The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being of Young People Living in Austria and Turkey: A Multicenter Study

Akkaya-Kalayci, Türkan; Kothgassner, Oswald D.; Wenzel, Thomas; Goreis, Andreas; Chen, Anthony; Ceri, Veysi; Özlü-Erkilic, Zeliha

doi:10.3390/ijerph17239111

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The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being of Young People Living in Austria and Turkey: A Multicenter Study

Türkan Akkaya-Kalayci

^1,2

Oswald D. Kothgassner

^4,5,

^6,7,

⁵,

⁸

and

Zeliha Özlü-Erkilic

^1,2,*

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Outpatient Clinic of Transcultural Psychiatry and Migration Induced Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria

Postgraduate University Program Transcultural Medicine and Diversity Care, Medical University of Vienna, Spitalgasse 23, 1090 Vienna, Austria

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria

⁴

Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria

⁵

Scientific Section on Psychological Aspects of Torture and Persecution, World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 1226 Thônex, Switzerland

⁶

Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria

⁷

Outpatient Unit for Research, Teaching and Practice, Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria

⁸

Department of Child Development, Faculty of Health Sciences, Batman University, Batman Üniversitesi, Merkez Kampüsü, 72060 Batman, Turkey

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(23), 9111; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17239111

Received: 28 October 2020 / Revised: 27 November 2020 / Accepted: 3 December 2020 / Published: 6 December 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Nursing and Public Health Emergency Preparedness)

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Abstract

Little is known about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health and psychological well-being of young people. The aim of this study is to investigate the psychological well-being and changes in the mental-health state of young people living in Austria and Turkey. By using an anonymous online survey, we recruited 1240 people aged 15–25 years from these two countries. We used the “Psychological General Well-being” and a self-created questionnaire to capture individual experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine period. The native Turks indicated higher “anxiety” (ps < 0.010), lower “vitality” (ps < 0.011), and lower “general health” (ps < 0.011) than native Austrians or Austrian migrants and increased “depression” (p = 0.005) and lower “self-control” (p = 0.022), than Austrian migrants. Moreover, 50.9% of native Turks reported a decrease in their mental health status, compared to 31.1% of native Austrians and 23.7% of Austrian migrants. Participants with financial problems (OR = 1.68) and prior mental health problems (i.e., already in treatment by the time of COVID-19, OR = 5.83) reported a higher probability for a worsening in their mental health status. Our results show that the COVID-19 pandemic impaired the psychological well-being and mental health of young people. Especially people in Turkey were most affected, probably due to the stringent policies to fight COVID-19. View Full-Text

Keywords: COVID-19; mental health; well-being; young people; Austria; Turkey

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Akkaya-Kalayci, T.; Kothgassner, O.D.; Wenzel, T.; Goreis, A.; Chen, A.; Ceri, V.; Özlü-Erkilic, Z. The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being of Young People Living in Austria and Turkey: A Multicenter Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 9111. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17239111

AMA Style

Akkaya-Kalayci T, Kothgassner OD, Wenzel T, Goreis A, Chen A, Ceri V, Özlü-Erkilic Z. The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being of Young People Living in Austria and Turkey: A Multicenter Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(23):9111. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17239111

Chicago/Turabian Style

Akkaya-Kalayci, Türkan, Oswald D. Kothgassner, Thomas Wenzel, Andreas Goreis, Anthony Chen, Veysi Ceri, and Zeliha Özlü-Erkilic. 2020. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being of Young People Living in Austria and Turkey: A Multicenter Study" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 23: 9111. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17239111

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