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Psychological and behavioural responses to COVID-19 : a China-Britain comparison
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Goodwin, Robin, Hou, W. K., Sun, S. and Ben-Ezra, M. (2021) Psychological and behavioural responses to COVID-19 : a China-Britain comparison. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 75 . pp. 189-192. doi:10.1136/jech-2020-214453 ISSN 0143-005X.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2020-214453
Abstract
Introduction Despite the burgeoning literature on COVID-19, there has been little cross-national work on the correlates of mental health or its association with pandemic behaviours. We considered psychological distress, quarantine status, social distancing and self-medication in China and the UK.
Methods We conducted online surveys in China (N=1135) and the UK (N=1293), beginning in March 2020. Participants indicated demographics, whether they were in quarantine, relationship status, social distancing, use of vitamins/traditional medicines and completed the K6 scale of psychological distress.
Results 19.1% of the respondents in China were at risk of severe mental illness (SMI: 95% CI 16.9% to 21.6%) and 16.6% (95% CI 14.6% to 18.8%) in the UK. Risk of SMI was among those in quarantine (OR 11.18 (95% CI 4.08 to 30.62); p=0.001) and in younger respondents (OR 2.61 (95% CI 1.01 to 6.79); p=0.048) although the latter effect was significant only in the UK. Risk of SMI was positively associated with self-medication (βs=0.17, p=0.001) and negatively with social distancing in China (country×SMI β=0.51, p=0.001), with further interactions for age and sex (social distancing), age, marital status and quarantine (self-medication).
Discussion Across the countries, quarantine was associated with poorer mental health, while greater psychological distress was associated with greater self-medication rate. Future work should explore further cross-national variations in psychological health and behaviours during pandemics.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Psychology | ||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health | ||||||||
| Publisher: | BMJ Group | ||||||||
| ISSN: | 0143-005X | ||||||||
| Official Date: | 8 January 2021 | ||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 75 | ||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 189-192 | ||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1136/jech-2020-214453 | ||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Open Access (Creative Commons) | ||||||||
| Description: | Free access for COVID -19 articles during pandemic - this may change in the future |
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