victoria Moneta
- Epidemiology of Mental Health Disorders and Ageing Research Group, Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
- Research, Teaching, and Innovation Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, 08830 Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ai Koyanagi
- Epidemiology of Mental Health Disorders and Ageing Research Group, Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
- Research, Teaching, and Innovation Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, 08830 Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Josep Maria Haro
- Epidemiology of Mental Health Disorders and Ageing Research Group, Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
- Research, Teaching, and Innovation Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, 08830 Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
- Department of Medicine, Universitat de Barcelona, 08007 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joan Domènech-Abella
- Epidemiology of Mental Health Disorders and Ageing Research Group, Sant Joan de Déu Research Institute, 08950 Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
- Research, Teaching, and Innovation Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, 08830 Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
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Koly KN, Islam MS, Potenza MN, Mahumud RA, Islam MS, Uddin MS, Sarwar MAH, Begum F, Reidpath DD. Psychosocial health of school-going adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from a nationwide survey in Bangladesh. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0283374. [PMID: 36972260 PMCID: PMC10042372 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2022] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 03/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Common psychosocial health problems (PHPs) have become more prevalent among adolescents globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the psychosocial health of school-going adolescents has remained unexplored in Bangladesh due to limited research during the pandemic. The present study aimed to estimate the prevalence of PHPs (i.e., depression and anxiety) and assess associated lifestyle and behavioral factors among school-going adolescents in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS A nationwide cross-sectional survey was conducted among 3,571 school-going adolescents (male: 57.4%, mean age: 14.9±1.8 years; age range: 10-19 years) covering all divisions, including 63 districts in Bangladesh. A semi-structured e-questionnaire, including informed consent and questions related to socio-demographics, lifestyle, academics, pandemic and PHPs, was used to collect data between May and July 2021. RESULTS The prevalence of moderate to severe depression and anxiety were 37.3% and 21.7%, respectively, ranging from 24.7% in the Sylhet Division to 47.5% in the Rajshahi Division for depression, and from 13.4% in the Sylhet Division to 30.3% in the Rajshahi Division for anxiety. Depression and anxiety were associated with older age, reports of poor teacher cooperation in online classes, worries due to academic delays, parental comparison of academic performance with other classmates, difficulties coping with quarantine situations, changes in eating habits, weight gain, physical inactivity and having experienced cyberbullying. Moreover, being female was associated with higher odds of depression. CONCLUSIONS Adolescent psychosocial problems represent a public health problem. The findings suggest a need for generating improved empirically supported school-based psychosocial support programs involving parents and teachers to ensure the well-being of adolescents in Bangladesh. School-based prevention of psychosocial problems that promote environmental and policy changes related to lifestyle practices and active living should be developed, tested, and implemented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kamrun Nahar Koly
- Health System & Population Studies Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Md Saiful Islam
- Health System & Population Studies Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Marc N Potenza
- Department of Psychiatry and Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States of America
- Connecticut Mental Health Center, New Haven, CT, United States of America
- Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, Wethersfield, CT, United States of America
- Department of Neuroscience and Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America
| | - Rashidul Alam Mahumud
- Faculty of Medicine and Health, NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia
- Centre for Health Research, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia
| | - Md Shefatul Islam
- Aspire to Innovate (a2i), Information and Communication Technology Division, Agargaon, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Md Salim Uddin
- Aspire to Innovate (a2i), Information and Communication Technology Division, Agargaon, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Md Afzal Hossain Sarwar
- Aspire to Innovate (a2i), Information and Communication Technology Division, Agargaon, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Farzana Begum
- Health System & Population Studies Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Daniel D Reidpath
- Health System & Population Studies Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, Scotland
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