ArticleGlobalization and health2020
When altruists cannot help: the influence of altruism on the mental health of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in Globalization and health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The relationship between risk perceptions and negative emotions in the COVID-19: a meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Pooled it
- PERMA well-being and innovative work behaviour : A systematic literature review.F1000Research · 2023Pooled it
- The Psychological Well-Being of University Students amidst COVID-19 Pandemic: Scoping review, systematic review and meta-analysis.Sultan Qaboos University medical journal · 2022Pooled it
- Factors Associated with the Implementation of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions for Reducing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Prevalence of depressive symptoms among Chinese university students amid the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2021Pooled it
- Post-secondary Student Mental Health During COVID-19: A Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Pooled it
- Mental health interventions following COVID-19 and other coronavirus infections: a systematic review of current recommendations and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Revista brasileira de psiquiatria (Sao Paulo, Brazil : 1999)Pooled it
- Self-Reported Altruism Is Positively Correlated With Anxiety, Depression, and Empathy Among Gazan Healthcare Workers During War: Validation of the Arabic 9-SRA in a High-Stress Context.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Relationship between Psychosocial Factors and Physical Activity among Undergraduate Students from a South African University.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Postgraduate psychological stress detection from social media using BERT-Fused model.PloS one · 2024Article
- Personality and context-related factors of helping and helping-related affect during early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.Scandinavian journal of psychology · 2023Article
- Reflection of Types of Prosocial Behavior During COVID-19 in Collectivistic Asian Countries-India and Indonesia.Qualitative health research · 2022Article
- Role of time perspectives and self-control on well-being and ill-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multiple mediation model.BMC psychology · 2022Article
- Understanding cultural factors in mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: when collectivism meets a tight culture.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2022Article
- Review
- Overexposure to COVID-19 information amplifies emotional distress: a latent moderated mediation model.Translational psychiatry · 2022Article
- Diverse Experiences and Coping During the COVID-19 Lockdown and Unlock in India.Trends in psychology · 2022Article
- Depression among young adults - risks and protective factors in the COVID-19 pandemic.Postepy psychiatrii neurologii · 2022Article
- Prevalence and determinants of depression and anxiety measured by the PHQ-4 among homeless individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence from the Hamburg survey of homeless individuals.Psychiatry research · 2022Article
- Lingering effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of first-year university students in Japan.PloS one · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe positive predictive effect of altruism on physical and psychological well-being has been extensively demonstrated in previous studies, but few studies have examined the effect of altruism on negative mental health outcomes when altruists cannot perform altruistic behaviours. This study explored the influence of altruism on negative affect and mental health (anxiety and depressive symptoms) during the COVID-19 pandemic while people self-isolated at home in China.
methodUniversity students were recruited to participate in a cross-sectional online survey during the outbreak of COVID-19 in China. Self-reported perceived risk, altruism, negative affect, anxiety and depressive symptoms were measured using the Self-Report Altruism Scale (SRA scale), the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) and the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire depression scale (PHQ-9). A structural equation model was used to analyse the mediating and moderating effects on mental health.
resultsThe final sample comprised 1346 Chinese participants (Mage = 19.76 ± 2.23 years, 73% female). Overall, the higher the risk the participants perceived, the more negative affect they exhibited (β = 0.16, p < .001), and thus, the more anxious and depressed they felt (β = 0.134, p < .001); however, this relationship between risk perception and negative affect was moderated by altruism. In contrast to previous studies, the increase in negative affect associated with the increased perceived risk was pronounced among individuals with high altruism (t = 7.68, p < .001).
conclusionsIndividuals with high altruism exhibited more negative affect than those with low altruism, which indirectly increased their anxiety and depressive symptoms. These findings enrich theories of altruism and provide valuable insight into the influence of altruism on mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.