ArticleEuropean psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists2020
Effects of the lockdown on the mental health of the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: Results from the COMET collaborative network.
Article in European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 204 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
204 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Was the COVID-19 Pandemic a Triggering Factor for PTSD in Adults? Results From A Systematic Review.Actas espanolas de psiquiatria · 2025Pooled it
- Access and use of general and mental health services before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review of impacts of COVID-19 on depression and anxiety among general populations around the world.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Organizational and Individual Interventions for Managing Work-Related Stress in Healthcare Professionals: A Systematic Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Pooled it
- Prevalence of anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis of over 2 million people.Journal of affective disorders · 2022Pooled it
- One year on: What we have learned about the psychological effects of COVID-19 social restrictions: A meta-analysis.Current opinion in psychology · 2022Pooled it
- Psychological impact of the quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic on the general European adult population: a systematic review of the evidence.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2022Pooled it
- Reduced mortality during the COVID-19 outbreak in Japan, 2020: a two-stage interrupted time-series design.International journal of epidemiology · 2022Pooled it
- Anxiety Linked to COVID-19: A Systematic Review Comparing Anxiety Rates in Different Populations.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Prevalence of Anxiety in University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Pediatric Neuropsychiatric Disorders: A Retrospective Study at a Single Center for Child Neurology and Psychiatry.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Anxiety-Depressive Disorders in 200 Patients with Post-COVID-19 Syndrome: Prevalence and Predictors from a Cross-Sectional Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
- The long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental and psychiatric service utilization in Iran: a 7-year longitudinal study from 2017 to 2024.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Indirect, machine learning-based suicide risk screening: Evidence from cross-National Validation.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2026Article
- Big Five personality profiles, self-reported distress, and resilience resources among adults in Italy after the acute COVID-19 emergency: a cross-sectional cluster-analytic study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Lockdown COVID‑19: a stress test revealing more about the mental health system than psychopathology-A comparative analysis between Austria, Germany, and Italy.Frontiers in public health · 2026Observational
- A Pilot Qualitative Study to Better Understand the Factors Related to Suicides and Inform Public Health Action Across a Predominantly Coastal and Rural Area: Cornwall, Southwest of England.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Psychological and Spiritual Well-Being Among Church of England Clergy and Laity three years After the COVID-19 Lockdowns.Journal of religion and health · 2025Article
- Prediction of suicidal ideation and depression in the general population with subthreshold insomnia using machine learning models.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Changes in mental health diagnosis and healthcare use in seven European countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2017-21).European journal of public health · 2025Article
144 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is an unprecedented traumatic event influencing the healthcare, economic, and social welfare systems worldwide. In order to slow the infection rates, lockdown has been implemented almost everywhere. Italy, one of the countries most severely affected, entered the "lockdown" on March 8, 2020.
methodsThe COvid Mental hEalth Trial (COMET) network includes 10 Italian university sites and the National Institute of Health. The whole study has three different phases. The first phase includes an online survey conducted between March and May 2020 in the Italian population. Recruitment took place through email invitation letters, social media, mailing lists of universities, national medical associations, and associations of stakeholders (e.g., associations of users/carers). In order to evaluate the impact of lockdown on depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms, multivariate linear regression models were performed, weighted for the propensity score.
resultsThe final sample consisted of 20,720 participants. Among them, 12.4% of respondents (N = 2,555) reported severe or extremely severe levels of depressive symptoms, 17.6% (N = 3,627) of anxiety symptoms and 41.6% (N = 8,619) reported to feel at least moderately stressed by the situation at the DASS-21.According to the multivariate regression models, the depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms significantly worsened from the week April 9-15 to the week April 30 to May 4 (p < 0.0001). Moreover, female respondents and people with pre-existing mental health problems were at higher risk of developing severe depression and anxiety symptoms (p < 0.0001).
conclusionsAlthough physical isolation and lockdown represent essential public health measures for containing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, they are a serious threat for mental health and well-being of the general population. As an integral part of COVID-19 response, mental health needs should be addressed.
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