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Special Issue "COVID and Post-COVID: The Psychological and Social Impact of COVID-19"

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A special issue of COVID (ISSN 2673-8112).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 4119

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Eva-Maria Skoda

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Guest Editor

Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Duisburg-Essen, LVR-University Hospital, 45147 Essen, Germany
Interests: COVID-19; public mental health; post-COVID; psychooncology; mental health and somatic illnesses; eHealth

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The ongoing and challenging COVID-19 pandemic has now, for a long time, been a public health crisis of unimaginable proportions. Not only does the virus pose a lingering threat to the physical health of many people, but the mental health burden has also increased during times of lockdowns, restrictions, and global economic crises. Additionally, the emerging psychosocial burden of the so-called “Post-COVID-Symptom-Complex” is a new aspect of the continuous pandemic.

This Special Issue of COVID focuses on these different aspects and many more. Articles addressing what developments in the psychosocial burden took place during the pandemic, the role of corona fear/post-COVID fear, and relevant psychosocial factors considering the Post-COVID-Symptom-Complex are of particular interest to this Special Issue. Furthermore, articles presenting data on interventions, especially eHealth interventions and the need for eHealth interventions for burdened groups, as well as review articles on mental health burden are particularly welcome.

Prof. Dr. Eva-Maria Skoda
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. COVID is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

psychosocial burden
post-COVID
(e)mental health interventions

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Open AccessArticle

How Did the COVID-19 Pandemic Change the Hand and Mobile Phone Hygiene Behaviors of Greek Undergraduate Students?

and

COVID 2023, 3(2), 255-272; https://doi.org/10.3390/covid3020020 - 16 Feb 2023

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on undergraduate students’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors on hand and mobile phone hygiene. An anonymous self-reported questionnaire was distributed among 100 Greek male and female undergraduate students of all academic years who attended healthcare as well as non-healthcare curriculums. Descriptive statistics and statistical tests (chi-squared and Wilcoxon signed-rank test) were used (α = 5%). Students provided better responses during COVID-19, compared to the period before the COVID-19 pandemic, concerning their hand washing frequency (p < 0.001), hand washing circumstances, certain hand washing procedures, as well as their mobile phones’ cleaning/disinfection methods and frequency (p < 0.001). Statistically significant differences were observed between males and females in their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors on hand and mobile phone hygiene, followed by faculty and year of studies. Overall, being a final-year female undergraduate student of health sciences has a positive influence on correct knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors on hand and mobile phone hygiene. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID and Post-COVID: The Psychological and Social Impact of COVID-19)

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Open AccessArticle

Delivering Health Services during Early Days of COVID-19 Pandemic: Perspectives of Frontline Healthcare Workers in Kenya’s Urban Informal Settlements

Vibian Angwenyi

Sabina Adhiambo Odero

and

COVID 2023, 3(2), 169-182; https://doi.org/10.3390/covid3020012 - 28 Jan 2023

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread disruptions to health, economic and social lives globally. This qualitative study explores frontline healthcare workers’ (HCWs) experiences delivering routine care in Kenya’s informal settlements during the early phases of the pandemic, amidst stringent COVID-19 mitigation measures. Thirteen telephone interviews were conducted with facility and community-based HCWs serving three informal settlements in Nairobi and Mombasa. Data were analyzed using the framework approach. Results indicate there were widespread fears and anxieties surrounding COVID-19 and its management. Secondly, access to facility-based care at the onset of the pandemic was reported to decline, with service availability hampered by the imposed curfew hours and guidance on the maximum allowable number of clients. HCWs experienced heightened risk of COVID-19 infection due to poor working conditions including inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE) and unavailable isolation areas for COVID-19 positive patients. HCWs also experienced stigma associated with contact with persons suspected of having COVID-19 infection, thereby causing a strain on their mental health and wellbeing. The study recommends the need for interventions to support and protect HCWs’ physical and mental health, alongside health system preparedness. Additionally, it is vital to identify ways of taking health services closer to the community to address access barriers in health emergency contexts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID and Post-COVID: The Psychological and Social Impact of COVID-19)

Open AccessArticle

Caregiver and Youth Mental Health during COVID-19: Risk and Resilience Factors in a Large National Sample in Peru

July Caballero-Peralta

Johann M. Vega-Dienstmaier

and

COVID 2022, 2(11), 1594-1608; https://doi.org/10.3390/covid2110115 - 12 Nov 2022

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Abstract

The present study examined the prevalence and correlates of psychosocial impairment in a large, national sample of Peruvian children and adolescents (ages 5.0–17.9) during the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2020. A sample of 8263 online questionnaires were completed by caregivers in Peru between 23 October–26 November 2020. In addition to sociodemographic and pandemic-related factors, the survey administered the Peruvian Spanish version of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist (PSC-17) to assess child psychosocial risk. The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Kessler-6 (K-6), and Brief Resilience Scale (BRS-6) assessed caregiver depression, psychological distress, and resilience, respectively. In this case, 33% of the children were at overall risk on the PSC-17. In adjusted models, caregiver distress, depression, and low resilience, as well as having a family member with a health risk factor were the strongest predictors of child psychosocial risk, accounting for nearly 1.2 to 2.1 times the likelihood of risk individually and 2.4 to 3.4 times the likelihood of risk when summed. Due to the opt-in sampling method, the obtained sample was likely skewed toward more advantaged families, suggesting that the study’s high prevalence of PSC-17 positivity might have been even higher in a more economically representative sample. Given the prevalence of psychosocial problems in Peruvian youth during COVID-19, preventive interventions, with a special focus on family-level approaches that involve and support parents as well as children, are clearly warranted. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID and Post-COVID: The Psychological and Social Impact of COVID-19)

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Open AccessPerspective

Fear-Responses to Bat-Originating Coronavirus Pandemics with Respect to Quarantines Gauged in Relation to Postmodern Thought—Implications and Recommendations

Carol Nash

COVID 2022, 2(10), 1303-1328; https://doi.org/10.3390/covid2100096 - 22 Sep 2022

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Abstract

Fear-responses to bat-originating coronavirus pandemics with respect to quarantine imposition are gathered and interpreted from large datasets, identified and disseminated by media. Responses are effectively gauged using postmodern thought with a continuum ranging from people’s resilience to define their own perspectives to public views being socially conditioned from media persistence in maintaining fear. Public responses to the 2003 SARS pandemic generally presumed and supported resilience of citizens’ perspectives. In contrast, from late 2019 to mid-2022, public responses to the COVID-19 pandemic were media-determined, promoting fear. In this regard, reactions to the COVID-19 quarantines are contrasted to the hospital isolations of SARS. The primary source of the difference was the major polarizing influence by social media of the WHO policy makers’ pronouncements and of healthcare providers’ statements directing media spotlight in their guidance of public response to COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, unlike during SARS. An investigation of cognitive bias regarding the psychological and societal implications related to this migration from resilience to fear regarding public responses to novel bat-originating coronavirus pandemics elicits recommendations concerning future quarantine dictates. These recommendations are dependent on appropriate encouragement of hopeful resilience through evidence based practice with respect to one extreme of the postmodern thought continuum. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue COVID and Post-COVID: The Psychological and Social Impact of COVID-19)

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Special Issue "COVID and Post-COVID: The Psychological and Social Impact of COVID-19"

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