Abstract
Objective To assess mental health in the US adult population in the Covid-19 pandemic and explore the roles of economic concerns, health worries and social distancing in shaping mental health outcomes.
Methods We analyze online survey data from the “Understanding America Study” (UAS) that is representative of the US adult population and covers the period of March 10-31st 2020 (sample size: 6436).
Results About 29% (CI:27.4-.30.4%) of the US adult population reported some depression/anxiety symptoms osver the study period, with symptoms deteriorating over the month of March. Worsening mental health was most strongly associated with concerns about the economic consequences of the pandemic, while concerns about the potential impact of the virus on respondents’ own health and the practice of social distancing also predicted the presence of depression and anxiety symptoms, albeit less strongly.
Conclusions Our findings point towards a major mental health crisis unfolding simultaneously with the pandemic in the US. They also highlight the importance of economic countermeasures and social policy for mitigating the impact of Covid-19 on adult mental health in the US over and above an effective public health response.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding Statement
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Population Aging Research Center (PARC) and Population Studies Center (PSC) at the University of Pennsylvania, which are funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health through grants NIA P30\,AG12836 and NICHD R24 HD044964 respectively.
Author Declarations
I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
Yes
The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:
The Understanding America Study (UAS) was approved by the IRB at the University of Southern California through Protocol USC UPIRB UP-14-00148. Analyses at the University of Pennsylvania were based on publicly available de-identified UAS data obtained from the UAS project webpage at: \url{https://uasdata.usc.edu/index.php}. The analyses at the University of Pennsylvania were exempt from IRB research (Exemption \#4). No human subject research was conducted as part of this paper at the University of Lausanne.
All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived.
Yes
I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).
Yes
I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.
Yes
Data Availability
Undestanding America Data (UAS) used in this manuscript are publicly avaiable at: https://uasdata.usc.edu/index.php