Psychological Distress and COVID-19-Related Stressors Reported in a Longitudinal Cohort of US Adults in April and July 2020

Abstract

This study uses national survey data to compare self-reported psychological distress among US adults in April and July 2020 by demographic and stressor type subgroups.

Figure 1.. Serious Psychological Distress Among a National Cohort of 1337 US Adults in April and July 2020

Data are from waves 1 and 2 of the Johns Hopkins Civic Life and Public Health Survey. The 2 waves were fielded in a longitudinal cohort of 1337 US adults aged 18 years or older. Wave 1 was fielded from April 7 to 13, 2020. Wave 2 was fielded from July 7 to 22, 2020. The McNemar χ² test was used to test for statistically significant differences in proportion of respondents reporting serious psychological distress in July vs April 2020. No differences were statistically significant at the P < .05 level. Psychological distress was measured using the Kessler 6 scale, with scores of 13 or older indicating serious psychological distress. Race/ethnicity was collected as part of the demographic profile in April 2020. The options were defined by the study investigators and participants classified their own race/ethnicity. The survey measured 3 race categories that are not reported due to small sample sizes: other race, non-Hispanic (n = 13); 2 or more races, non-Hispanic (n = 25); and Asian, non-Hispanic (n = 34). The error bars indicate 95% CIs.

Figure 2.. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)–Related Concerns Reported as Negatively Influencing Mental Health Among US Adults in July 2020

Measures are from wave 2 of the Johns Hopkins Civic Life and Public Health Survey, fielded from July 7 to 22, 2020, with 1337 total respondents and 132 respondents with serious psychological distress. Psychological distress was measured using the Kessler 6 scale, with scores of 13 or higher indicating serious distress. The error bars indicate 95% CIs. ^aStatistically significant difference at the P < .05 level between those with vs without serious psychological distress. Pearson χ² test was used to test for significant differences. Exact P values for each comparison were P = .03 (contracting COVID-19); P = .02 (school); P < .001 (employment); P < .001 (finances); P < .001 (health care); P < .001 (health insurance); and P = .95 (childcare). ^bStressor measured in a subset of the overall sample. Concern about the effects of COVID-19 on the ability to attend school, college, or other education was measured among US adults aged 18 years or older who reported having children aged 0 to 17 years in their household and/or reported that they themselves were currently attending or planning to attend college in 2020. This subgroup included 436 adults overall, including 52 with serious psychological distress and 384 without serious psychological distress. Concern about COVID-19’s effects on the ability to obtain childcare was measured among the 365 US adults aged 18 years or older who reported having children aged 0 to 17 years in their household.