{"id":820,"date":"2020-06-02T10:45:01","date_gmt":"2020-06-02T05:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.potentialloops.org\/?p=820"},"modified":"2020-06-02T10:45:03","modified_gmt":"2020-06-02T05:15:03","slug":"how-americans-are-coping-with-covid-19-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.potentialloops.org\/?p=820","title":{"rendered":"How Americans are coping with COVID-19 stress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Date: June 1, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source 1: University of Connecticut <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source 2: www.sciencedaily.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary: Almost overnight, the rapid emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and subsequent state and federal prevention measures dramatically altered daily behavior. A new study provides the first snapshot of the immediate impact of COVID-19 on Americans’ stress levels, coping strategies, and adherence to public health guidelines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several months into the pandemic, most \nAmericans are familiar with the physical toll COVID-19 takes on those \nwho contract it. But what about the mental and emotional implications of\n stress caused by the pandemic itself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new study by researchers from the University of Connecticut \nprovides the first snapshot of the immediate impact of COVID-19 on \nAmericans’ stress levels, coping strategies, and adherence to public \nhealth guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the study, which was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine<\/em>,\n the team surveyed over 1,000 English-speaking individuals, 18 years of \nage or older, living in the United States. Responses were collected in \nearly April 2020, giving the researchers a unique view of how Americans \nare handling their new reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Almost overnight, the rapid emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in \nthe United States and subsequent state and federal prevention measures \ndramatically altered daily behavior,” says Crystal Park, professor of in\n the Department of Psychological Sciences. “This unique, early study and\n our planned future work will let us see how Americans navigate all of \nthese changes, and how their response to this stress evolves over time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the study, the UConn researchers present baseline data on \nCOVID-19-related stressors in three categories: stress related to the \nvirus itself, stress related to changes in daily routines caused by the \npandemic, and financial or resource-related stress. These measures \nallowed them to examine the circumstance-specific stressors of COVID-19 \nrather than global stress that could have other causes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on previous work during SARS outbreaks and the early months of \nthe COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers created an assessment of 23 \nCOVID-19 stressors and their degree of stressfulness. The survey showed \nthat Americans have high stress exposure from COVID-19, and that some \ndemographic groups appear particularly vulnerable to stress effects. \nReading or hearing about the severity and contagiousness of COVID-19 was\n the most common stressor, with almost 97% of survey respondents \nexperiencing it. Uncertainty about the duration of social distancing \nrequirements and changes to social and daily personal care routines also\n ranked high on the list of stressors with between 80% and 88% of those \nsurveyed experiencing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While fears related to the virus itself were the most common, the \nsurvey showed that respondents were more acutely concerned about the \nfinancial consequences caused by the pandemic. Of the stressors \nexperienced, respondents ranked loss of job security or income as the \nmost stressful, followed by risk of a loved one’s illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers also looked at the methods Americans reported using \nto cope with these stressors. Distraction, seeking emotional social \nsupport, and active coping were the most commonly reported strategies. \nYounger participants, sexual minorities, and those with greater \nfinancial instability generally reported greater use of less helpful \nstrategies, including substance use, behavioral disengagement, and \nhumor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of the unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the \nresearchers say it’s hard to determine which strategies will be healthy \nfor managing stress over the weeks and months ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Distraction or avoidance is usually considered to be an unproductive\n coping strategy for most challenging situations and can lead to \nnegative outcomes,” says Beth Russell, associate professor of Human \nDevelopment and Family Sciences and director of the Center for Applied \nResearch in Human Development (CARHD). “But in this instance where \npeople don’t have much control over making the disease itself better, we\n can do small things to help ourselves and others — seek connections \nthrough telemediated emotional support, for example — and find ways to \nlet the time pass. We’ll see in the long run how those strategies help \npeople’s mental health.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The survey also showed very high rates of compliance with social \ndistancing and federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) \nguidelines. Approximately 95% of respondents avoided eating out at bars \nor restaurants and visiting nursing homes, although these behaviors are \nlikely impacted by policies enacted at the state and municipal levels. \nAlmost 90% of respondents had stopped discretionary travel and were \nkeeping the recommended six-feet distance from others. Approximately 75%\n of respondents reported adhering to CDC guidelines related to hygiene, \nlike avoiding touching their faces and regularly cleaning and \ndisinfecting surfaces. Some of the reported behaviors showed a \npotentially worrisome lack of adherence to critical CDC guidelines \nthough, particularly for men and younger adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The role demographics play in stress, coping, and adherence to \nguidelines will be the focus of future studies by the team. Those \nresults will be important for clinicians and policymakers as they \ndevelop the most effective health interventions to stem the anticipated \nlong-term mental health impacts, they say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As we focus on developing treatments and vaccines, it is critical \nthat we also understand the social aspects of this virus,” says Michael \nFendrich, associate dean for research in UConn’s School of Social Work \nand co-author of the paper. “Understanding how Americans experience and \nrespond to COVID-19 stressors and how this varies by socio-demographic \ncharacteristics can help to more effectively target prevention measures \nacross various groups.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team is continuing to monitor Americans’ response to stress from the COVID-19 pandemic in future longitudinal waves of this study, which they hope will inform effective health behavior interventions to stop its spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Story Source:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Materials<\/a> provided by University of Connecticut<\/strong><\/a>. Original written by Jessica McBride. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

www.sciencedaily.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Journal Reference<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Crystal L. Park, Beth S. Russell, Michael Fendrich, Lucy Finkelstein-Fox, Morica Hutchison, Jessica Becker. Americans\u2019 COVID-19 Stress, Coping, and Adherence to CDC Guidelines<\/strong>. Journal of General Internal Medicine<\/em>, 2020; DOI: 10.1007\/s11606-020-05898-9<\/a>\n<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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