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

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.

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

Figure 1

COVID-19 related cognitions with M and SEM in the different groups. The means are depicted after controlling for the effect of age and gender. The y-axis indicates the possible range of the ratings of the items.

Figure 2

Subscales of the psychological general well-being index with M and SEM in the different groups. The means are depicted after controlling for the effect of age and gender. Higher scores indicate more well-being (i.e., lower levels of anxiety but higher levels of vitality). The y-axis indicates the possible values of the scores of the subscales.