Determinants of Anxiety in the General Latvian Population During the COVID-19 State of Emergency
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Date
2022
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Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictive public health measures have seriously affected mental health of society. Social, psychological, and health-related factors have been linked to anxiety in the general population. Aim: We investigate the association of various sociopsychological and health-related determinants of anxiety and identify the predicting factors for anxiety in the general population during the COVID-19 state of emergency from in Latvia. Methods: We conducted an online survey using a randomized stratified sample of the general adult population in July 2020 for 3 weeks. Anxiety symptoms were measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S). Sociodemographic, health-related, sociopsychological characteristics and suicidality were identified using the structured questionnaire. The statistical analysis included Pearson's chi-square test, post hoc analysis, and binomial logistic regression. Results: The weighted study sample included 2,608 participants. The mean STAY-S score of the total sample was 22.88 ± 12.25. In the total sample, 15.2% (n = 398) of participants were classified as having anxiety. The odds ratio (OR) of having anxiety was higher in females (OR = 2.44; 95% CI 1.75–3.33) and people who had experienced mental health problems in the past (OR = 1.45; 95% CI 1.03–2.04), had suicide attempt in the past (OR = 1.68; 95% CI 1.08–2.59), were worried about their health status due to COVID-19 (OR = 1.64; 95% CI 1.36–1.16), were worried about stigmatization from others if infected with COVID-19 (OR = 1.18; 95% CI 1.03–1.35), were worried about information regarding COVID-19 from the Internet (OR = 1.24; 95% CI 1.08–1.43), persons who were lonely (OR = 1.90; 95% CI 1.54–2.34), and persons with negative problem orientation (OR = 1.26; 95% CI 1.06–1.51). Protective factors were identified as having good self-rated general health (OR = 0.68, 95 % CI 0.58–0.81), maintaining a daily routine (OR = 0.74, 95 % CI 0.61–0.90), having financial stability (OR = 0.66, 95 % CI 0.55–0.79), and having good psychological resilience (OR = 0.90, 95 % CI 0.87–0.94). Conclusions: This is the first study to report a prevalence of anxiety in the general population of Latvia. Certain factors that predict anxiety, as well as protective factors were identified.
Description
Funding Information: We are grateful to all respondents who participated in this study. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Vrublevska, Perepjolkina, Martinsone, Kolesnikova, Krone, Smirnova, Fountoulakis and Rancans.
Keywords
anxiety, Covid-19, pandemic, General population, mental health, predictors, 5.1 Psychology, 3.3 Health sciences, 1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database, SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Citation
Vrublevska, J, Perepjolkina, V, Martinsone, K, Kolesnikova, J, Krone, I, Smirnova, D, Fountoulakis, K N & Rancans, E 2022, 'Determinants of Anxiety in the General Latvian Population During the COVID-19 State of Emergency', Frontiers in Public Health, vol. 10, 854812. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.854812