SynthesisJournal of affective disorders2020
Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population: A systematic review.
Synthesis in Journal of affective disorders, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05566366 (Understanding the Impact of Death Conditions Linked to the COVID-19 Health Crisis on the Grieving Process in Bereaved Families), which is not on this map. Cited by 2,516 papers, 5 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.
Understanding the Impact of Death Conditions Linked to the COVID-19 Health Crisis on the Grieving Process in Bereaved Families (Adolescents and Adults): a Qualitative Study
Who cites it
2,516 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 5,300 citations in OpenAlex.
- Online and traditional mindfulness-based interventions for stress in university students: a systematic review and meta-analysis versus control conditions.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Pooled it
- The prevalence of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic: an umbrella review.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- American College of Rheumatology Guidance Statements for Addressing Mental Health Concerns in Youth With Pediatric Rheumatologic Diseases.Arthritis care & research · 2025Guideline
- Exploring the psychological impact on children and adolescents during the initial period of the COVID-19 pandemic-a systematic review.BMC psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Job Loss Due to COVID-19: A Longitudinal Study of Mental Health, Protective and Risk Factors.Psychological reports · 2026Trial
- Can promoting compassion and gratitude through a four-week online training program improve women's mental health? A randomized controlled trial.BMC women's health · 2025Trial
- Efficacy of a digital mental health program for university students: A randomized controlled trial comparing online and hybrid delivery.Internet interventions · 2026Article
- Examining the impact of emotion-driven resource allocation on information-behavior-disease coupling dynamics.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2026Article
- Trajectories of internalizing problems during and after the COVID-19 pandemic: The effects of sex and early life stress.Journal of affective disorders · 2026Article
- Exploring Social Media Use and Anxiety Symptoms in Health Care Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cross-Sectional Secondary Data Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Prevalence and Sociodemographic Correlates of Mental Health Symptoms Among Canadian Youth: A Cross-Sectional Study.Clinical child psychology and psychiatry · 2026Article
- Public Interest in Stress-Induced Dermatologic Conditions and Psychodermatologic Disorders Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Segmented Regression Analysis.JMIR dermatology · 2026Article
- Article
- Association between changes in work environment and andropause symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japanese male workers: a cross-sectional study.Industrial health · 2026Article
- Changes in positive mental health before and after the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated sociodemographic characteristics and COVID-19-related stressors.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2026Article
- Leveraging Google location history data to assess the impact of activities, locations, and time spent in green space on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Group-Based Interventions for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Role of Trauma Type.Campbell systematic reviews · 2026Review
- Prevalence and Correlates of Depressive Symptoms in Canada During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Based on 144 Studies Including 406,043 Participants: Prévalence et corrélats des symptômes dépressifs au Canada pendant la pandémie de COVID-19 : revue systématique et méta-analyse de 144 études comprenant 406 043 participants.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2026Review
- Assessment of depression and pain in the general population: a scoping review.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
2,456 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAs a major virus outbreak in the 21st century, the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to unprecedented hazards to mental health globally. While psychological support is being provided to patients and healthcare workers, the general public's mental health requires significant attention as well. This systematic review aims to synthesize extant literature that reports on the effects of COVID-19 on psychological outcomes of the general population and its associated risk factors.
methodsA systematic search was conducted on PubMed, Embase, Medline, Web of Science, and Scopus from inception to 17 May 2020 following the PRISMA guidelines. A manual search on Google Scholar was performed to identify additional relevant studies. Articles were selected based on the predetermined eligibility criteria.
resultsRelatively high rates of symptoms of anxiety (6.33% to 50.9%), depression (14.6% to 48.3%), post-traumatic stress disorder (7% to 53.8%), psychological distress (34.43% to 38%), and stress (8.1% to 81.9%) are reported in the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic in China, Spain, Italy, Iran, the US, Turkey, Nepal, and Denmark. Risk factors associated with distress measures include female gender, younger age group (≤40 years), presence of chronic/psychiatric illnesses, unemployment, student status, and frequent exposure to social media/news concerning COVID-19. LIMITATIONS: A significant degree of heterogeneity was noted across studies.
conclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic is associated with highly significant levels of psychological distress that, in many cases, would meet the threshold for clinical relevance. Mitigating the hazardous effects of COVID-19 on mental health is an international public health priority.
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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.