ArticlePloS one2020
The psychological distress and coping styles in the early stages of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic in the general mainland Chinese population: A web-based survey.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 169 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
169 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 319 citations in OpenAlex.
- An observatory on changes in dreaming during a pandemic: a living systematic review (part 1).Journal of sleep research · 2023Pooled it
- Psychological impact on healthcare workers, general population and affected individuals of SARS and COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- Mental burden and its risk and protective factors during the early phase of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: systematic review and meta-analyses.Globalization and health · 2021Pooled it
- A Systematic Review on Sex- and Gender-Sensitive Research in Public Mental Health During the First Wave of the COVID-19 Crisis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population: A systematic review.Journal of affective disorders · 2020Pooled it
- Individual and Situational Predictors of Threatening Dream Content During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Journal of sleep research · 2026Article
- Coping in healthcare personnel: certain coping strategies as predictors of anxiety and depression.BJPsych open · 2026Article
- Emotional changes of patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis during the COVID-19 lockdown.Annals of medicine · 2025Article
- Psychometric Properties of the Brief COPE Inventory on a Student Sample.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Changes of well-being over the pandemic: a survey across generational cohorts.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Article
- Emotional distress and affective knowledge representation one year after the COVID-19 outbreak.PloS one · 2025Article
- Psychological distress and coping mechanisms due to the COVID-19 pandemic among the adult population in Bo Sierra Leone. A cross-sectional study.PLOS mental health · 2025Article
- Psychological effects of trauma, negative and positive coping, resilience, and psychological distress among Chinese healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of mood and anxiety disorders · 2024Article
- Mental Health During COVID-19: An Evaluation of Academic Universities' Contribution to Existing Research.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2024Review
- The psychological implications of COVID-19 over the eighteen-month time span following the virus breakout in Italy.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Article
- Mediating Effect of Coping Style Between Risk Perception of Complications and Self-Management in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2024Article
- Exploring the experiences of the hemodialysis patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study.F1000Research · 2024Article
- Longitudinal Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Stress and Occupational Well-Being of Mental Health Professionals: An International Study.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2023Article
109 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
As the epidemic outbreak of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), general population may experience psychological distress. Evidence has suggested that negative coping styles may be related to subsequent mental illness. Therefore, we investigate the general population's psychological distress and coping styles in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. A cross-sectional battery of surveys was conducted from February 1-4, 2020. The Kessler 6 psychological distress scale, the simplified coping style questionnaire and a general information questionnaire were administered on-line to a convenience sample of 1599 in China. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed to identify the influence factors of psychological distress. General population's psychological distress were significant differences based on age, marriage, epidemic contact characteristics, concern with media reports, and perceived impacts of the epidemic outbreak (all p <0.001) except gender (p = 0.316). The population with younger age (F = 102.04), unmarried (t = 15.28), with history of visiting Wuhan in the past month (t = -40.86), with history of epidemics occurring in the community (t = -10.25), more concern with media reports (F = 21.84), perceived more impacts of the epidemic outbreak (changes over living situations, F = 331.71; emotional control, F = 1863.07; epidemic-related dreams, F = 1642.78) and negative coping style (t = 37.41) had higher level of psychological distress. Multivariate analysis found that marriage, epidemic contact characteristics, perceived impacts of the epidemic and coping style were the influence factors of psychological distress (all p <0.001). Epidemic of COVID-19 caused high level of psychological distress. The general mainland Chinese population with unmarried, history of visiting Wuhan in the past month, perceived more impacts of the epidemic and negative coping style had higher level of psychological distress in the early stages of COVID-19 epidemic. Psychological interventions should be implemented early, especially for those general population with such characteristics.
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