Open Access

PLoS ONE

, volume 15 , issue 12 , pages e0244809

Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: An international study

A Gloster ¹

Demetris Lamnisos ²

Jelena Lubenko ³

Giovambattista Presti ⁴

Valeria Squatrito ⁴

Marios Constantinou ⁵

Christiana Nicolaou ⁶

Savvas Papacostas ⁷

Gökçen Aydın ⁸

Yuen Yu Chong ⁹

Wai Tong Chien ⁹

Ho Yu Cheng ⁹

Francisco J. Ruiz ¹⁰

Maria B. Garcia-Martin ¹¹

Diana P. Obando-Posada ¹¹

Miguel A. Segura-Vargas ¹⁰

Vasilis S. Vasiliou ¹²

Louise McHugh ¹³

Stefan Höfer ¹⁴

Adriana Baban ¹⁵

David Dias Neto ¹⁶

Ana Nunes Da Silva ¹⁷

Jean-Louis Monestès ¹⁸

Javier Alvarez-Galvez ¹⁹

Marisa Paez-Blarrina ²⁰

Francisco Montesinos ²¹

Sonsoles Valdivia-Salas ²²

Dorottya Ori ²³

Bartosz Kleszcz ²⁴

Raimo Lappalainen ²⁵

Iva Ivanović ²⁶

David Gosar ²⁷

Frederick Dionne ²⁸

Rhonda M. Merwin ²⁹

Angelos P. Kassianos ³⁰

Maria Karekla ³⁰

Hide authors affiliations Show authors affiliations: 30 affiliations

Division of Clinical Psychology & Intervention Science, Department of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland |

Department of Health Sciences, European University Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus |

Psychological Laboratory, Faculty of Public Health and Social Welfare, Riga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia |

⁴

Kore University Behavioral Lab (KUBeLab), Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Kore University of Enna, Enna, Italy |

⁵

Department of Social Sciences, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus |

⁶

Department of Nursing, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus |

⁷

Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Nicosia, Cyprus |

⁸

Department of Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Faculty of Education, Hasan Kalyoncu University, Gaziantep, Turkey |

⁹

The Nethersole School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong |

¹⁰

Department of Psychology, Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz, Bogotà, Columbia

¹¹

Faculty of Psychology, University of La Sabana, Chía, Columbia |

¹²

School of Applied Psychology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland |

¹³

School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland |

¹⁴

Medical University Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria |

¹⁵

Department of Psychology, Babeş-Bolyai University (UBB), Cluj-Napoca, Romania |

¹⁶

Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada (ISPA), Instituto Universitário; APPsyCI—Applied Psychology Research Center Capabilities & Inclusion, Lisboa, Portugal |

¹⁷

Faculdade de Psicologia, Alameda da Universidade, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal |

¹⁸

LIP/PC2s, Université Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France |

¹⁹

Department of Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Public Health, University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain |

²⁰

Instituto ACT, Madrid, Spain |

²¹

Department of Psychology, European University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain |

²²

Department of Psychology and Sociology, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain |

²³

Vadaskert Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Hospital, Budapest, Hungary |

²⁴

Private Pratice, Poland |

²⁵

Department of psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland |

²⁶

Clinic for Psychiatry, Clinical Center of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro |

²⁷

Ljubljana University Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovania |

²⁸

Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Canada |

²⁹

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America |

³⁰

Department of psychology, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus |

Publication type: Journal Article

Publication date: 2020-12-31

Public Library of Science (PLoS)

PLoS ONE

scimago Q1

wos Q2

SJR: 0.803

CiteScore: 5.4

Impact factor: 2.6

ISSN: 19326203

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244809

Copy DOI

PubMed ID: 33382859

Multidisciplinary

Abstract

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered vast governmental lockdowns. The impact of these lockdowns on mental health is inadequately understood. On the one hand such drastic changes in daily routines could be detrimental to mental health. On the other hand, it might not be experienced negatively, especially because the entire population was affected.

Methods

The aim of this study was to determine mental health outcomes during pandemic induced lockdowns and to examine known predictors of mental health outcomes. We therefore surveyed n = 9,565 people from 78 countries and 18 languages. Outcomes assessed were stress, depression, affect, and wellbeing. Predictors included country, sociodemographic factors, lockdown characteristics, social factors, and psychological factors.

Results

Results indicated that on average about 10% of the sample was languishing from low levels of mental health and about 50% had only moderate mental health. Importantly, three consistent predictors of mental health emerged: social support, education level, and psychologically flexible (vs. rigid) responding. Poorer outcomes were most strongly predicted by a worsening of finances and not having access to basic supplies.

Conclusions

These results suggest that on whole, respondents were moderately mentally healthy at the time of a population-wide lockdown. The highest level of mental health difficulties were found in approximately 10% of the population. Findings suggest that public health initiatives should target people without social support and those whose finances worsen as a result of the lockdown. Interventions that promote psychological flexibility may mitigate the impact of the pandemic.

Found

1 citation

YAPICI HALE

42 publications, 959 citations, 3 reviews

h-index: 14

Koc University

Top-30

Journals

	5 10 15 20 25 30
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health	International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 26, 6.65% International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 26 publications, 6.65%
PLoS ONE	PLoS ONE, 19, 4.86% PLoS ONE 19 publications, 4.86%
Frontiers in Psychology	Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 3.07% Frontiers in Psychology 12 publications, 3.07%
Frontiers in Public Health	Frontiers in Public Health, 12, 3.07% Frontiers in Public Health 12 publications, 3.07%
Scientific Reports	Scientific Reports, 11, 2.81% Scientific Reports 11 publications, 2.81%
Behavioral Sciences	Behavioral Sciences, 7, 1.79% Behavioral Sciences 7 publications, 1.79%
Journal of Affective Disorders	Journal of Affective Disorders, 7, 1.79% Journal of Affective Disorders 7 publications, 1.79%
Journal of Clinical Medicine	Journal of Clinical Medicine, 6, 1.53% Journal of Clinical Medicine 6 publications, 1.53%
Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science	Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 6, 1.53% Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science 6 publications, 1.53%
BMC Public Health	BMC Public Health, 6, 1.53% BMC Public Health 6 publications, 1.53%
European Journal of Psychology Open	European Journal of Psychology Open, 5, 1.28% European Journal of Psychology Open 5 publications, 1.28%
Frontiers in Psychiatry	Frontiers in Psychiatry, 5, 1.28% Frontiers in Psychiatry 5 publications, 1.28%
BMC Psychiatry	BMC Psychiatry, 4, 1.02% BMC Psychiatry 4 publications, 1.02%
BMJ Open	BMJ Open, 3, 0.77% BMJ Open 3 publications, 0.77%
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology	Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 3, 0.77% Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 3 publications, 0.77%
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience	European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 3, 0.77% European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 3 publications, 0.77%
BMC psychology	BMC psychology, 2, 0.51% BMC psychology 2 publications, 0.51%
Child Psychiatry and Human Development	Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 2, 0.51% Child Psychiatry and Human Development 2 publications, 0.51%
European Neuropsychopharmacology	European Neuropsychopharmacology, 2, 0.51% European Neuropsychopharmacology 2 publications, 0.51%
F1000Research	F1000Research, 2, 0.51% F1000Research 2 publications, 0.51%
JMIR Formative Research	JMIR Formative Research, 2, 0.51% JMIR Formative Research 2 publications, 0.51%
International Journal of Social Psychiatry	International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 2, 0.51% International Journal of Social Psychiatry 2 publications, 0.51%
Scandinavian Journal of Psychology	Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 2, 0.51% Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 2 publications, 0.51%
Frontiers in Medicine	Frontiers in Medicine, 2, 0.51% Frontiers in Medicine 2 publications, 0.51%
Globalization and Health	Globalization and Health, 2, 0.51% Globalization and Health 2 publications, 0.51%
International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction	International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 2, 0.51% International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction 2 publications, 0.51%
Journal of Psychosomatic Research	Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 2, 0.51% Journal of Psychosomatic Research 2 publications, 0.51%
Life	Life, 2, 0.51% Life 2 publications, 0.51%
Psychiatry Research	Psychiatry Research, 2, 0.51% Psychiatry Research 2 publications, 0.51%
	5 10 15 20 25 30

Publishers

	10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Springer Nature	Springer Nature, 75, 19.18% Springer Nature 75 publications, 19.18%
Elsevier	Elsevier, 58, 14.83% Elsevier 58 publications, 14.83%
MDPI	MDPI, 56, 14.32% MDPI 56 publications, 14.32%
Frontiers Media S.A.	Frontiers Media S.A., 38, 9.72% Frontiers Media S.A. 38 publications, 9.72%
Taylor & Francis	Taylor & Francis, 23, 5.88% Taylor & Francis 23 publications, 5.88%
Public Library of Science (PLoS)	Public Library of Science (PLoS), 19, 4.86% Public Library of Science (PLoS) 19 publications, 4.86%
Wiley	Wiley, 18, 4.6% Wiley 18 publications, 4.6%
SAGE	SAGE, 15, 3.84% SAGE 15 publications, 3.84%
JMIR Publications	JMIR Publications, 8, 2.05% JMIR Publications 8 publications, 2.05%
BMJ	BMJ, 8, 2.05% BMJ 8 publications, 2.05%
Cambridge University Press	Cambridge University Press, 7, 1.79% Cambridge University Press 7 publications, 1.79%
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory	Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 6, 1.53% Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory 6 publications, 1.53%
Hogrefe Publishing Group	Hogrefe Publishing Group, 5, 1.28% Hogrefe Publishing Group 5 publications, 1.28%
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)	Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health), 5, 1.28% Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) 5 publications, 1.28%
F1000 Research	F1000 Research, 3, 0.77% F1000 Research 3 publications, 0.77%
AOSIS	AOSIS, 3, 0.77% AOSIS 3 publications, 0.77%
Oxford University Press	Oxford University Press, 3, 0.77% Oxford University Press 3 publications, 0.77%
Emerald	Emerald, 2, 0.51% Emerald 2 publications, 0.51%
Mary Ann Liebert	Mary Ann Liebert, 2, 0.51% Mary Ann Liebert 2 publications, 0.51%
American Medical Association (AMA)	American Medical Association (AMA), 2, 0.51% American Medical Association (AMA) 2 publications, 0.51%
Georg Thieme Verlag KG	Georg Thieme Verlag KG, 2, 0.51% Georg Thieme Verlag KG 2 publications, 0.51%
SciELO	SciELO, 2, 0.51% SciELO 2 publications, 0.51%
EDP Sciences	EDP Sciences, 1, 0.26% EDP Sciences 1 publication, 0.26%
American Psychological Association (APA)	American Psychological Association (APA), 1, 0.26% American Psychological Association (APA) 1 publication, 0.26%
Impact Journals	Impact Journals, 1, 0.26% Impact Journals 1 publication, 0.26%
Pharmaceutical Society of Japan	Pharmaceutical Society of Japan, 1, 0.26% Pharmaceutical Society of Japan 1 publication, 0.26%
Baishideng Publishing Group	Baishideng Publishing Group, 1, 0.26% Baishideng Publishing Group 1 publication, 0.26%
IOP Publishing	IOP Publishing, 1, 0.26% IOP Publishing 1 publication, 0.26%
Social Science Electronic Publishing	Social Science Electronic Publishing, 1, 0.26% Social Science Electronic Publishing 1 publication, 0.26%
	10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

We do not take into account publications without a DOI.
Statistics recalculated weekly.

Are you a researcher?

Create a profile to get free access to personal recommendations for colleagues and new articles.

PDF

Metrics

391

Cite this

GOST |

Cite this

GOST Copy

Gloster A. et al. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: An international study // PLoS ONE. 2020. Vol. 15. No. 12. p. e0244809.

GOST all authors (up to 50) Copy

Gloster A., Lamnisos D., Lubenko J., Presti G., Squatrito V., Constantinou M., Nicolaou C., Papacostas S., Aydın G., Chong Y. Yu., Chien W. T., Cheng H. Yu., Ruiz F. J., Garcia-Martin M. B., Obando-Posada D. P., Segura-Vargas M. A., Vasiliou V. S., McHugh L., Höfer S., Baban A., Dias Neto D., Nunes Da Silva A., Monestès J., Alvarez-Galvez J., Paez-Blarrina M., Montesinos F., Valdivia-Salas S., Ori D., Kleszcz B., Lappalainen R., Ivanović I., Gosar D., Dionne F., Merwin R. M., Kassianos A. P., Karekla M. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: An international study // PLoS ONE. 2020. Vol. 15. No. 12. p. e0244809.

RIS |

Cite this

RIS Copy

TY - JOUR

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0244809

UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244809

TI - Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: An international study

T2 - PLoS ONE

AU - Gloster, A

AU - Lamnisos, Demetris

AU - Lubenko, Jelena

AU - Presti, Giovambattista

AU - Squatrito, Valeria

AU - Constantinou, Marios

AU - Nicolaou, Christiana

AU - Papacostas, Savvas

AU - Aydın, Gökçen

AU - Chong, Yuen Yu

AU - Chien, Wai Tong

AU - Cheng, Ho Yu

AU - Ruiz, Francisco J.

AU - Garcia-Martin, Maria B.

AU - Obando-Posada, Diana P.

AU - Segura-Vargas, Miguel A.

AU - Vasiliou, Vasilis S.

AU - McHugh, Louise

AU - Höfer, Stefan

AU - Baban, Adriana

AU - Dias Neto, David

AU - Nunes Da Silva, Ana

AU - Monestès, Jean-Louis

AU - Alvarez-Galvez, Javier

AU - Paez-Blarrina, Marisa

AU - Montesinos, Francisco

AU - Valdivia-Salas, Sonsoles

AU - Ori, Dorottya

AU - Kleszcz, Bartosz

AU - Lappalainen, Raimo

AU - Ivanović, Iva

AU - Gosar, David

AU - Dionne, Frederick

AU - Merwin, Rhonda M.

AU - Kassianos, Angelos P.

AU - Karekla, Maria

PY - 2020

DA - 2020/12/31

PB - Public Library of Science (PLoS)

SP - e0244809

IS - 12

VL - 15

PMID - 33382859

SN - 1932-6203

ER -

BibTex |

Cite this

BibTex (up to 50 authors) Copy

@article{2020_Gloster,

author = {A Gloster and Demetris Lamnisos and Jelena Lubenko and Giovambattista Presti and Valeria Squatrito and Marios Constantinou and Christiana Nicolaou and Savvas Papacostas and Gökçen Aydın and Yuen Yu Chong and Wai Tong Chien and Ho Yu Cheng and Francisco J. Ruiz and Maria B. Garcia-Martin and Diana P. Obando-Posada and Miguel A. Segura-Vargas and Vasilis S. Vasiliou and Louise McHugh and Stefan Höfer and Adriana Baban and David Dias Neto and Ana Nunes Da Silva and Jean-Louis Monestès and Javier Alvarez-Galvez and Marisa Paez-Blarrina and Francisco Montesinos and Sonsoles Valdivia-Salas and Dorottya Ori and Bartosz Kleszcz and Raimo Lappalainen and Iva Ivanović and David Gosar and Frederick Dionne and Rhonda M. Merwin and Angelos P. Kassianos and Maria Karekla},

title = {Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: An international study},

journal = {PLoS ONE},

year = {2020},

volume = {15},

publisher = {Public Library of Science (PLoS)},

month = {dec},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244809},

number = {12},

pages = {e0244809},

doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0244809}

}

MLA

Cite this

MLA Copy

Gloster, A., et al. “Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: An international study.” PLoS ONE, vol. 15, no. 12, Dec. 2020, p. e0244809. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244809.

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Journal

PLoS ONE

scimago Q1

wos Q2

SJR

0.803

CiteScore

5.4

Impact factor

2.6

ISSN

19326203 (Print, Electronic)