Stress During the Early Months of COVID in the U.S.
The Role of Fear and Health Status Across the Age Spectrum
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18060/25790Keywords:
COVID-19, stress, fear, health, ageAbstract
The stress that the COVID pandemic has caused is immeasurable and is likely to impact people for many years to come. Service providers such as social workers are experiencing these impacts both personally and professionally. As new research emerges, a greater understanding of the emotional toll related to COVID can help to inform social work practice. To add to this gap in the literature, an online survey explored the factors that contribute to higher stress reactions among individuals in the general population (n = 412) and across the age spectrum. Bivariate analyses indicated a significant increase in stress from pre- to during-COVID for the entire sample and across the three age groups. Multivariate analysis revealed more conversations about COVID, more alcohol use, knowing someone who had tested positive, increased fear, greater avoidance of reading/watching information about COVID, decreased health status, and increased income contributed to stress during-COVID. Increased fear and decreased health status were significant when stress was examined separately among the three age groups. The results indicated the importance of understanding and responding to fear during public health crises and illustrate how interventions may shift for clinical social workers as they seek to address multi-layered concerns. Social workers can help manage the impact of the pandemic by providing clients with therapeutic services, psychoeducation, and case management.
References
Abrams, L. S., & Dettlaff, A. J. (2020). Voices from the frontlines: Social workers confront the COVID-19 pandemic. Social Work, 65(3), 302-305. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swaa030
Althubaiti, A. (2016). Information bias in health research: Definition, pitfalls, and adjustment methods. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare, 9, 211-217. https://doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S104807
Bartone, P., Johnsen, B., Eid, J., Hystad, S., & Laberg, J. (2017). Hardiness avoidance coping, and alcohol consumption in war veterans: A moderated-mediation study. Stress and Health, 33(5), 498-507. https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.2734
Berg-Weger, M., & Schroepfer, T. (2020). COVID-19 pandemic: Workforce implications for gerontological social work. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 63(6-7), 524-529. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2020.1772934
Casero-Ripolles, A. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on the media system. Communicative and democratic consequences of news consumptions during the outbreak. El Professional de la Informacion, 29(2), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.3145/epi.2020.mar.23
Centers for Disease Control [CDC]. (2021, February 21). Interim clinical guidance for management of patients with confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/clinical-guidance-management-`patients.html
CDC. (2022a, February 2). Cases in the U.S. Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/
CDC. (2022b, February 2). How to protect yourself and others. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html
CDC. (2022c, February 2). Older adults. Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19). https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/older-adults.html
CDC. (2022d, March 22). Symptoms of COVID-19. COVID-19. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html
Chan, A. O., & Huak, C. Y. (2004). Psychological impact of the 2003 severe acute
respiratory syndrome outbreak on health care workers in a medium size regional
general hospital in Singapore. Occupational Medicine, 54(3), 190-196. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqh027
Clay, J., & Parker, M. (2018). The role of stress-reactivity, stress-recovery and risky decision-making in psychosocial stress-induced alcohol consumption in social drinkers. Psychopharmacology, 235(11), 3243-3257. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-018-5027-0
Cross, F. L., & Gonzalez Benson, O. (2021). The coronavirus pandemic and immigrant communities: A crisis that demands more of the social work profession. Affilia, 36(1), 113-119. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886109920960832
Dorado Barbé, A., Pérez Viejo, J. M., Rodríguez-Brioso, M. D. M., & Gallardo-Peralta, L. P. (2021). Emotional well-being and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic: Guidelines for social work practice. International Social Work, 64(2), 279-284. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872820970622
Elo, A. L., Leppänen, A., & Jahkola, A. (2003). Validity of a single-item measure of stress symptoms. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 29(6), 444-451. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.752
Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics using SPSS (3rd ed.). Sage.
Fiorillo, A., & Gorwood, P. (2020). The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and implications for clinical practice. European Psychiatry, 63(1), 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2020.35
Fitzpatrick, K. M., Harris, C., & Drawve, G. (2020). Fear of COVID-19 and the mental health consequences in America. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1), S17-S21. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000924
Freckelton, I. (2020). COVID-19: Fear, quackery, false representations and law. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 72, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2020.101611
Funk, K. (2021). The last mile: COVID-19, telehealth, and broadband disparities in rural Indiana. Advances in Social Work, 21(1), 45-58. https://doi.org/10.18060/24844
Garfin, D. R., Silver, R. C., & Holman, E. A. (2020). The novel coronavirus (COVID-2019) outbreak: Amplification of public health consequences by media exposure. Health Psychology, 39(5), 355–357. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000875
Goh, Y., Tan, B. Y. Q., Bhartendu, C., Ong, J. J. Y., & Sharma, V. K. (2020). The face mask: How a real protection becomes a psychological symbol during COVID-19? Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 88, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.05.060
Hirschi, M., Hunter, A. L., Neely-Barnes, S. L., Malone, C. C., Meiman, J., & Delavega, E. (2022). COVID-19 and the rapid expansion of telehealth in social and behavioral health services. Advances in Social Work, 22(1), 91-109. https://doi.org/10.18060/25088
Jacob, L., Smith, L., Armstrong, N. C., Yakkundi, A., Barnett, Y., Butler, L., McDermott, D. T., Koyanagi, A., Shin, J. I., Meyer, J., Firtth, J., Remes, O., Lopez-Sanchez, G. F., & Tully, M. (2021). Alcohol use and mental health during COVID-19 lockdown: A cross-sectional study in a sample of UK adults. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 219, 108488, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2020.108488
Jungmann, S., & Witthöft, M. (2020). Health anxiety, cyberchondria, and coping in the current COVID-19 pandemic: Which factors are related to coronavirus anxiety? Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 73, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102239
Lau, J. T., Griffiths, S., Choi, K. C., & Tsui, H. Y. (2010). Avoidance behaviors and negative psychological responses in the general population in the initial stage of the H1N1 pandemic in Hong Kong. BMC Infectious Diseases, 10, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2334-10-139
Lee, S. M., Kang, W. S., Cho, A. R., Kim, T., & Park, J. K. (2018). Psychological impact of the 2015 MERS outbreak on hospital workers and quarantined hemodialysis patients. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 87, 123-127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2018.10.003
Li, T., Liu, Y., Li, M., Qian, X., & Dai, S. (2020). Mask or no mask for COVID-19: A public health and market study. PloS ONE, 15, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0237691
López Peláez, A., Marcuello-Servós, C., Castillo de Mesa, J., & Almaguer Kalixto, P. (2020). The more you know, the less you fear: Reflexive social work practices in times of COVID-19. International Social Work, 63(6), 746-752. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872820959365
Morris, Z. A., Dragone, E., Peabody, C., & Carr, K. (2020). Isolation in the midst of a pandemic: Social work students rapidly respond to community and field work needs. Social Work Education, 39(8), 1127-1136. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2020.1809649
O’Leary, P., & Tsui, M. S. (2020). Ten gentle reminders to social workers in the pandemic. International Social Work, 63(3), 273-274. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872820918979
Park, J. S., Lee, E. H., Park, N. R., & Choi, Y. H. (2018). Mental health of nurses working at a government-designated hospital during a MERS-CoV outbreak: A cross-sectional study. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 32, 2-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2017.09.006
Pearman, A., Hughes, M. L., Smith, E. L., & Neupert, S. D. (2020). Age differences in risk and resilience factors in COVID-19 related stress. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 76(2), e38-e44. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbaa120
Petry, N. M. (2002). A comparison of young, middle-aged, and older adult treatment-seeking pathological gamblers. Gerontologist, 42(1), 92-99. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/42.1.92
Qiu, J., Shen, B., Zhao, M., Wang, Z., Xie, B., & Xu, Y. (2020). A nationwide survey of psychological distress among Chinese people in the COVID-19 epidemic: Implications and policy recommendations. General Psychiatry, 33(2), 1-4. https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2020-100213
Rafiq, K., Adnan, B., Khalid, A., Akram, A., Saify, Z. S., Usman, T., Khan, S., Qureshi, H., & Ashraf, H. (2019). Physical workout: An alternative therapy for stress & depression. FUUAST Journal of Biology, 9(2), 251-256. https://fuuastjb.org/index.php/fuuastjb/article/view/418/396
Reay, S. (2021). A pandemic road map: Creating social work student wellness plans in field placement. Advances in Social Work, 21(4), 1178-1192. https://doi.org/10.18060/24758
Reznik, A., Gritsenko, V., Konstantinov, V., Khamenka, N., & Isralowitz, R. (2020). COVID-19 fear in eastern Europe: Validation of the fear of COVID-19 scale. International. Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 19, 1903-1908. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00283-3
Rosten, T., Gaitan, G., Shah, P., & Walls, N. E. (2022). Social work practice in the time of quarantine: A photo elicitation study of experiences of remote work during COVID-19. Advances in Social Work, 22(1), 110-132. https://doi.org/10.18060/25561
Sepúlveda-Loyola, W. A., Rodriguez-Sanchez, I., Pérez-Rodríguez, C., Ganz, F., Torralba, R., Oliveira, D., & Rodríguez-Mañas, L. (2020). Impact of social isolation due to COVID-19 on health in older people: Mental and physical effects and recommendations. Journal of Nutrition Health and Aging, 5(5), 1. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(20)30061-X
Strohle, A. (2008). Physical activity, exercise, depression and anxiety disorders. Journal of Neural Transmission, 116(6), 777-784. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-008-0092-x
Teater, B., Chonody, J. M., & Hannan, K. (2021). Meeting social needs and loneliness in a time of social distancing under COVID-19: A comparison among young, middle, and older adults. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 31(1), 43-59. https://doi.org/10.1080/10911359.2020.1835777
Torales, J., O’Higgins, M., Castaldelli-Maia, J. M., & Ventriglio, A. (2020). The outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus and its impact on global mental health. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 66(4), 317-320. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764020915212
Vostanis, P., & Bell, C. A. (2020). Counselling and psychotherapy post‐COVID-19. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 20(3), 389-393. https://doi.org/10.1002/capr.12325
Walsh, F. (2020). Loss and resilience in the time of COVID-19: Meaning making, hope, and transcendence. Family Process, 59(3), 898-911. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12588
Wang, Y., Di, Y., Ye, J., & Wei, W. (2020). Study on the public psychological states and its related factors during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in some regions of China. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 30, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/13548506.2020.1746817
Williams, S. N., Armitage, C. J., Tampe, T., & Dienes, K. (2020). Public perceptions and experiences of social distancing and social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic: A UK-based focus group study. BMJ Open, 10(7), 1-8. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/7/e039334
World Health Organization. (2022, February 2). Global situation. WHO coronavirus disease (COVID-19) dashboard. https://covid19.who.int/
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Jill M. Chonody, Barbra Teater, Katrina Hannan, Katelyn Hall
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
