Prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression among the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis

By Nader Salari, A. Hosseinian-Far, R. Jalali, Aliakbar Vaisi-Raygani, Shna Rasoulpoor, Masoud Mohammadi, Shabnam Rasoulpoor, Behnam Khaledi-Paveh. Globalization and Health, 2020

3,160 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on public mental health. Therefore, monitoring and oversight of the population mental health during crises such as a panedmic is an immediate priority. The aim of this study is to analyze the existing research works and findings in relation to the prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression in the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method In this systematic review and meta-analysis, articles that have focused on stress and anxiety prevalence among the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic were searched in the Science Direct, Embase, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science (ISI) and Google Scholar databases, without a lower time limit and until May 2020. In order to perform a meta-analysis of the collected studies, the random effects model was used, and the heterogeneity of studies was investigated using the I 2 index. Moreover. data analysis was conducted using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software. Results The prevalence of stress in 5 studies with a total sample size of 9074 is obtained as 29.6% (95% confidence limit: 24.3–35.4), the prevalence of anxiety in 17 studies with a sample size of 63,439 as 31.9% (95% confidence interval: 27.5–36.7), and the prevalence of depression in 14 studies with a sample size of 44,531 people as 33.7% (95% confidence interval: 27.5–40.6). Conclusion COVID-19 not only causes physical health concerns but also results in a number of psychological disorders. The spread of the new coronavirus can impact the mental health of people in different communities. Thus, it is essential to preserve the mental health of individuals and to develop psychological interventions that can improve the mental health of vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Subfields: Clinical Psychology, Economics and Econometrics, Education

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/20448e72ff52f2cc04fb73697cfc03af06f266ed

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In Clinical Psychology

1. L. Waters
2. M. Steger
3. Ryan M. Niemiec
4. Barbara L. Fredrickson
5. Jane E. Dutton
6. Sara B. Algoe
7. J. Moskowitz
8. Robert A Emmons

In Economics and Econometrics

1. M. Steger
2. Emily D. Heaphy
3. Jane E. Dutton

In Education

1. Barbara L. Fredrickson
2. M. Steger
3. K. Neff
4. Emily D. Heaphy
5. Ryan M. Niemiec
6. Jane E. Dutton
7. L. Waters

Citations in the corpus

• Sleep problems during the COVID-19 pandemic by population: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2020, positive): “…of stress, anxiety symptoms, and depressive symptoms in the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic reported prevalence rates of 29.6% (95% CI, 24.3 – 35.4%), 31.9% (95% CI, 27.5 – 36.7%), and 33.7% (95% CI, 27.5 – 40.6%], 62 respectively, comparable to our fi ndings of sleep problems.”
• Positive psychology in a pandemic: buffering, bolstering, and building mental health (2021, background): “The pandemic conditions have ushered in greater physical distance (Salari et al., 2020) while also accentuating social inequalities and cultural divides (Dorn et al., 2020; Kim & Bostwick, 2020), making the cultivation of HQCs more challenging and yet more essential.”