Mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic: An international comparison of gender-related home and work-related responsibilities, and social support.

Journal: Archives of women's mental health

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Affiliated Institutions:  Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa. deugene@email.fielding.edu. Gender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa. Department of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. WHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy. School of Psychology, UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Jackson School of Global Affairs, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA. Center for Global Health Equity, NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, China. Department of Communication, Center for Macau Studies, University of Macau, Macau, China. Department of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology and WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Department of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK. Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Padjadjaran, Jatinangor, Indonesia. Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Divions of Insurance medicine, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden. Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Social Epidemiology Research Team, Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Paris, France. Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Türkiye. Department of Education and Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany. Department of Basic, Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain and CIBER de Fisiopatología de La Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain. Department of Psychology and Sociology, Universidad de Zaragoza (Campus Teruel), Teruel, Spain. Department of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital of Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. South African Medical Research Council/Stellenbosch University Genomics of Brain Disorders Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Cape Town, South Africa.

Abstract summary 

PURPOSE  : To assess gender differences in COVID-19 related changes in home and work responsibilities longitudinally, and determine whether these differences, together with other potential risk and protective factors, are associated with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology.Symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD were measured using an online survey instrument, between May 2020 and April 2021, in four waves completed at 3-monthly intervals. Analyses were based on data from the COvid MEntal healTh (COMET) survey which investigated the mental health effects of the COVID-19 outbreak spanning 13 countries on five continents in N = 7,909 participants.From the first to the last wave, women reported a greater increase in home and work responsibilities, and had higher depression, anxiety and PTSD scores compared to men. Women who reported a reduction in income due to the pandemic had higher depression scores. Working harder and experiencing a reduction in income were also associated with higher anxiety scores in women but not in men. Women were more likely to score above the cut-off for depression (32.5% vs 23.6%, p < .001), anxiety (21.2% vs 14.4%, p < .001) and PTSD (21.2% vs 14.4%, p < .001) than men during the first wave. Stronger reliance on socially supported coping mechanisms was a risk factor for depression, anxiety and PTSD in men and women.Women were more likely to report mental health problems which may be related to the gender disproportionate increase in home and work responsibilities but not necessarily due to COVID-19 stressors.

Authors & Co-authors:  Eugene Dominique D Nöthling Jani J Tarsitani Lorenzo L Palantza Christina C Papola Davide D Barbui Corrado C Bryant Richard R Panter-Brick Catherine C Hall Brian J BJ Lam Agnes Iok Fok AIF Huizink Anja C AC Fuhr Daniela D Purba Fredrick Dermawan FD Mittendorfer-Rutz Ellenor E Andriani Dhini D van der Waerden Judith J Acartürk Ceren C Kurt Gülşah G Burchert Sebastian S Knaevelsrud Christine C Witteveen Anke B AB Patane Martina M Quero Soledad S Díaz-García Amanda A Morina Naser N Pinucci Irene I Sijbrandij Marit M Seedat Soraya S

Study Outcome 

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Statistics
Citations :  Albert PR (2015) Why is depression more prevalent in women? J Psychiatry Neurosci 40(4):219–221. https://doi.org/10.1503/jpn.150205
Authors :  28
Identifiers
Doi : 10.1007/s00737-024-01497-3
SSN : 1435-1102
Study Population
Men,Women
Mesh Terms
Other Terms
Anxiety;COVID-19;Depression;Mental health;PTSD, home and work-related responsibilities
Study Design
Study Approach
Country of Study
Publication Country
Austria