Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39235474›Full record

ArticleArchives of women's mental health2025

Mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic: An international comparison of gender-related home and work-related responsibilities, and social support.

Dominique Eugene, Jani Nöthling, Lorenzo Tarsitani, Christina Palantza, Davide Papola, Corrado Barbui, Richard Bryant, Catherine Panter-Brick, Brian J Hall, Agnes Iok Fok Lam and 18 more

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Archives of women's mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

28 authors.

Dominique EugeneFaculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa. deugene@email.fielding.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-3680-8525
Jani NöthlingGender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa.
Lorenzo TarsitaniDepartment of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Christina PalantzaVrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Davide PapolaDepartment of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Corrado BarbuiWHO Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Service Evaluation, Department of Neuroscience, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Section of Psychiatry, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Richard BryantSchool of Psychology, UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Catherine Panter-BrickJackson School of Global Affairs, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA.
Brian J HallCenter for Global Health Equity, NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, China.
Agnes Iok Fok LamDepartment of Communication, Center for Macau Studies, University of Macau, Macau, China.
Anja C HuizinkDepartment of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology and WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Daniela FuhrDepartment of Health Services Research and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Fredrick Dermawan PurbaFaculty of Psychology, Universitas Padjadjaran, Jatinangor, Indonesia.
Ellenor Mittendorfer-RutzDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Divions of Insurance medicine, Karolinska Institute, Solna, Sweden.
Dhini AndrianiFaculty of Psychology, Universitas Padjadjaran, Jatinangor, Indonesia.
Judith van der WaerdenInstitut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique, Social Epidemiology Research Team, Sorbonne Université, INSERM, Paris, France.
Ceren AcartürkDepartment of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Türkiye.
Gülşah KurtSchool of Psychology, UNSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Sebastian BurchertDepartment of Education and Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Christine KnaevelsrudDepartment of Education and Psychology, Division of Clinical Psychological Intervention, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Anke B WitteveenDepartment of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology and WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Martina PataneDepartment of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology and WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Soledad QueroDepartment of Basic, Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain and CIBER de Fisiopatología de La Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), Carlos III Institute of Health, Madrid, Spain.
Amanda Díaz-GarcíaDepartment of Psychology and Sociology, Universidad de Zaragoza (Campus Teruel), Teruel, Spain.
Naser MorinaDepartment of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital of Zurich, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Irene PinucciDepartment of Human Neurosciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Marit SijbrandijDepartment of Clinical, Neuro and Developmental Psychology and WHO Collaborating Center for Research and Dissemination of Psychological Interventions, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Soraya SeedatSouth African Medical Research Council/Stellenbosch University Genomics of Brain Disorders Research Unit, Department of Psychiatry, Cape Town, South Africa.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo assess gender differences in COVID-19 related changes in home and work responsibilities longitudinally, and determine whether these differences, together with other potential risk and protective factors, are associated with depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology.

methodSymptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD were measured using an online survey instrument, between May 2020 and April 2021, in four waves completed at 3-monthly intervals. Analyses were based on data from the COvid MEntal healTh (COMET) survey which investigated the mental health effects of the COVID-19 outbreak spanning 13 countries on five continents in N = 7,909 participants.

resultsFrom the first to the last wave, women reported a greater increase in home and work responsibilities, and had higher depression, anxiety and PTSD scores compared to men. Women who reported a reduction in income due to the pandemic had higher depression scores. Working harder and experiencing a reduction in income were also associated with higher anxiety scores in women but not in men. Women were more likely to score above the cut-off for depression (32.5% vs 23.6%, p < .001), anxiety (21.2% vs 14.4%, p < .001) and PTSD (21.2% vs 14.4%, p < .001) than men during the first wave. Stronger reliance on socially supported coping mechanisms was a risk factor for depression, anxiety and PTSD in men and women.

conclusionWomen were more likely to report mental health problems which may be related to the gender disproportionate increase in home and work responsibilities but not necessarily due to COVID-19 stressors.

Indexed as

AnxietyCOVID-19DepressionEmploymentMental HealthSocial SupportStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticAdultFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPandemicsRisk FactorsSARS-CoV-2Sex FactorsAnxietyCOVID-19DepressionMental healthPTSD, home and work-related responsibilities

Identifiers

PMID39235474
PMCPMC12018601

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Registered trials

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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.